#and i have secured a research group (at least 3 of us) in advance YAY they're responsible ppl and nice and fun methinks so yay

[astrxealis]

bacc from skool

[dylanbarnes]

How To Legally Change Your Name and Gender in 2017 in the state of California: For Trans Identifying Individuals

I just pretty much successfully changed my name and gender on almost every legal document except for my birth certificate. 

I am an FTM trans man and I wanted to share this in case it could be helpful for anyone going through the same process. You will probably learn as you go, like I did, but I thought maybe it could provide some support along the way if needed.

First: Everyone will tell you different information, or not tell you the information you needed. 

That is why I am writing about this, because I want to share my journey.

1. Getting a Court Order ($450)

You have to start by getting a court ordered name and gender change. You do this by getting all of the court papers required and going to a local courthouse. I found the court papers here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/25797.htm

Then you go to your local courthouse and in California it costs about $450 for your court ordered name and gender change. There is a waive fee application you can fill out but you might have to pay that expensive fee. 

You wait in line and you hand in your paperwork, where they will correct it if there are any errors, and then you get a court date. You can mail in your paperwork and get a court date mailed back to you, but I thought it would be easier to just go to the courthouse. I preferred it because the person I handed the paperwork to fixed any issues and I got my court date right there and then.

You most likely do not have to show up for your court date, they will decide if you do or don’t and you can check online at a specific date before the court date.

I did not have to show up to mine. When I went to the courthouse, it was November of 2016, and I was a little bit panicked to get my name changed for a few reasons, this was right after the election. Well, I thought, I’ll get a court date and it will be next month and it will be quick. It wasn’t however, I got my court date for February, 2017, which was about four months away. So if you are in a rush to change your name, factor in that it could take four months to get your legal court date. 

Once a decision has been made on the day of your court date, it will take about a week for the court to file your paperwork and then you can go in and pick up your legal name and gender change! yay. You should call them first and ask them when it will be ready for you to pick up because you don’t want to go to the court and not be able to get it. 

You go to the court, and you have to have your case number, which they will give to you online, or you can look it up when you are there. Then they will print you a copy of your court decree for name and gender change, which is one page, and it costs $25 to get the official seal of approval, which you NEED to change your other documents. You should, if you can, get about three copies of this decree with the official seal, which will cost you $75. Or just get one and see how far you can get with it, but you probably will have to go back and get another one. I had two printed in total.

2. US Passport (~$200)

I changed my US Passport next because I wanted to travel somewhere, it was a mistake that I waited until the last moment, never do that in general.

 What I learned about changing your name and gender on your US Passport: 

Do NOT go to the post office to get this done. There are usually long lines and you won’t get your passport for like two to three weeks if you pay for the most expensive expedited shipping, and it’s not worth it.

DO go to a Passport office, these are different than the passport sections at the post office, they are specifically just for Passports, and you can make an appointment. You have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance to get one, then you go in and you get a new passport within days. It will probably cost about $200. I paid a little over that because I went to a post office and I paid for the fastest expedited shipping. 

I tried to go to a passport office after the post office because what happened was that they told me I could submit a copy of my Physicians letter, but they were wrong and I had to mail them an original copy. You can not go to a passport office once you have already submitted your passport application elsewhere. So I just ended up having to wait about a month to get it, and I missed my trip.

IMPORTANT: every document you send in with your application has to be the original.

What you need for your US passport:

- A copy of your Driver’s License, front and back

- A small passport photo of you that you can get at CVS or Walgreens, or any of those kinds of stores

- An original copy of your Physicians statement

- An original copy of your court decree legal name and gender change

- A copy of your social security card: I can’t remember if you need this but just to be safe

- A Passport application, they will give you one when you go to your appointment or wherever you end up going

3. Social Security Card (Free?)

IMPORTANT: You MUST change your social security card before you change your Drivers License, it is a REQUIREMENT. Do not go to the DMV before you have proof of changing it otherwise you must go to a Social Security Office and get it changed.

You have to go to a Social Security Office with your:

- old social security card

- court decree name and gender change original

- new passport

- just to be safe bring your old DL and a photocopy of it, an original physicians statement, and photocopy of your passport

Sometimes the people helping me would ask me to see additional paperwork that wasn’t listed online that I would need, and I figured out that some people ask for different paperwork, so just make sure you have all your copies and original copies with you in a file or folder just in case.

I think that is all you need. You go to the office, get a number and wait to be called. