STILL CRAZY Sailing

THANK YOU more than we can put into words…

To CAPTAIN TIM SANDERS

As I stated earlier, our marine insurance demanded we have a “licensed” captain on our first long voyage.  Captain D was up north on the last phases of his huge project and felt completely confident in leaving the captain finding to me.  He knew I would be a tougher interviewer than he might be.  It didn’t take me long to figure out that getting a “licensed” captain would be easy.  It turns out that you can too easily get a “license” as a captain. 

Literally, some “captains” have nearly gotten their licenses through saving enough Post Toasties box tops.  Meaning that the bulk of their captaining “experiences” is on paper or book larnin’ rather than on the water.  Being a former teacher, I understand that studies in a classroom or at home have their place!  But there is nothing like getting out on the water for EXPERIENCES that books could never offer!  Feeling an 15 to 20 foot swell on the water is quite different from the book.  And understanding the spontaneous and often hazardous manner of Point Conception and the other “points” off the California coastline is not what one experiences from a classroom course.  And, of course, how do you experience a motor or electrical failure 30 miles off shore without being there?  And experiencing this while seasick, is even more interesting, just ask me.

So, finding a licensed captain who actually had extensive sea experience, much less the crucial experience cruising up and down the California Coast, was an entirely different search.  Many of our boating “friends” had “friends” who were “captains” and would be GLAD to bring us north.  As I investigated this further, I filed most of them under “Post Toasties” …  I mean no disrespect whatsoever.  These people probably all have their places in the captain business.  I just know we needed a captain with a resume including some difficult deliveries.  As I will write about in another story, I really wanted our friend and broker, Bill Hersey to bring our boat up with us.  But Bill was occupied with a busy boat brokerage with absolutely no time to bring Still Crazy up.  

So, we needed a REALTIME, REAL LIFE Captain to help us make this long first trip up the tricky California coast.  Even though our still “new to us” Cal 2-46 was decked out with new electronics, new radios, new GPS, some new rigging, and more repaired or newly added things.  We had our fuel tank polished ( I mean literally polished) along with getting our fuel polished.  We had dual Racor fuel filters installed.  Even though, we had worked out a lot of the bugs, we needed someone who could come aboard and feel comfortable with us and our boat instantly, since there was no time for long term “get to know ya’s.”  We were not going to be able to babysit someone about our boat, as we were still learning the systems ourselves.

Because this was the first big boat we owned, as I noted, our marine insurance insisted upon a couple of conditions -- mainly consisting of a minimum crew of five with a licensed Captain to lead our crew.  And for me, I was happy this was a “condition.”  I wasn’t sure how I would fair on our first long trip and in the rough December seas.  And I am not one to allow my abilities or capabilities to effect the overall success or failure of such a venture.  I wanted overlapping securities.  Redundancies…  I have heard that a lot in the world of boating.  I wanted our trip to be a solid, safe and efficient effort.  With the important search for a captain mainly left to me, as Captain D was about 800 miles away, I took on the interviews.  It became a daunting search, some were pretty scary.

Step into our lives, Captain Tim.  Professional, kind, patient and understanding all describe Captain Tim Sanders--although I can hear him laugh at those compliments.  He is a serious Captain.  He also has a serious sense of humor.  He knows his stuff and is wily on his feet.  Originally from Australia, Captain Tim has sailed over the world.  But it is something in him very dear that made my choice of Tim to captain our Crazy Girl.

If you ever get to meet Tim, you will understand this.  It is a quality which inspires trust and comfort.  He is a real person.  A better description of Tim is an authentic human being.  He knows who he is and is very comfortable with himself.  It is a rare person who is that comfortable in his own skin.  It’s easy to be around Tim, like you have known him for many years.  His charming personality is infectious.  He doesn’t take much too seriously in life -EXCEPT the seriousness of a safe and secure passage.  Tim normally wears a smile and recalls a “story” for any situation which may come up --even as he goes about fixing some major malfunction.  This makes him easy and professional and fun to be around.  And his delicious “Aussie” accent and manner is easy on the nerves, mate.  

