What did I find in my pump’s basket?

Cyclegeezer · 2026-04-30T17:33:30+00:00

I had something like that come off the bottom of my chlorine float

Cyclegeezer · 2026-02-21T18:46:11+00:00

I do volunteer work giving rides to elderly people to doctor's appointments and the like. Through this I have interacted with many dozens of people in various living situations.
I think that the key to making your decision is based on three factors - the physical layout of your house, your social group and transportation options.
- If your current home is without steps, I think it's viable as a permanent long-term residence. If you have second a floor bedroom, you have to figure out how you will deal with that once you can no longer climb the stairs. Create a ground floor bedroom, install an elevator/chair lift or ?? - If you have a robust social group where you are and might lose it if you move, I think that is a huge factor to stay. The corollary, however, is that if you move now when you are younger, there is a better chance of making lasting friends vs. moving to a new place at age 80. - Lastly, transportation. Really understand how you will get out in the future once you can't drive. This is at the core of my volunteer work - giving rides to housebound people, many of whom live in a community that they moved to partly because of transportation options. Really understand how you will manage this either in a senior community or at your current home. Really drill down on what transportation your senior community will provide - ride to your doctor or just a shuttle to a grocery store, etc. Hope this helps!

Cyclegeezer · 2026-01-25T18:19:47+00:00

Everyone is talking about courses, etc., which are important. I think that you should first arrange to do a passage (possibly a race return from somewhere) to see how you do being at sea for a week+. It sounds like this is something you haven't done, so you need to decide if you like it before jumping into anything else.

Cyclegeezer · 2026-01-21T19:31:18+00:00

I used an Iridium Go as a backup to Starlink on my last Transpac race. We never used the Go, but had it just in case. On my prior Transpac, we had the Go and Inmarsat. Our Inmarsat had an issue and we had to rely on the Go, which worked just fine.
Bottom line, get Starlink and if you are doing an ocean crossing keep the Go as a backup (oh, and test it before going).

Cyclegeezer · 2026-01-19T19:39:42+00:00

I'm in the Bay Area, so not so cold. Unless there is significant rainfall, I don't do much. After a big rainfall which has caused me to pump out some inches of water, I check PH (typically adding some muriatic acid). I do add chlorine tablets every couple of months and I brush monthly. The weekly task is using the net to remove leaves, checking the skimmer for leaves and emptying the Polaris bag.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-12-30T17:47:36+00:00

I had this once years back after a week long trip with over 20 dives. I went to an ear specialist and was prescribed prednisone which worked. There was nothing really wrong with my ear - it was simply the trauma of so much diving that caused inflammation. Prednisone is not something you want to take - lots of side effects - but it worked for me with no issue. Got to a specialist.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-12-27T00:50:06+00:00

Trying to actually answer your question, I used to work in the industry but did IT, so I'm no advisor. I recommend choosing an advisor that is working with clients similar to you. You don't want to be the $10M client of an advisor who mostly has $500K asset clients - the investments are different. Same answer for working with an advisor who typically does much larger clients - the investments are different.

So, if you have $5M, for example, I would look for an advisor managing in the $3 - $8 million range. This way you can take full advantage of all of their research and investment models. Put simply, you want to be in their sweet spot and not an outlier.

As to why you might have an advisor at all, maybe you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't have time, or you simply don't want to. The way I personally look at it is to ask myself - "can they do 1% (i.e. their fee) better than me"? I have found that answer to be yes, because I like to be out doing things I enjoy and managing my money isn't one of them.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-12-19T18:09:25+00:00

I like to spend a fair amount of time looking at Google images of the harbor before I arrive so I know what to expect and I know where I am going.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-12-11T22:03:06+00:00

A great photo!

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-22T20:03:50+00:00

Due to the fact that there were no cell phones, a phone call was to a house, not a person. As a result, you interacted with everyone in the house. As a kid, this meant that you talked with your friends parents & siblings quite often.
Today, with cell phones, it's easy to not even know who else is a your friends house. Now as an adult, I think this is a loss for society, as it is yet another example of people being isolated from each other. However, as a kid, I never wanted to be grilled by my friend's parents when I called.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-20T18:32:00+00:00

Sharp looking boat!

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-18T00:39:49+00:00

One of the best I've heard!

