Patrick, Susan and Jonathan needed to go home to tend the vineyard they have, which left Marian and I on our own to enjoy Northern California. Our first task was to rent a car and get the fuel leak fixed. I walked the short distance to the Chandlery and entered the store. I met the owner, Steve, and started to ask him if he had any Permatex, a sealant I was going to try to fix the leak. As I was asking I then realized what I should do was describe my problem and see if he knew anyone that could fix it. As I described my fuel leak to Steve I noticed another gentleman standing in the store. When I finished my long winded story, Steve pointed at the gentleman and said “Here’s your man, meet Dennis, our mechanic”. I shook his hand and we started to discuss the problem. Much to my delight Dennis said he could look at it right away and with any luck it would be fixed within the hour. So we ran down to the boat and Dennis crawled into the engine room. We soon realized we needed a bigger wrench to fit the fitting, so off to ACE hardware to buy three new wrenches, a 1 and a quarter, a one and an eighth and a one inch wrench now grace my tool bag! Returning to the fitting we pulled it off and found that a brass nipple had been cut down by about an inch, perhaps so the fitting would fit flush against the top of the supply manifold? The effect of cutting an inch of thread off a compression fitting was it was guaranteed to eventually leak, it was just a question of time. Why the boat manufacture did this is beyond me? I think perhaps the fitting is used in other parts of the boat and someone grabbed this one and put it in a configuration it wasn’t designed for. To make a long story short, Dennis had to assemble and disassemble that thing 3 times to get it to stop leaking. It also required us to purchase 3 different parts to get it to stop completely. In the end it cost about $200 for parts and labor, not bad considering it could have been much worse.
With the fuel system leak fixed we were able to move the boat down the harbor and get away from Miss Sarah. Tying up next to Paloma at the furthest south mooring was a delight. We could hear the surf and smell the ocean from our slip, which became our home for the next 6 days, as we waited out a series of Pacific storms that had the offshore seas really beat up. During this time we toured the town, went for walks along the beach and finally went for a drive in the Redwoods.
As we were driving down 101 Marian announced “I’ve been here before, this all looks so familiar”. Well sure enough, not more than 10 minutes later we came around a bend and there was the biggest Paul Bunyan and Babe you’ve ever seen. Marian was beside herself as she said “this is it, this is where we stopped years ago when my Dad took us to Disneyland”. She then recounted stories of her brother Mike and how he could mimic the voice of Paul Bunyon “HELLO DOWN THERE, WHO’S SITTING ON MY SHOE?”. It was delightful to hear Marian recall her childhood and affirm how great the memories of her parents’ trips were. Well, we HAD to pull over to see Paul and Babe and to tour the Mysteries of the Woods Park. As we got out of the car, what do we here? “HELLOW DOWN THERE, WHO’S SITTING ON MY SHOE?”. Sure enough, nothing has changed in the 25 years since they made this trip. Paul is still there, as is Babe. 
So, after spending an hour or so at the park, we headed further into the Redwood forest. We returned home after 6 hours of driving and had a great nights sleep.
The rest of our time in Brookings was filled with more dinners on and off the boat, maintenance items and other tasks that kept us busy. Busy enough that we had a hard time getting these stories down. One event did occur that has to be mentioned. Patrick and Susan had made a decision to buy a puppy for Jonathan. I really admire them for making this decision, because it’s a huge commitment for all three of them. Clearly they are doing this because they know Jonathan would benefit from a dogs companionship. They had chosen a Beagle as the dog of choice and a breeder was located about 60 miles up the coast in Bandon Oregon. So, when Patrick, Susan and Jonathan returned to the boat we took a day to travel north and look at 18 puppies with the impossible task of having Jonathan select one for his very own.
We traveled in two cars and had a delightful trip. Actually finding the breeder was a bit of a challenge, but it gave us the excuse to drive down some driveways and see some of the most amazing houses and properties. Anyway we finally turn the corner and find the home of the breeder
We met Carol and she took us in to show us the puppies. To say Jonathan was in Puppy Heaven was an understatement. He was literally surrounded by puppies. Puppies to the left, to the right, in front of him, behind him, it was delightful. Susan and Patrick provided feedback on various attributes to look for, but honestly it was just about impossible to pick one from another. There were two that stood out. One was the smallest, the runt of the litter so to speak. Of course Jonathan had an attachment to it, but Patrick was able to describe that sometimes the runt isn’t a good choice and perhaps they should choose one of the puppies that was healthier. So, a few special puppies seemed to stand out. Two of the puppies had tan markings rather than the traditional tri color blend. One of the two tan puppies was spoken for, but the other was not. His name was Underdog. I was hooked, as were Jonathan and Susan. I think Patrick would have preferred a traditional color puppy, but he choose to let Jonathan exercise his choice and they decided Underdog was the one. Jonathan has decided to re-name him Scout and they will be getting him in about 6 weeks, just in time for FUBAR.
