Settling Down in Richmond

Unfortunately our access to the internet is somewhat limited around this boat harbor. A small nearby shop offers free internet but they can offer no electrical power which makes my battery-dead laptop useless. Brenda was able to do an hour's work there before her battery died but we have concluded that our internet work will have to be done at a proper cafe like the one that we used to get the last set of photos out to the blog. Traveling to this cafe will be easier now that we understand the bus system better and that I have my Christmas present (to be explained below). Anyway, I expect to produce fewer than daily blogs entries while at Richmond, and some of those entries - such as tonight's - will be via Sailmail and the HF radio which means no photographs.

On Saturday, after having lunch and sending out the last blog at an internet cafe about a mile from the harbor we asked directions to the BART station and were told that it was about "two blocks" away. We walked and walked and soon found ourselves walking through run-down and "economically challenged" neighborhoods that would appear rough and dangerous to many people. This was a big contrast to the up-market neighborhood of Brickyard Cove and I told Brenda that we were walking through what is much of mainstream USA. Soon we came up to a Latin American family and asked the way to the BART station. Each of the two men pointed in different directions. After they got their story straight we thanked them and resumed our walking. Then one of the men called asking if we wanted a ride. Soon we were in the car being driven by the lady of the house. At the BART station, which was quite a distance away, Brenda gave her a bottle of red wine over her protests. ... So much for rough and dangerous neighborhoods.

Yesterday was Sunday and we took advantage of it to have a quiet day. We spent more time exploring our surroundings by foot and Brenda had her hour of internet connection at that nearby store. We also went for a walk where we stumbled on the "Rosie the Riveter" memorial (explained in a later blog). We also got a visit from Noel and Jacky, two Australians who that week had purchased a 51-ft sail boat that they are preparing for departure to Australia in about two weeks.
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Today, Monday, we hit the deck running with a set of objectives and had a successful day. Just after 9 AM I made contact with Elizabeth at Durant Canvas at the KKMI Boat Yard on W Cutting Road and she agreed to repair my cockpit spray dodger that I had removed the day before. She said that it was not far from West Marine, another of our destinations. We got on the no. 74 bus and at the BART station transferred to a no. 72. We got off the corner of W Cutting and Garrard and walked past West Marine to Durant about a half mile down the road. Elizabeth seems to run a small one-person show and seemed perfect for the small dodger repair job. As usual, I gave her license to do any strengthening work that she deemed appropriate. When I told her that I needed that dodger to get me around the Horn she said that her grandfather had rounded the Horn, she had seen film of what it was like, and I was crazy to try to do it. I thanked her with all sincerity for calling me crazy. As we walked away I realized why I was so happy at being complimented with the word "crazy". I had just finished the best book on small boat sailing that I had ever read, "Sea Quest" by Charles A. Borden, subtitled "Global Blue Water Adventuring in Small Craft". This is a book given to me by Robert on the slip next to ours in Port Townsend. The word "crazy" put me in distant company with the truly amazing crazies of small boat cruising.

We then walked back to West Marine where I placed a Navionics 18XG cartridge on order. (It will arrive tomorrow.) For $199 I'll get charts covering all of South America including the Galapagos. I did not purchase the 17XG cartridge which covers Central America and the Caribbean because it would provide for my needs only the West coast of Central America. I'll rely on C-Map for that section.

While I was dealing with the cartridge Brenda spotted some fold-up bicycles for sale. We both did a trial run on one that had been marked down from $299 to $199 and after mutiny from the crew over who would pay ("Who's the captain?" the salesman said; "I thought I was." I replied) Brenda won and I had my first Christmas present of this year. And a fine present it is: aluminum frame and wheels, 3-speed, and folds up to a small and light package.

Brenda then departed on foot for the little town of Pt. Richmond and I proceeded to Brickyard Cove where I saw Evan and picked up a wool sweater that I had left at Dick's home. I then rode to Pt. Richmond where I connected with Brenda again and we had Reuben sandwiches for lunch. We then went on a stroll through the town and stumbled onto the tourist center where Craig and Michelle were very enthusiastic in providing us with maps and other information of the area. Craig gave me a 247-page book published by the US Department of the Interior titled "Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park" which contains much of the history of Richmond in WWII which I consider fascinating. (I would like to say more on this history later.) I signed the guest book and they said that we may have been their most distant visitors yet, though they had had a visitor from Zambia.

We then went to bus terminus and with some help I mounted the bicycle on the rack at the front of the No.72 bus and we rode to the BART transfer station. Their counter was open and Brenda and I purchased BART senior tickets that normally cost $24 for $9 each. (Getting older does have certain advantages, doesn't it?) We then got on a no. 74 bus and returned to the boat harbor. I wondered what the "Chateau De Sabazan" 1995 French red wine that I had purchased in Pt. Richmond for $9.99 would taste like. (It turned out to be an excellent buy: smooth with lots of flavor.)

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