Author Archives: Ash

Azimuth is ideal for crews of 2-4 people, although the late 70’s ads boast sleeping 6. Thanks to our COVID vaccine shots along the way in Stockton and Monterey, we are open for hosting! Henry and Allen joined us in Santa Barbara for a jaunt out to Santa Cruz Island and back. My last coupleContinue reading “Frisbee Beach”

During our marathon at the boatyard, I happened upon this little bop from Heather Chelan. I recommend clicking through for catchiness and the visuals. The general idea is captured in the lyric “sucking at something is the first part at being sorta good at something”. For a long while, we had this pinned-against-the-wall feeling whileContinue reading “Greetings from the learning curve”

We left Half Moon Bay just after daybreak for a sporty 88 mile sail down to Monterey. Time passed pleasantly with naps, snacks, and blue skies. The conditions were perfect for surfing the following seas and our boat speed was fantastic. I’d been holding this type of day in mind throughout the shuffle and hardContinue reading “Three sightings of the Risso’s dolphin”

I’m recalling a conversation sitting with Scott in the bedroom of my first CA apartment in the Mission District of San Francisco. The bedroom had been a living room in different times, there was a patio and garden with a buddha statue out back, and three delightful roommates. I’d met Scott 6 months before, andContinue reading “who/what/where/when/why”

Tonight is the penultimate night in our slip in Alameda, CA. We’re planning some distanced dock-side brews with the neighbors tomorrow and headed to Sausalito for a “haul out” (lifting the boat on land for below-the-waterline projects). We moved across the estuary from Oakland to this marina in early 2019. Prior to COVID-19 lockdowns, weContinue reading “Let’s get the haul out of here!”

I learned to sew in 8th grade home ec(onomics) class and picked it back up a few years ago with the desire to make garments. I’ve since made all sorts of clothes and worked with increasingly difficult fabrics – turning silk into my wedding dress and old sails into tote bags for friends. Azimuth calledContinue reading “Love Letter to Sailrite”

This is a powerful name for a toilet, and I must say it lived up to the pomp. We often comment that living on a boat requires us to dip into multiple professions to keep the whole thing afloat. Trying on the role of plumber wasn’t my favorite, but hulking the old toilet from theContinue reading “Marine Elegance”

We have a few “must dos” before heading out to sea: new rigging, replacement mast step, and windlass install. The full project list is much longer, but we could do without all but these three items. We originally planned to take 2-3 weeks to knock out all of the items in the yard, but nowContinue reading “Planning for a Haulout”