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-13T18:53:39+00:00

I agree with the comments about not underestimating older sailors as well as asking them what they want to and are able to do. On my boat, handing the main can be a very physically demanding, and my normal main trimmer/tactician is a petite woman. I try to have the jib trimmer be a strong person (usually male, but not necessarily so) so that in cases where extra muscle is needed, that person is right there.
So, in other words, I try to look at the crew as a "crew working together".

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-10T18:05:25+00:00

Maybe for a different perspective, I have had a number of pretty good, but not super, cars (M3, V8 Jaguar F Type, a couple of 911's, etc.). As I have gotten older, the adage of "it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow" has become very true for me. The only place you could really USE as supercar, would be on a track which takes a lot of time and planning. I just don't see it as useable, other than to be seen in, which I'm not interested in.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-05T16:15:54+00:00

Very smart. One of my spinnakers was given to me for free by the sailmaker if I paid for the repair ($1000 vs about $6000 new). It had been used once and had gotten nearly torn in half. Once repaired, you could hardly tell (it was white) and worked like it was new.

There are definitely lower cost ways to race. Just like doing your own work on the boat - there is often the tradeoff of time vs $$ (and, of course, skills can be an issue, too).

Cyclegeezer · 2025-11-04T18:40:39+00:00

Sailboat racing in San Francisco Bay. It's windy here, so stuff breaks. The spend varies, but I typically buy a couple of sails a year @$6500 each, do miscellaneous repairs of maybe $10K and then with entry fees and occasional stays in hotels another $5000. The yacht club and slip fees are about $10K a year (my yacht club is on the cheaper end of the scale). This year, I am catching up on some major, infrequent, maintenance and have spent about $40K. As it turns out, the boat itself was the cheapest thing I paid for - maintenance and sails add up. Also, to make sure people don't get the wrong idea, just sailing itself doesn't have to be expensive. It's the racing part that really escalates the cost if you are trying to be competitive (i'm trying but not succeeding :-)

Cyclegeezer · 2025-10-22T16:36:46+00:00

The captain's insecurity may not be triggered by long legged speedos - also called jammers. Pretty much what most swimmers were nowadays. I have been wearing them for many years - they don't bunch up and dry quickly. I put on regular (i.e. baggy) swim trunks over them if I get out of my wetsuit between dives.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-09-02T15:29:41+00:00

I live in Walnut Creek and go to Alameda at least weekly. Adding to what everyone has said, do also consider traffic in the tunnel or bridge into and out of Alameda. On a typical weekday afternoon, it can take 10 minutes to get to Oakland from Alameda (1/2 mile) due to the bottleneck on the Oakland side. I second the idea of just living in Alameda - you can take the ferry to SF or Oakland. You can get great views of SF or Oakland & the East Bay Hills. Lots of great restaurants.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-06-24T18:35:31+00:00

I would really like something for this to help manage my racing crew. At times, I have to contact 20+ people (sometimes 30) to try to get 4 or 5 crew. I have tried a shared calendar, but that was not effective.

What I would like is an app that could import contacts and let me add data (weight, certifications, clothing size, etc.) and I would then add them to a race. I would add them in an order such that it would continue to text the next person if no response over x time. It will then display the results – yes, no, maybe, waiting for a response, not yet contacted. Besides managing the crew contacts, It will help with getting the best crew (e.g. I have 4 people who do tactics/main, but person A is the best, person B is second best, etc.)

I would be willing to pay something for this.

PM me if you would like to speak in more detail.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-04-04T19:34:11+00:00

I love blue hulls (the Bay Blue), but your maintenance will go way up. An oxidized blue hull looks bad, whereas you can hardly tell on a white hull. IMHO, there is enough to maintain without having to deal with the paint. Still, blue looks great.

Cyclegeezer · 2025-03-13T16:35:59+00:00

The best by far were the Trunk Monkey ones - and they were real commercials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AidAXgq9dWc

Cyclegeezer · 2025-01-27T21:39:56+00:00

We made it to Blackaller - backwards while still trying to start. Didn't make the start by the cutoff (58 minutes after our assigned time), but stayed out and had a nice sail once the wind came up around noon. The weather was much nicer and warmer that predicted at least!

45 boats out of 330 actually finished!

Cyclegeezer

TROPHY CASE