Don't know why, but I never wrote a word about XIFFY!!!!

I'm now inspired to write on a regular basis but I can't start until I catch up.  It's important to write as I go so I don't have to trust my recollection of events, as I will attempt to do here.  So lets get started.......

To tell the story of XIFFY is to tell the story from a little boys perspective.  As a youngster, I would sit on the public dock at 19th street on the bay and watch the boats, listen to the fish jump, hear the harbor seals in the distance with an occasional sighting, and I would wonder what my life would be on the water.  Not dreaming of it but resigned to the fact that, although present and accounted for, I was not part of the Newport elite that grew up sailing, attending NHHS or CDM, so what would I do? Fisherman? Boat services to the rich? What I really dreamed about was being the captain of a water taxi and maybe, just maybe, fully realizing the dream of skiperring the Balboa Ferry when I was much older. That was early 80's, now lets enter the virtual time machine to the year 2016 and leave the details for Chasing The Shade.

Betty the Rialta was never a lifelong dream but the freedom was. You can only speculate on what that is until you actually live it, 100X greater than you can imagine.  The pacific has always had such a pull on me that my travels are limited, by design, to see the best Godly creations the west coast has to offer, and I have seen 90%. But, seeing it and being part of it are vastly different!  As much as I was enjoying the travels, something was missing. I wanted to be on the water! My childhood is the harbor so I thought a Duffy would suffice. Did it and nope.  Got boring in a hurry and, in my mind, very expensive to putt around in a golf cart.

I didn't think sailing was the answer because I had never done it, or even been on a boat under sail for that matter. While everyone else my age was learning to sail, I was spending all my time at the Point, the Wedge or the arcades around the Newport Peir. Now I'm older, retired and have a lot of time on my hands.  That being said, out of nowhere I had a desire to learn to sail, finally. So, being the impetuous guy that I am, I signed up at OCC School of Sailing and Seamanship.  On my first day I was greeted in the harbor with Betty the Sailboat.  Serendipity? Maybe.

The first phase was classroom instruction on the Points of Sail.  I was lost with no frame of reference or experience to draw from. I learn by doing so when the time came to get to our craft, a Harbor 20, I was mesmerized by the GIANT boat that I was going to help sail with my classmate and instructor. First we had to learn how to get a boat ready to sail so we went through the process of removing the sail covers, rigging the boat and learning the compulsory safety lessons.  No engine, so we maneuvered the boat to the proper positon by hand, I didn't care for that bit too much.  We raised the main sail and I could feel the power of the wind on the sail and I felt an excitement that I had never felt.  Then we unfurled the jib and began cooking down the harbor!  I literally screamed like a giddy schoolboy "WERE SAILING." We tacked, we gybed, we learned critical expressions that stay with me always e.g. "when in doubt, let it out" and "tiller towards trouble." What really got me is that my first instruction was in 25 knotts of wind so we got to learn more in a day than most would under normal conditions.  I was hooked because every day would be like this, right?

That was it! Signed, Sealed and Delivered. I am the grasshopper so you know that after another class I was ready to do it on my own.  So, I rented a little harbor 14 with my daughter in the Oceanside Harbor.  She had no experience at all and I was happy to share the myriad lessons learned in my vast experience.  I was confident because all boats are the same, right? Lesson one, the harbor 20 has a self tacking jib, the harbor 14 does not.  Who figured it out? My daughter!  Lesson 2, no, every day is not 25 knotts and not all harbors are the same.  In this case, it was a very good thing. For the next couple of hours we tacked very slowly upwind and when I wasn't getting tangled up in fishing lines and getting yelled at, I couldn't figure out why we were seemingly going backwards. Back to the classroom.