He laughs easily –unless there be something serious “about.”  Serious is anything to do with the business of safety or bringing a client’s boat into safe harbor.  I watch the kindly friend turn into a professional ship’s master as if he has a dial which can tune in SHIP’S CAPTAIN and tune down the friend who just happens to be on your boat.  He moves easily between these points on the compass.  And in the pure jet black night heading into the interesting Santa Barbara harbor, he guided his new crew to a perfect landing in the guest slip even when we (his crew) goofed up on which slip to enter.  When serious is “about,” Captain Tim will say something once and you hear how important his words are.  I learned much listening to Captain Tim captaining our ship as he salvaged some “interesting” situations Still Crazy and Mother Ocean offered us over the TWO separate trips our passage north got broken into.  Captain D and I, and all who sailed under Captain Tim’s command, would HIGHLY RECOMMEND to anyone the professional captaining and chartering services which Tim Sanders offers.  We will be HAPPY to get you in touch with Captain Tim if you would like his information (see our contact information).

We owe the success of our trip in large part to Captain Tim.  We have gained a great deal of knowledge and experience under Captain Tim’s tutorage.  Thanks Tim…  Thanks for your professional captain services and your friendly chuckle that helped us over the entire voyage.  You are a GEM and a one of a kind, kind man !  Best Wishes to you and yours from Still Crazy, Captain D and me.

Thanks to Kent and Adrienne…

Our cruise UP the California coast was done, by necessity, in two parts.  We motored up from San Diego to Santa Barbara in December of 2005 with Kent and Adrienne (then kept Still Crazy in Ventura for winter).  And then we motored from Ventura to Monterey, CA in August of 2006.  Prior to us actually leaving San Diego we had a mammoth job of readying Crazy Girl for the trip.  She needed upgrading on everything, cleaning out, and stocking up for the trip.  This took weeks to accomplish to do it “right.”  And we were required by our marine insurance to hire a licensed Captain to bring us north and have a minimum crew of at least five people.  We found our Captain in San Diego, Captain Tim (who will get a proper THANK YOU of his own, soon).

I think Ol' Captain D figured he and his brother, Kent could do it alone.  But for me and my first big adventure on our own boat, I needed the trip to be to easy on my mind, so over-abundance of preparation and safety were my main concerns.  I wasn’t afraid.  I was totally excited.  As the Admiral (and Safety Officer), I just needed to feel we covered all bases (two or three times) for making the journey a safe and educated one ( I was the uneducated one in the beginning of this adventure!).  --It could be said that I may have been just a "little compulsive" in some of these matters, but I regress...--  Heading north in December on the California Coast can be tricky (the understatement of the decade).

This brings into the picture what our wonderful family did for us!  Kent (Captain D’s brother) and Adrienne not only agreed to be part of our crew, but turns out, they were a critical element to our all around successful and adventurous journey northward.

They knew we were outfitting Crazy with new electronics and updates on everything, but they also thought about our galley and cabins.  Now, Kent being a professional Chef and having owned their own catering business, they JUST happened to figure a nicely equipped galley was as important as the new radar!  So without asking, they brought everything one could possibly use in a galley (or land yacht kitchen) and also brought linens, blankets, tools and nearly literally “the kitchen sink.”  They brought scads of stuff and let us choose what we wanted.

When all else failed, they just found a home for things.  They helped organize and stock our entire boat, including the food supplies.  They had prepared home cooked meals to just heat and serve for back up, they brought spices and condiments, and stocked our freezer with such delicacies as Kent’s famous Cajun Sausage Gumbo (they owned a Cajun restaurant) down to the comfort food of homemade meatloaf.  They stocked our food lockers with backup everything from and including Spam (in case we were lost at sea for any length of time) and Champagne for our arrival celebration in Monterey.

Adrienne was also our journey’s cook and primary bottle washer (what a lifesaver she was!) and sister!  Kent even took some time to varnish some wood trim before we took off.  On the journey, they took their watch and drove on like troopers!  Adrienne looked beautiful even on the 4 am to 6 am shift!  Captain D and I do NOT know what we would have done without them.  We were overwhelmed with the plans and details needed to get Still Crazy north before winter hit completely, and without KENT and ADRIENNE (our “Bug”) we would have been much lacking.