Seeing so many puppies was exhausting, so we went off to enjoy a wonderful lunch at Bandon Dunes a premier gold resort on the Oregon coast. Finally we got in our cars and returned home to the boats to settle in for the night. I think all of us dreamed of snakes, snails and puppy dog tails that night!
Finally we wrapped things up in Brookings, returned the rental cars, said goodbye to Dennis and Steve and headed for our next stop. Eureka.
With the fuel system leak fixed we were able to move the boat down the harbor and get away from Miss Sarah. Tying up next to Paloma at the furthest south mooring was a delight. We could hear the surf and smell the ocean from our slip, which became our home for the next 6 days, as we waited out a series of Pacific storms that had the offshore seas really beat up. During this time we toured the town, went for walks along the beach and finally went for a drive in the Redwoods.
As we were driving down 101 Marian announced “I’ve been here before, this all looks so familiar”. Well sure enough, not more than 10 minutes later we came around a bend and there was the biggest Paul Bunyan and Babe you’ve ever seen. Marian was beside herself as she said “this is it, this is where we stopped years ago when my Dad took us to Disneyland”. She then recounted stories of her brother Mike and how he could mimic the voice of Paul Bunyon “HELLO DOWN THERE, WHO’S SITTING ON MY SHOE?”. It was delightful to hear Marian recall her childhood and affirm how great the memories of her parents’ trips were. Well, we HAD to pull over to see Paul and Babe and to tour the Mysteries of the Woods Park. As we got out of the car, what do we here? “HELLOW DOWN THERE, WHO’S SITTING ON MY SHOE?”. Sure enough, nothing has changed in the 25 years since they made this trip. Paul is still there, as is Babe. So, after spending an hour or so at the park, we headed further into the Redwood forest. We returned home after 6 hours of driving and had a great nights sleep.
The rest of our time in Brookings was filled with more dinners on and off the boat, maintenance items and other tasks that kept us busy. Busy enough that we had a hard time getting these stories down. One event did occur that has to be mentioned. Patrick and Susan had made a decision to buy a puppy for Jonathan. I really admire them for making this decision, because it’s a huge commitment for all three of them. Clearly they are doing this because they know Jonathan would benefit from a dogs companionship. They had chosen a Beagle as the dog of choice and a breeder was located about 60 miles up the coast in Bandon Oregon. So, when Patrick, Susan and Jonathan returned to the boat we took a day to travel north and look at 18 puppies with the impossible task of having Jonathan select one for his very own.
We traveled in two cars and had a delightful trip. Actually finding the breeder was a bit of a challenge, but it gave us the excuse to drive down some driveways and see some of the most amazing houses and properties. Anyway we finally turn the corner and find the home of the breeder
We met Carol and she took us in to show us the puppies. To say Jonathan was in Puppy Heaven was an understatement. He was literally surrounded by puppies. Puppies to the left, to the right, in front of him, behind him, it was delightful. Susan and Patrick provided feedback on various attributes to look for, but honestly it was just about impossible to pick one from another. There were two that stood out. One was the smallest, the runt of the litter so to speak. Of course Jonathan had an attachment to it, but Patrick was able to describe that sometimes the runt isn’t a good choice and perhaps they should choose one of the puppies that was healthier. So, a few special puppies seemed to stand out. Two of the puppies had tan markings rather than the traditional tri color blend. One of the two tan puppies was spoken for, but the other was not. His name was Underdog. I was hooked, as were Jonathan and Susan. I think Patrick would have preferred a traditional color puppy, but he choose to let Jonathan exercise his choice and they decided Underdog was the one. Jonathan has decided to re-name him Scout and they will be getting him in about 6 weeks, just in time for FUBAR.
Seeing so many puppies was exhausting, so we went off to enjoy a wonderful lunch at Bandon Dunes a premier gold resort on the Oregon coast. Finally we got in our cars and returned home to the boats to settle in for the night. I think all of us dreamed of snakes, snails and puppy dog tails that night!
Finally we wrapped things up in Brookings, returned the rental cars, said goodbye to Dennis and Steve and headed for our next stop. Eureka.
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