Another lesson, more of the same. With a little experience under my belt, the academic portion was beginning to settle in. I really only knew enough to be dangerous at that point.  Next up, rent a little sail boat in Balboa but this time, invite my sister (not a sailor and not at home on a small boat.  Some just need a table with a Margarita.) The wisest thing I have ever done is invite salty old dog mackrat to the sail. He taught me things that I could not, or would not be allowed, to learn in class.  I held the main sheet in my left hand and the tiller in my right most of the time.  I was able to test the boundaries of the points of sail and really get a FEELING for sailing.  Mackrat's calm demeanor and decades of experience taught me more in that short session than all of the classes combined.

Back to sailing class. I heard nothing in the classroom because I was so anxious to get back on the GIANT boat!  Once there, I got to show off my new skills and all I kept hearing is "that's too much, head up" and "heeling is not efficient!"

That was it, I had boat fever!  Had to have one and had to have it now!  I thought Betty gave me freedom but I realized a whole new world was opened up to me now. I do what I do and watched every video I could find and read every article.  There's a term in academia, qausi-reflective, meaning doing only the research that supports your position.  Well, my position was I want, what I want and I want it now.  This was a dangerous approach but I found plenty of research to suggest the best way to learn was just to do it. So I started the search for a sail boat, inspired by mackrat, his boat and tales of Moss landing.

I know this is a long way to the well and you are probably thinking, what's this got to do with Xiffy? Well here we are.  My impetuous desires lead me to a boat that looked good, a 40' Erikson.  I had a fateful breakfast at Charlies Chili with the Mackrat, showed him and we even called on it.  Immediately, he disqualified it for reasons that i could not understand at the time. At the end of the conversation he causally says, remember when Tanya posted that she's got a Cal 25 for sale?  You should go look at it since its local.  Well, he told me that I needed a 40 footer so that is all I was focused on.  25 foot? What am I going to do with that? Didn't know what it was but others that I researched were old, neglected and not worth my time.  Nevertheless, I inquired. She didn't know what I was talking about at first so I was really perplexed at that point.  Then, "oh, you mean my brothers boat down at balboa island?"  We made arrangements for a showing.  I saw it and was VERY impressed, even though I had no idea what I was looking at.  I could picture my daughter falling in love with it so I brought her down right away to have a look, and she did, but I haven't seen her since.

I reported my findings back to mackrat and he was skeptical of the year, the condition of a 1969, and all for very valid reasons.  I convinced him to go with me to have a look and when he did, his eyes lit up.  This was a very special boat!  The deal was made on the spot and plans were made for a name change from Xiphias (Latin for Swordfish) to Simius (latin for Monkey.) The more time I spent with the boat, the more I learned about the history of it, and the very special previous owner. I decided the Monkey did not deserve such a gift and that it was more important to preserve the legacy of Xiphias, but I still did not like the name.  It was when the lovely grand daughter referred to her as Ziffy that I was convinced.

I will cut it short from here because most know the story.  But here is what has been done, or in the works, so far:

1. Engine did not work so rebuilt corroborator, still not running properly so replaced with new carb
2. Detail head to tow.
3. Charge existing Trojan batteries, not good enough, new Trojans
4. New dedicated start battery
5. New Brass pelican hooks for the jib
6. Rig the main and jib halyards and sheets
7. New Sail Cover
8. New Head Sail Bag
9. New 12volt outlets for the cabin interior with voltage meter
10. New bow light
11. Install ST 1000 Raymarine Auto Tiller
12. Install new Raymarine A78 GPS plotter, depth and fish finder, sonar,.......
13. Integrate VHF, Plotter and Autotiller
14. New bumpers hooks
15. New cockpit and interior cushion coverings
16. Cut 150 head sail for visibility
17. Bilge Pump
18. New Bottom Paint
19. Lazy Jacks
20. Party Size Magna Kettle Gas Grill

Seems like I'm missing a bunch but that's the heart of it all.  The learning curve in this whole process is invaluable and I'm now 90% comfortable with her on the water and at the dock. I'm very much looking forward to my future plans with her, to be revealed in a separate post.

The most appropriate and only image to conclude this post and to bring everything full circle is this.....

19th Street Public Dock, nuff said!!