OUR NEW STINKPOT BLOG

I have decided that m/v SCRIMSHAW is worthy of her own blog.

There is a link to Scrimshaw in the right column under, "My Blog List". 

The new blog has been a while coming as I struggled to come to terms with giving up El Tiburon and our sailing adventures. This past week, Darrell and I made a happy and firm recommitment to the cruising life. Scrimshaw, our 17th boat, is a way to extend of our cruising adventures. We will continue to cruise throughout Mexico, and inevitably our journey afloat will take us north to the Pacific Northwest. 
We thought long and hard about the kind of boat we wanted for this chapter of our cruising life. The Grand Banks 42 Trawler is well-respected and a popular boat in the PNW. She is sturdy and strong with pleasing lines. A Form Follows Function kind of vessel, just like El Tiburon. I invite you to follow allow with as we prepare for our new adventure and to enjoy future posts in the new blog.
If you happen to come across that special Tayana 47 in your travels, she still bears the name El Tiburon, give her a shout out for us.

 EL TIB, you are Missed EVERYDAY!

Sparky misses El Tib too!

Marina La Cruz, Mexico

What's not to miss? 

I can easily visualize Scrimshaw in the same anchorage.

Fair Winds, Always. Sarah, Darrell, and Sparky too

RETURN TO GLORIOUS GLORIETTA BAY

We can't get enough of Coronado Island anchorage. The Del, the Coronado Yacht Club, a white sand beach on a golf course lined with palms with great swimming, and superb walks through quaint neighborhoods with fragrant flower gardens and charming cottages. That's just beginning of the "Why We LOVE Glorietta Bay" list! Add, dreamy weather, swanky yachts, good friends, yummy food, peaceful naps, and on and on and on.

Our neighbors at the anchorage.

 Spark loves lunch at the Coronado Yacht Club,
 so do we.

 Sunset view from Scrimshaw's upper deck.

 The sun goes down on The Del Coronado Hotel.

Another day, another sunset.

It also happened to be my birthday celebration. When Darrell asked me, "Where do you want to spend your birthday?" "Anchoring at Glorietta Bay", sprang from my lips.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Instead of candles flickering on a cake, I got twinkly lights beaming from "The Del".

My Birthday Present

 My Birthday present, a Pascotti Umbrella from Italy! Darrell saw the umbrella at The Del weeks ago, and returned on the sly to buy it for me. We are spending the Fall in Washington surveying the cruising grounds from Seattle to Canada and the Inside Passage to Alaska for our next BIG yachting adventure. An umbrella is not just a cute accessory, but is essential survival equipment in this part of the world. Anywho, this umbrella is not just any umbrella. Darrell scores again with the perfect birthday present for me. Every Birthday Darrell surprises me with some gift of the heart that he has planned for weeks. His thoughtful cleverness makes it difficult for me to rack my small brain to match his unique gifts when its his birthday. 

 

An Italian Pascotti.

This beauty was part of a larger display at The Del, that was actually years old. None of the fabulous umbrellas were for sale. Darrell asked to speak to the manager, and pleaded with him to let him to purchase the umbrella for my birthday. The silky blue umbrella was special, not just because of our trip to Washington, but because years ago Darrell accidentally broke my favorite umbrella. It was a umbrella I purchased at the Stanford Shopping Center, and when opened, out popped the Sistine Chapel inside. This umbrella is even better! Not only is is drop dead gorgeous, but it is very ITALIANO and given with LOVE! Bravo, again, Darrell. Gotta start brainstorming for his birthday next July.

GLORIOUS GLORIETTA BAY

Four days at Glorious Glorietta Bay.

Rafted up alongside Tapatai.

I first spotted Tapatai anchored in Los Muertos in Baja,
and she remains one of my favorite boats of all times. 
She is always maintained in the most Bristol condition. 
It's obvious she is well-loved.

 My idea of F U N !

Looking back at the Coronado Bridge.

Anchored near the Hotel Coronado and the CYC.

A great swimming beach off our stern, next to a golf course.

Looking towards Coronado Strand high-rise condos.

 Darrell enjoying his new teak birthday chair on our back porch.

Just a short jaunt to the beach for a swim.

Tapatai headed in the other direction in search of ice-cream cones.

 A pretty perfect spot for our favorite Vizsla.

