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No checkout required when leaving the U.S. for U.S. flagged boats. Mexico requires BOTH check in and check out. U.S. does not care about check in/check out papers from Mexico. You do have to check in when entering the U.S. and mostly they are interested in your passports, vessel documentation, and CBP decal.

@@keeldragger thanks as always

I anchor at those depths all the time and I have yet to drag anchor but I generally do not recommend it. It helps having a large, modern anchor and all chain rode. I'm generally comfortable with 3:1 at Catalina in MILD conditions and with my specific ground tackle.

Andy was telling me about that in Florida. I only have 100ft of chain to begin with. I have never dragged really myself either but I’m always in about 20 feet of water

lol.. did you make it all the way thru?

That front-row seat to the fireworks came at the expense of a lot of rolling. Good times!

Congrats, Greg. Sounds like you had a full boat and I'm glad your first trip went well! Looking forward to catching up with you at the Island one of these days.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

The list of unfinished projects never ends, but I am happy to have most of the major ones completed.

sorry keyboard died

this is my first experience with dux. fixed intermediate backstays have not needed to be retensioned yet. backstay was on a hydraulic backstay adjuster. that failed so I had the rigger replace it with my backup turnbuckle and tang. i still have some room to add tension with the turnbuckle but I'm not sure if it will be enough without retensioning the dyneema lashing line.

The rolling doesn't really bother me much but I've always been a light sleeper - even on land. I wish I had a better solution for mounting and dismounting the hydrovane rudder. There is no way to do it from the cockpit. It was a pain trying to pull the pin to remove the rudder from the anchorage. Swells were mild at that point but it still took some effort. It's not a huge issue for me because I see myself still primarily using the autopilot for the short passages and the hydrovane will be mostly used for the longer, multi-day passages. I just cut my hydrovane adjustment line to length and use the supplied bungie and block. Used a lighter to melt the ends of the line together to make a continuous loop. Works well. Your figure 8 solution sounds like a good workaround.

@@keeldragger Thanks. The melted ends is a good solution. (I had heavy duty furler lines and elaborate splicing in my head.) And even with the figure 8 melting the ends together would be quick, use a much shorter line, and you'd never run out of line so you wouldn't need 30-50 feet all over the place. It seems to me that a 'bracket' could be made that would hold the rudder from a 'handle' so we'd have leverage, and wouldn't have to get down on our knees on the sugar scoop, trying to hold the rudder from just the very top. Pushing it under water into the current (I was heaved to but still at 3 knots) do fit on to the shaft is dodgy, and fussy to align. A longer pole on the bracket would give you a lever, make it easier Maybe drill one hole near the top of the rudder, a pin and key. The bracket that 'holds' the front and back of the rudder. You could also have a curved part that fits over the vertical shaft above the bottom bracket giving leverage against the flow of water. None of these 'clamps' would wrap around the rudder so once the pin is pulled after the rudder is secure, it'd come free. Opposite procedure to remove it. (I'll let you know when I invent it.... I wonder why Hydrovane hasn't already thought of it. It may be completely unnecessary because attaching the rudder isn't difficult in some way I don't know, or they haven't thought of it.... Wouldn't be the first time.

Not sure what happened with my prior comment. Busy but it was worse a couple of years ago. Looking forward to catching up on the island. Hope you can make Keeldraggerpalooza on 8/17 at Whites Cove.

@@keeldragger Yes I am going to try and make it out there......

Yeah, I like watching those videos when you guys hook up.

Tried to coordinate with Andy but he had other commitments and was still wrapping up his windless install.

@@keeldragger i thought you guys are divorcing or just taking some time apart 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

the bromance is still solid. LOL. check out the episode he just dropped. he's been doing some pretty epic stuff.

@@keeldragger 😂😂😂

Looking forward to connecting with you at the Island.

She's had decent success with scopolamine in the past. I made an attempt to get a mooring but there was a long line due to the Holiday. Agree with you on the stern hook. I wasn't equipped to drop one at those depths. I also considered moving in closer where there is a little less swell but then things got pretty crowded.

just heard back from them. they were trying to contact me about my car warranty!

agreed, but I downplay it if I am behind!

It's not quite that easy. You need to make sure your boat does not have an existing Mexican Temporary Import Permit, purchase Mexican Liability Insurance, have your CG/CF registration docs, and valid passport. The marinas in Ensenada are less restrictive on liveaboard slips but you need to explicitly ask each one about availability and rates. They will charge extra for liveaboard. Once you have all of that worked out, it's best to make a reservation with the marina before you leave. They will likely want some form of deposit in advance. Once you are there, they will help you with the Mexican paperwork (for a fee). Good luck!

@@keeldragger I'm a good surfer. Ive watched your stuff. I wanna buy it and sail baja and surt and keep going south.. I have all the passport stuff. I need understanding of the buying and exit procedure.

@@scottybear Easiest to use a broker for purchase and a documentation service like Dona Jenkins to check for boat title, confirm their are no tax liens, and apply for USCG documentation. Can also have them see if the boat as an existing temporary import permit. You can do all of this without broker & documentation service and save some money.

@@keeldragger So I buy this boat, then ??? take it to a mooring??? Give the docs to: documentation service Dona Jenkins, I don't live near So Cal... How long am I looking at till I can go south??

@scottybear my suggestion is to call Dona Jenkins and see how long the paperwork process takes

Appreciate the comment. More adventures to come.

We had a little bit of everything on that trip. Looking forward to seeing you out there one of these days, James.

Most of my sailing is solo and I anchor more often than I pick up a mooring. I do not have any videos specifically focused on my anchoring, but many show parts of the process. Is there anything in particular you are looking for or are there any specific questions I can answer?

