The two happiest days....

  in a boat owners life, the saying goes, are the day he bought the boat and  the day he sold it.
  I agree with the first part but I'm a little sad that my boat has sold. Yes I've been trying to sell her for some time but, once the papers were signed, it was like a door slamming shut on one of my dreams.

This would be nice

  That being said, I am looking on the positive side; even though it sold for considerably less than I had hoped for I have a nest-egg for my next dream. That is getting a class B camper and hitting the road to more beaches.
  I also could not have imagined a better buyer. He is young and enthusiastic, set on taking her to Tahiti and beyond. He  is taking her to Ensenada first for a haul out, paint job and installation of a whole number of things that she is without; radio, auto pilot, water maker, solar panels etc.
  A great kid and I wish him all the best.

  I managed to get about 4 hours of TH'ing in  on a small part of the beach that I, and few others, have hunted. It was slow going at first but then I found a spot that had some of the top sand swept off. It was hit after hit. I didn't have to move but a few feet between targets, ending up with a lot of lead fishing weights, some clad and two rings.

  One of the rings was a heavily encrusted silver, and the other an 18k gold wedding band weighing 10 grams. ($421 melt value)

TH'ing

When I am not working on my boat or driving my taxi I am either out on the beach treasure hunting with my metal detectors, or reading about other people out on other beaches treasure hunting with their metal detectors.

We call it TH'ing for two reasons: first-'treasure hunting' takes too long to type and second- people seem to give you odd looks if you tell them you are on a city beach looking for treasure. I understand. I don't think there were many pirates sneaking ashore to bury ill gotten gains in California.

  That being said there are treasures to be found. For the most part it's 'clad', circulated coins that are in varying stages of encrustation.

  But on wonderful occasions rings and brooches, pendants and chains, watches and bracelets can turn up.

  Summer is the best season to hit the beach.With hundreds of thousands of sun worshipers every day the odds are high that something is going to slip off a suntan lotioned hand.
  The downside is that there is a smaller opportunity to TH before it gets crowded again. I hit it predawn and evenings or even the middle of the night.
  During the Fall and Winter finds are fewer but are still there, if you don't mind long periods of walking between targets. On the plus side there are no crowds so you can TH all day.

  I have owned several different MDs over the years, but at the moment I am  down to two.

     I have a Whites Surf Pro for the wet sand areas and in the water, then I have an Ace 250 made by Garrett for the dry sand and parks. 
  I purchased the Surf Pro several years ago from a seller on Ebay. He had not used it much, and included four books on TH'ing with the deal.
  When I first started using it I left the control box on the shaft but found it to be quite tiring and changing swing hands was the only way to keep at it. Now I have the box on a belt around my waist, which makes a world of difference. Much lighter to swing, I can go all day!
  It is a great machine, with only two controls; Gain and Tuner, it is easy to set up and go.There is no discrimination on this unit so you have to dig every signal and hope for the best. On the wet sand and shallow water there is not as much trash as on the dry and after a while you can start to tell by the tone what the target is likely to be, although I still dig every target.

14kt with 19 diamonds  

 

                                                                                                                        
There is nothing like the feeling you get when you finally see something round and shiny in the bottom of your scoop!












  My Ace 250, made by Garrett, also came from Ebay. It the worlds best selling detector they say. I would not doubt it. It is very affordable, even at retail. Light weight, simple to use and with its preset modes makes a great detector for the more trashy areas.
  The first time I used it on the beach was a very crowded summer day so I was practicing in an area away from the people. After a while I was approached by a girl who told me that a lady had lost her wedding ring and asked if I could help in finding it. So over we went.  The lady was very distraught, crying and freaking out. 
 Within minutes I found the ring for her and was on my way. Ten minutes later she came up to me and insisted I took a reward for my trouble, $100!! That's two thirds of what I paid for the Ace. 
  I keep at least one MD in the taxi when I am driving and if the cab business is slow I try a little TH'ing.
  When my boat sells I intend to buy a class B RV and travel around more TH'ing as I go. I live in a 27 foot class A, but it uses way too much gas to really go far in it. It will become my 'mother ship' and the other one will be the 'pod.'

A little paint, a little sand

I had made arrangements to meet a potential buyer for the boat in the marina.
He was a no-show, which is becoming the norm.
I really don't like selling boats. What a hassle!
But it got me to the boat, which is a good thing.
It still needs work done, so little by little I am doing the work.

Today was non-skid. Last week I started on the aft cabin top, prepping then rolling paint and adding sand. I put a second layer on this today and it does not look half bad.









