leaving at first light tomorrow

At this moment I am belowdecks updating all of you, my friends and loved ones, while my newfound sailseaster, Rachel, is scrubbing the deck and topping off the water in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. I am awed in the face of this generosity, which I have experienced so much lately. From the bottom of my heart (and Windfola’s bilge ;), thank you! Truly, our success and achievements are a result of the love and support of this community.

While I had hoped to depart today by noon, there were still a few minor things to take care and people to say farewell to. It became apparent by 1 PM that I wouldn’t be able to get far enough offshore before dark to feel comfortable for the night, so I’ll be staying here in San Diego for one more night, and leaving as early as I can in the morning.

I hope you’ll join our journey so that I can share the magic of a month at sea with you!

xo & fair winds,
elana, zia, and s/v windfola, 8 May 2019, 3:51 PM PDT

status updates: departing… Tuesday?

Guys, I am so tired! But I am super close to that moment when I’ll untie the lines! Everything was going smoothly and I was aiming to depart over the weekend. But on Saturday morning, I discovered a few issues with the engine (thanks to friends here) and so today was a rush to resolve them. What are these issues? Well, a hole through the boat with a valve on it (a seacock) has a pipe that sends saltwater to the engine to cool it. The seacock was stuck, and wouldn’t close. Trying to remove it bent a shaft on one end, and it still wouldn’t come out! There are legitimate reasons and a whole story behind why it was stuck, but the bottom line is: it has to be fixed and put back in before I go.

But that’s not all…there was a minor coolant leak from an upper reservoir, and the exhaust elbow appeared to have been installed BACKWARDS! To correct and resolve these, all of the coolant needed to be drained from the engine. And then I was told that my heat exchanger was too grimy and needed to be cleaned or replaced before I left, and I was due for an oil change (every 100 engine hours - can you believe it?! so much more frequent than a car). The heat exchanger is full of cleaning vinegar right now, I have more coolant, oil, and fresh gaskets. Tomorrow I will clean out the heat exchanger, reinstall it, reinstall the exhaust elbow (which turned out not to be backwards, just very unique…), fix the coolant leak on the external upper reservoir (a faulty hose clamp), fill the coolant, take the seacock part to a machinist to be fixed, reinstall it, run the engine until the oil is hot, drain the oil and replace the filter, and put in fresh oil. And save the world.

just kidding about that last part. :) thanks for all the love and support, my friends…

xo & fair winds,
elana, zia, and s/v windfola, 5 May 2019