@@keeldragger im a little unsure how its done cause no one at helm . do you run your windlass from the cockpit ? or idle up while weighing anchor at windlass ? setting anchor doesnt worry me too much, cause of wind blowing the boat back. am i missing something ? thank you for answering me, launching in aug .!

@@789train You may or may not want to follow my practice because it's not necessarily recommended by everyone. I tend to anchor in DEEP water (often 80-100 ft). I do pay attention to wind and work to get the bow directly into the wind. I then proceed to go up to the bow and let the chain out very fast. The risk in doing this is having the chain pile up and foul the anchor. I do try to modulate speed with drift so I'm not piling the entire chain in one place. Once the chain is out and I put on the snubber harness, which is 1/2" nylon rode to absorb shock loads from my all chain anchor rode. Then, I go back to the helm and put the boat in reverse to about 1500 RPMs or so to make sure the anchor is set. After that, I set an anchor alarm on my iPhone and watch it periodically over the next hour or two to make sure I am not dragging. I shallow waters, I might opt to use the windless remote from the cockpit. I prefer not to because I do not have a remote chain counter and cannot tell how much chain I've let out. Most folks recommend at least 5:1 scope in mild conditions and 10:1 or more in storm conditions. I regularly anchor with 3:1 scope using my 300 feet chain and modern Rocna anchor at Catalina in mild to moderate conditions and have never had an issue dragging anchor. I would not advise that you follow that as the best example and would suggest you be more conservative with your scope, particularly if you are not familiar with the anchorage, do not have all chain rode, or do not have a modern anchor (e.g. Rocna, Mantus, Spade, etc.).

@@789train I would also suggest anchoring somewhere easy, like Newport Beach, before attempting deeper waters.

Looking forward to using it for its intended purpose!

Thanks, Dawg. Pretty happy with it so far.

I have zero hands-on experience with the other designs. I like the simplicity of the installation for Hydrovane as well as the ability to use it as an emergency rudder. Control authority seems good enough but I need to experiment with it in varying wind conditions and with the sails out of balance. I had an opportunity to do some of that this last weekend. I watched Christian Williams' install video on his Cape Horn, and subsequent issues with blocks and potential chafing that had to be remediated below decks. Scratch that one off my list. It is nice not to have additional lines and blocks run thru the cockpit to the helm like many of the servo-pendulum designs require. Maybe they have better control authority and respond better since they use your own rudder to hold course. Not sure as I haven't used one.

🤟

He's done that trip solo a few times now. I'm more inclined to head directly to French Polynesia and stop by Hawaii on the return. Still working on timing but Keeldragger will be ready.

@@keeldragger Considering doing the same with a brief stop in Mexico 1st then the jump to FP, Hawaii and back home. Excited for your progress on getting you and the boat prepared for wherever the journey takes you.

@@kkots Depends on timing for me. If I depart early enough, I'd head down Baja and use Puerto Vallarta as my launching point for FP.

@@keeldragger Right on. I'm still working on some fairly big projects and this work gig keeps getting in the way. Right now I'm looking at the fall of 2025 as my target date and working the timeline backwards. A possible re-engine ( like you did) could be in the mix for me so...that could screw it all up but hey, its sailing.

@@kkots yeah. good to have a timeline to work towards, though

I heard the dredging was completed this season. I suspect it had more to do with boats favoring heading towards Santa Monica vs. El Segundo. Depths were good coming in from the South.

Exactly. Short burst of reverse to get the boat moving fast enough for steerage, shift to neutral and coast with the rudder hard to starboard, short burst of power with rudder to port to get steerage moving forward. Fairly easy when there is no wind or significant current. I wish I would have filmed backing into the slip last weekend to work on the hydrovane install. That took a couple of go arounds but still relatively drama free. That would not have been the case with my previous full-keeled Fuji 35!

Hi Mark. The prior owner had some cut outs on the bimini frames to accommodate the solar panels. In essence, holes but they were purpose built with the bimini. I currently have 2 x 125W panels and will soon be upgraded to 2 X 250W panels. The new panels are almost the same size.

@@keeldragger thanks for the info, keep up the story telling very entertaining.

It was pretty mild at TH before they arrived. I didn't see or hear the partying at anchor.

Hope you make it. If not, I'll catch up with you in Ventura one of these days. Love the tees! I'll be ordering more.

Glad you like them, Martin. Planning for many more in the future.

Love it!

No kidding. I need to clean up my act

Good to see you here again. Hope you are doing well, Mike!

@@keeldragger good to be back

Stater Brothers in Riverside has it... I've seen it elsewhere but can't recall specifically.

Used to be drinking buddies with a former member of a noteworthy Seattle grunge band, now the founding member of a yuge socal rock band. His bev of choice was Grolsch … which nearly matched his name.

He does the best Christopher Walken impersonation.

Forecast is still a few days out but I expect the typical mild conditions with light winds in the morning, possible from SE turning into 10 kts give or take from W in the afternoon. 4-6FT waves from W and SW. Hopefully you can sail it, would be a little lumpy if you had to motor.

Thank you !!

Not going to the island this weekend but give me a shout if you see me out there!

Car compass, Texaco roadmap, bubble up soda, and bologna sandwiches!

Yes! I had a Volvo Penta 2003T with almost 6k hours. V-drive seals and bearings started to fail. Difficult to impossible to get a lot of the parts and what parts I could source where $$$. I decided to repower with a Beta 35. I just passed 500 hrs and I have been happy with it so far. In retrospect, the 35 is big enough but I think I would opt for a Beta 50 if I had to do it again.

Hope your done footage came out well. Next time I will be ready!

Will do!

Yeah, I'm down. What did you get?

That seems to be about the going rate these days. I've overdue for a stay in RB. The mooring are cheap but the sea lions are loud!

@@keeldragger yes they are loud and super entitled lol