As we were sitting on the plane at SFO yesterday waiting to take off for PV Jacob looked out the window at the bags being loaded onto the plane and pointed out one of our duffel bags going into the plane, ripped open with our stuff exploding out of it.

Luckily all of our bags and all of our stuff made it back to PV just fine, but every bag had been opened and inspected. We were carrying a large selection of boat parts and supplies and I'm sure that the dense metal parts set off all sorts of alarms.

Here's a partial list of what we brought back:

welding rod
galley water pumps
engine fresh water pump
gas canisters for PDFs
whisker pole end fittings
o-rings/clevis pins/bolts/nuts
2 stainless metal lengths
lanocote (lambs grease)
spray on water repellent
about 100 books


No wonder customs inspected our bags!



We are very happy to be back on Pisces in La Cruz, she's looking great, and we're keen to start getting ready for the next leg!

I thought I'd post a quick blog update on a couple of geeky boat things that I'm into right now.

1) Oceanography & Seamanship
Want to know exactly how many lbs of force it'll take to straighten your anchor rode? The optimal lookout configuration when searching for a MOB? How about the influence of vessel loading on stability? This book is great as it combines all the standard 'how to sail around the world' topics with the underlying science.



2) Antal Low Friction Rings
I spend a lot of time in chandleries staring at the blocks. Unfortunately, the prices are so high, I almost never get to actually purchase one (let alone a set!). So, I think you'll understand my excitement when I found these ring-leads. The idea (becoming increasingly common on the larger offshore racers) is that for many applications you don't actually need a block, a simple ring fairlead is fine. The advantages are huge: you save weight (not that Pisces really cares about this one), you get massive strength, there's nothing to break, and you save cost. We've ordered a few of these to play around with in a variety of different applications, and we'll keep you posted. But really, you can get a 'block' with a safe working load well over 5000lbs for under $20, how can that not be useful?!

We've spent the last few weeks on the "2010 Extravaganza Tour of US Cities," seeing friends and family and going to campus visits at potential graduate schools. Yes, this fall we will both be returning to school, Jacob for a PhD in Physical Oceanography and me for a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy.

In the course of our '10 Extravaganza Tour we've been on 7 flights (to date) and visited San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and San Diego. We are now professionals at navigating the early morning rental car scene at the airport, and explaining our cruising experience to professors in one peppy sentence.



After all this travel, we're happy to announce our new destination for the foreseeable future.....

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

We hope you all come visit us!

We'll be back in La Cruz on Pisces in a week, and will return to more regular boat and cruising blogs soon.