So without anymore time a’ wasting, we wanted to THANK Kent and Adrienne for helping so greatly in helping make our far fetched dream a reality.  They went FAR beyond anything we could have imagined to help us in so many ways.  We adore you Kids!

One of the first and truly important people who "literally" helped me go through "Still Crazy" by locker, hatch, and cubby hole, is Brian Johnson.  Brian helped me learn the secrets of a “big” sailboat.  Brian's wife, Teri, just happen to work for the boat broker in San Diego, who happened to have Still Crazy listed for sale.  When we went down for Crazy Girl’s survey and then to sign the paperwork on Still Crazy, we very fortunately found them both!

We were blessed to find Brian to work on Crazy because CAPTAIN D was heading a large construction project up north and wasn’t able to stay down in San Diego.  For nearly three weeks, CAPTAIN D finished his big project up north near San Francisco and I lived on Still Crazy in San Diego and cleaned her up and learned the guts of her.

Brian guided my every step --beginning with my understanding of just how much there was to a "big" sailboat.  He also answered each of my strange, ignorant, silly, and technical questions with more patience than Job.  He even acted as go between, between Captain D and me when we were a bit stressed with the mountain of work Crazy ended up needing.(We need to give Brian thanks for also being our therapist).  With Brian’s help and amazing CALM, I began my dive INTO Still Crazy’s insides and outsides.  I learned more in three weeks about big boats, transducers, and “stuffing boxes” than I would have thought to learn over a lifetime of sailing this boat.  Brian helped me with each step.

Brian did this for us all WHILE he changed out the broken, unfroze the frozen, primed the pumps or changed them out, and put in a new head and holding tank (oh my is that a JOB for Job) among many other jobs.  Literally, Brian crawled into every nook and cranny of our boat.  With Brian’s keen eye and boat-wisdom, we found many new things to fix or replace each day.  So as he went about fixing one thing, SEVERAL more "jobs" would rear they heads.  Brian helped correct or replace electrical on Still Crazy and added systems and rewired much on our little boat.  As boat owners find out fast enough, there is a well KNOWN phenomenon called, "ITS A BOAT," by the boating industry.  After you figure this phenom out, you stop asking, "why" and you just shrug your shoulders, nod your head, and say in a flat, common place tone, "yep, fix it... it's a boat."  You learn to do this even when each surprise comes up in excess of 5 or 10 thousand dollars is involved.  This phenomenon happens often and with great repetition.  

The boat's survey ended up being just a taking off point.  Our task: to get Crazy into safe, updated shape and prepared for her passage north to Monterey Bay.  Brian was invaluable!  He worked as much as we wanted him and he took control of the things I could not do.  He moved Crazy to a different slip when needed -- as we were only temporary in the San Diego area and were required to move her around as we "borrowed" slips.  Maneuvering a older 46 foot boat (tank) around in tight quarters was not something with which I had practice.  I found Brian to be an young man with a soul of an old salt, and amazingly talented with this big old boat, even though he is so young.  He is near the age of our kids (I guess that means we are getting old!).

Brian and Crazy seemed to really like each other.  I think he understood our boat AND Captain D and me.  When Dennis and I would find something else which needed immediate attention, Brian simply added it to his growing list of work accomplished.  Even when I was overwhelmed, he just steadied the course and our plan went forward.  Brian also helped me “interview” other boat professionals and made sure I got a fair survey and quality work done for several of Still Crazy's systems and problems which presented themselves.

So in all, Brian was our foreman and manager for that entire time, along with being a part time marriage counselor.  He also was our faithful friend who guided us around what work we DIDN'T have to get done right then, but rather would do when our boat was up north with us.  On top of this, he was my teacher and he did all of this with great skill and wonderful patience.

With total confidence and great heart, both Dennis and I would refer Brian Johnson to anyone who needs electrical or other marine work done.  Brian's skill is only surpassed by his integrity and flat out honesty...  He is a rare fine these days.  We will always appreciate his loyalty, knowledge, and skills which he so honored us with when working on our Still Crazy. 