I have done extensive online research on the best (economically ) paint to use above the waterline on a wooden boat.
Sure I could have paid $100 a gallon at West Marine but the overall consensus was either Glidden or Behr exterior porch and patio floor paint.
It's enamel, clean up is with water. I love that.
After prepping (fill and sand) I painted a small area then sprinkled sand over it. It was a hot day so I limited the areas to about two square feet at a time.
I found that filling an old salt shaker with sand then holding it upside down, while slowly moving it around the painted deck, gave a nice, even covering.
The sand came from the beach. On a particularly  windy day, weeks before, I had gathered a bucket of really fine, wind blown sand.
This is much finer than the regular sand and did not need to be sifted.
 
The second coat that I added today really made it look good, like a fine, grey sandpaper.
I continued this procedure on the hatch tops and sections of the fore deck.
When it is all done I intend to go around the edges with a white border.

It's always good to get to be on the boat. If the Lottery would just pick the same numbers as me I could be on her more often and she would be one nice looking boat.
I still think she's the best one on the dock. It's sort of a graveyard for old trimarans.

The Story of my Boat...Bahala Na

Here is a brief history of my 35' Piver designed Lodestar trimaran.

She was built in a boatyard in Taiwan for a U.S.Navy Commander.

Arthur Piver drew plans for trimarans that could be built by novices in backyards and garages. Many were constructed, not many were constructed well.

However, this particular example improved the original plans, making it a far sturdier and safer boat.

The joints were scarfed together rather than using butt joints and a pilot house was added.

The hulls are marine grade mahogany ply with fiberglass over, epoxied below the water line.

A 'crash keel' was added, allowing harmless beaching.

I purchased her in May 2006 in San Diego from a San Francisco native who had owned her for 30 years. He was the second owner and literally had tears in his eyes when I signed the paperwork and became her new owner.

Her name was Menage (something to do with him living on her with two ladies) and she was on a mooring in Point Loma, across the bay from downtown San Diego.

A wonderful spot.

My wife and I  spent many weekends there, cleaning and removing a mass of outdated marine parts that had been stored on deck and below.
The previous owner made a living buying and selling boat parts and had used the trimarans wide decks and accommodations  as a floating storage unit.
I had always dreamed of owning a catamaran, but realized they were out of my price range, whereas a trimaran had many of the same virtues at a more affordable price.
I like the inherent  stability that comes with a multi-hull as well as the shoal draft.
My goal was to take the boat to Belize, where she would be well suited to the skinny waters around the coral reef and cayes.
Plans change, dreams change.If I sell the boat I will buy a smaller RV to visit distant places.
I think my dogs would prefer that.

Anyway I eventually (2 years later) brought the boat up to the LA Harbor, to a floating dock in Wilmington.

Although the slip fee is twice what I was paying it is only 15 miles from where I live, as opposed to 96 miles to Point Loma.

I brought her up alone on a beautiful day in February...so beautiful infact that there was no wind at all. I motored the whole way, non-stop, taking 22 hours.

I anchored at 4am at Cabrillo Beach, just shy of my destination and fell asleep for 2 hours sitting upright on a quarter berth.

She is now lying at Leeward Bay Marina awaiting new owners willing to give her a good paint job and set sail to places I had wanted to.

Selling my boat

I have put a bunch of photos on a separate page showing the interior of the sailboat.
If you got here via Ebay and have further questions please email me at the address given in the Ebay description.

It has been foggy all day along the coast and, with the clocks going back, it is the first time it has felt like Fall.
There was not any real low tide as the moon is in its last quarter.
So instead of THing I spent a chunk of the day listing items on Ebay.
I keep whittling away at possessions, trying to rid myself of useless weight.

Whilst cleaning my computer bag in the taxi I came across some writings penned some time ago.
Obviously they were written on slow nights like this.......

In California the Sun keeps you warm in the day,
But it's Winter now
And when you're old,
It's hard to keep
Out the cold.

A Mercedes pulls up,
All shiny and new,
I guess he's doing alright.
The old man looks on,
Pulls up his collar,
It's going to be a long night.

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One by one they come by the bar, look in the bucket set by the door, hoping to find a cigarette that still has a couple of puffs left.
But the smokers don't put out their butts, they toss them in and let them burn themselves out.
It's all about timing.
I sit here waiting the same way.
If I leave someone might need a cab the next minute, if I stay I could sit for hours.
And I could be missing something around the corner.

This is the start of something...

Hello to any and everyone out there.
I have started this blog to share my experiences with two of my favorite things: living off grid and metal detecting ( or TH'ing.....Treasure Hunting)
I live in an RV with my wife and two dogs.
We live right by the beach at the moment so most of my THing is beach and shallow water

I work sporadically and am on call, so I come and go quite a bit.

Right now I have to go...

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