FUBAR Odyssey: Presented by San Diego Yacht Club and Mexico Tourism Board

NUMOON

BOAT NAME: NuMoon BOAT TYPE: Nova Sundeck SKIPPERS: Alexus Sheppard & Deb Perry EXPERIENCE: 2 Years CLUB: Alameda Yacht Club BUILT: 1984 PURCHASED: 2007
FAVORITE DESTINATION: Ayala Cove, Angel Island State Park, San Francisco Bay, CA. This is our favorite recurring destination because it's close to our home port of Alameda, nicely sheltered from almost all weather conditions, has a nice mooring system, and is absolutely beautiful!
FAVORITE BOATING EXPERIENCE: Deb and I have been living aboard NuMoon fulltime for over a year now. In early May 2008, we left Alameda and headed for the Pacific Northwest. We spent the summer cruising the San Juan Islands of Washington, Gulf Islands of British Columbia, then went up the Canadian fjords to Princess Louisa Inlet and Chatterbox Falls, then on to Desolation Sound, and finally back south into Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Shortly after Labor Day 2008, we headed south back down the coast to Alameda. We spent about six weeks there, having some work done on NuMoon, and then cruised to SoCal for the winter. We spent the holidays in Marina Del Ray and then harbor-hopped to San Diego. While in the San Diego area for two months, we also cruised briefly down to Ensenada. In March and April 2009, as we came back up the coast heading north towards Alameda, we spent time exploring Catalina Island, Santa Cruz Island, and once again, harbor-hopped our way home. We'll spend the summer and early fall back in Alameda before once again heading south down the coast for FUBAR. So our favorite boating experience? Cruising, cruising, and MORE cruising!
ABOUT THE CREW: NuMoon will have an all-woman crew... Deb says: First mate, Dockhand, Cook, back up Navigator and Relief Captain, I’d say I have a full life aboard NuMoon. Not having previous ocean going experience has not stopped me from becoming comfortable with paper and electronic charts, AIS, Sonar, Radar and Autopilot systems. I have no desire to cross an ocean, but I love coastal cruising. Handling the lines in all of the various ports, fuel docks, locks, anchor and mooring situations has taught me a great deal and aids in close quarter maneuvering. The difficult job of actual docking is still left to Alexus, but I have taken our boat through the entrance of the Malibu Rapids in Canada on the way in and out of Princess Louisa Inlet and Chatterbox Falls. I look forward to learning more and actually taking the helm during docking and or close quarter maneuvering. Loe' Muir Spencer - I am a recently retired Information Technology Professional. My boating experience is basically small craft recreational including ownership of Albin 25 and Albin 36 trawlers. Virtually all cruising was local to SF bay, delta and immediate coastal waters. I am grateful for the opportunity to experience the FUBAR fellowship and look forward to the adventure. Rachel Henderson - Former embryologist now working in IT and for The Chandlery on Bainbridge Island, WA. I took up sailing in Colorado last summer and I was hooked. When I moved to Washington with my partner, I thought wouldn't it be fun to work in a boat shop so I gave up my life in science, got an IT job to pay the bills, and started working at the chandlery to learn about boats by osmosis. My boating experience is fairly limited but I will be sailing all summer and look forward to putting my new navigation skills to use during FUBAR with my extraordinary friends Alexus and Deb. Is it November yet? Cheers everyone! Lori Wallerstein is an attorney, long time adventurer, boat owner and live-aboard. She, and her 37 foot trawler named the Pushy Broad, commenced their maiden voyage by traveling from the CA Delta to Alameda with Captain and First Mate of the NuMoon. They have taught her the art and science of the waves, the tides, the current and never ending reason why she should have paid more attention to those sciences classes in school. FUBAR will be her longest trip on a boat, and how perfect it is that it be with Alexus and Deb!
WHAT'S IN A NAME: "NUMOON" NuMoon was the name of our boat when we bought her. In fact, it was one of the things that attracted us to her. And since this was to be the beginning of our next grand adventure, it seemed only fitting that, metaphysically speaking, the term New Moon means "Plant the seeds of your next dream." And she has certainly done that!
REASON FOR PURCHASING THIS BOAT: Other than her name, and after looking at dozens of boats, we had decided that we wanted a trawler-style, twin engine boat that we could comfortably live aboard. And while NuMoon had been somewhat neglected in the two years prior to our purchase, we could tell that the needed work was mostly cosmetic. So getting her in tip-top cruising condition was a great learning experience for both of us.
PREVIOUS BOATS OWNED: Quite simply, none! (although we've both grown up in families that enjoy boating and/or have owned smaller trailerable boats) I'm also a private pilot and certified divemaster.
INTEREST IN THE FUBAR ODYSSEY: We're quite interested in spending an extended period of time in Mexico. Then we want to eventually cruise down into Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal, and then on to the Caribbean. So learning the basics of cruising Mexico, while in the safety of an organized event like FUBAR seems like a wonderful way to learn the routine of foreign ports. And for anyone who's met us, it goes without saying that Deb and I are both VERY extraverted and social women! So it seems that FUBAR will be the perfect combination of boating, learning, and socializing with other boat lovers!
BOATING STORY: In preparation for our trip up the coast to Canada, we spent a lot of time cruising in and out of SF Bay in various conditions. We practiced in the daytime, in the night-time, in the fog, wind, calm seas, rough seas, and just about everything in-between. What we did not practice was the combination of complete darkness AND fog! But as luck would have it, that was the condition on the morning we left. So as we headed out into the bay in the tiny "wee" hours of that May morning, feeling somewhat nervous with the combination of darkness and fog, we were relying heavily on our chartplotter, radar, and AIS. So as we picked up ship and buoy targets on the radar and AIS, we listened intently for their fog horn signals and/or bells to verify their positions. And as we navigated through the channels, under the Bay Bridge, and past Alcatraz Island, we were suddenly aware of a very loud horn that we simply could not identify on either the radar or AIS. We slowed to minimum speed in the darkness and listened intently to the recurring horns and bells, once again comparing the sounds to the radar and AIS. But there was still ONE very loud horn that did not seem to show up on our electronics. So we quickly moved completely out of the shipping channel, closer to the piers and coastline of downtown San Francisco and carefully navigated very slowly out towards sea. Just as the morning light began to appear, there was a very brief break in the fog which allowed us to see our mystery fog horn. It was the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge! Something which was clearly visible on both our radar and chartplotter. But since we’d never been out that far in the fog, we were quite simply too intent on the buoys and other moving targets to even think about the huge GG towers also having fog horns. Can you spell DUH??? Quite a humbling experience to begin our year-long cruising adventure...