 By Saturday afternoon our quiet little anchorage 
became filled with other boating enthusiasts, but 
there was plenty of room for all to enjoy sun and sea.

Creature Comforts.

A nice way to end our lovely little get away.

Early the next morning, it was time to return to reality.
No complaints from us.
Especially when the sun is shining by mid-afternoon!

Time for a beer and BBQ.

CHEERS!

LA PLAYA ANCHORAGE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Everyone loves La Playa, especially us! 

 What's not to love?

 A lush pathway connects the SDYC and the SWYC.

It's Sparky' favorite spot to run & frolic, mine too.

We could not come up with a better plan to celebrate Darrell's birthday than to hang out with good friends, from sv/ Tapatia. And no better spot to Eat, Drink, and Be Merry than La Playa Anchorage. Situated, maybe, a nautical mile from our slip at Kona Kai Marina, between the San Diego Yacht Club and the Southwest Yacht Club overlooking a lovely beach dotted with beautiful homes with lush tropical landscape. The last time we anchored here, we said a bittersweet good-bye to our Tayana 47 sailboat, El Tiburon. We are happy to return aboard Scrimshaw, our Grand Banks 42. Nothing better than swinging on a hook.

Scrimshaw has a new look, a striped canvas on the bridge deck.

Snazzy. And Happy.

Our view from Scrimshaw's bridge deck.

 Darrell barely had the anchor set before he ventured in the water.

 Spark was a bit surprised to be left behind.

Darrell picked up our guests from the SDYC and the party began.

Penny made homemade macaroni (YUM), brought a perfect afternoon Rose wine, and a bouquet of cheerful sunflowers graced her cobalt blue vase. She also designed and illustrated D's birthday card. Fred is always the life of any party.

I wrangled up seafood kabobs from our favorite local store, Jensen's. Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with raspberry filling rounded out the meal. Captain Darrell had recent eye surgery, so he is sporting a pirate patch. So very dashing on him too!

Happiness in a vase.

There is no better way to celebrate the birth of the "Man of My Dreams" than being surrounded by sunshine, blue water, and plenty of Laughter & Love. Next weekend plan we to anchor for a couple of nights with Tapatai in Glorietta Bay off the Coronado Yacht Club with the scenic and grand Del Coronado Hotel in the background. My dad would have loved this outing. Our family visited the "Del" sometime in the early sixties, and my father introduced me to lake sailing around the same time. The first time I sailed off into the sunset, aboard my Islander 30, towards the Panama Canal, my father stood on the dock of the SDYC waving me "Fairwinds". The next time I saw him, ten months later, he was waving "hello" to me from the docks at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club. Since I was 16 years-old, sailing and my father went together. He cheered me on to cross the Atlantic, and again when I made a second trip to Mexico in 1990. Thanks Dad, I miss you. He never saw our 1956 Chris Craft 46, Catalina 38, Peterson 44, Tayana 47, or our GB 42.  He would have approved of them all, and he continues to be by my side for each adventure in spirit.

Darrell shares many of the same qualities I admired in my father. Happy Birthday D.

WE LOVE SAN DIEGO

Sparky loves San Diego too. Always has. 

Spark checks out the crowd at our second Chris Isak concert at Humphrey's.

We can NEVER see enough of Chris. EVER.

 San Diego Yacht Club in full dress 
for Opening Day.

Each yacht was spit and polished to the nines.

 Hanging out with Tapatai.

Darrell is a happy man aboard Mr. Scripp's fine yacht, Miramar.

Our Kona Kai Hood

Hanging out at The Vessel at the Kona Kai Resort & Marina.

Our favorite visitor aboard Scrimshaw. 
Jack looks a bit skeptical about the height, 
but the boy loves boats.

"Mimi's Boat" was Jack's first string of words.

Wherever Jack is, his favorite thing to do with
 Cappy (short for Captain) is to snuggle up and read.

We started indoctrinating Jack about boats early. 
His first Christmas, at age 5 months, was aboard Scrimshaw 
at Westpoint Harbor on the Peninsula. 
He also attended his first Christmas Eve Service 
at Stanford Memorial Church.

As doting grandparents, 
we take our duty to instill proper values seriously.
We are doing our best to insure Jack's love of yachting.

True LOVE in San Diego,
or anywhere.