So to Brian (and to his dear wife, Teri) --Captain D and I want to shout out a HUGE thank you for all you did for us and our Crazy Girl.  Your integrity, skill, common sense and calm helped us on all levels of this project.  We would not have been able to move Crazy north for more than a year if we hadn’t had Brian on our team.  We also want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Brian and Teri on the birth of their BABY BOY, NATHANIEL!  Nathaniel's birth was a huge blessing after 12 years of marriage, Teri got preganant (I think) during the time Brian was working on our boat).  Nathaniel lives on The Sea Pilgrim in a wonderful marina and is rocked to sleep by Mother Ocean and two incredible parents!  He will no doubt be another terrific sailor!  If Nathaniel grows up half as loving and caring as his parents, the world is surely blessed again.  Happy first Christmas to this DEAR Family. 

P.S.  As I have said before, there are a “couple more stories” to share about Brian and Teri, too, but that will be filed later under the Stories.

Our first THANK YOU goes to Bill Hersey.  Bill is now a dear friend.  Bill patiently put up with us as we researched sailboats from nearly the very beginning of our concentrated search.  Bill Hersey is our Yacht Broker and works for Mason Yachts International in Northern California, Sausalito.  We were always a little TOO excited about our idea of buying a big sailboat.  Every time I saw a great boat, I was sure THIS could be our boat --and Bill would calm me down.  Yes, it is a beautiful boat, but here are the drawbacks for YOUR needs.  Then he would talk me down from the clouds and back to the real world.  Bill didn't want to JUST SELL US A BOAT.  From the very beginning he told us that he wanted to get to KNOW us FIRST so he could become aware of what we were REALLY looking for in a sailboat over the long run, even before WE really knew what we were looking for in a sailboat.

Over many months he fielded many questions and NEVER made me feel ignorant no matter how ignorant my questions were.  Over the first couple visits, Bill concentrated upon getting down in our file the "why's" we wanted a sailboat, the "how" were we going to use the sailboat, the "what" kind of sailing we wanted to do, the "where" we were willing to travel to find the perfect boat, and of course, a reasonable price point which wouldn't cripple us financially, but would allow us to grow with the boat.  Over the months he showed us any boats we wanted to see and searched the internet for "our" boat, yet, he never let us go crazy and forget our INTENTION and REASONS for buying a sailboat.  He was patient and a wise mentor and excellent broker for us.  He is not a salesman, he is a teacher, friend and boat and sailing expert.  After interviewing many brokers, we were BLESSED to find Bill and Mason Yachts International to represent us. 

We have a great story to ADD about our Friend and Yacht broker, but I will save that for another page.

So BILL, both CAPTAIN D and I would like to THANK YOU again from the bottom of our hearts for your generous nature and your sailing yacht and sailing expertise which you shared so eloquently.  We could NOT be happier with a sailboat.  You held our concerns and needs in the forefront and in the end, we got the EXACT right sailboat for us!

We would highly recommend Bill Hersey as a yacht broker, if you are LOOKING for a sailboat or any kind of boat.  Bill's experience is outmatched only by his integrity and patience for his clients.  He is a great guy to have in your corner whether you are in the market for a $40 thousand fixer to a 10 million dollar yacht.  Bill KNOWS boats... of all sizes and flavors.  Let us know if you would like to get in touch with Bill Hersey we will be glad to give you his business information!

This page will serve for a THANK YOU and a REFERENCE Page for our site.  Captain D and I have been blessed with finding MANY AMAZING SAILORS and PROFESSIONAL BOAT PEOPLE and FRIENDS who have helped us out over the last few years from way back when we began our search for OUR boat through TODAY.  We will give you our opinion of how they helped us or guided us.  In many cases, these professionals have become dear friends.   Both of us have many people to send BIG THANKS to...   We have been blessed with much good fortune in finding the boating professionals we have FOUND, because we were LUCKY and stumbled onto some great people, or in some cases great REFERALS from outstanding people we came to trust --still others came into our boating world through research and timing.  However these people and businesses showed up for us, we give THANKS.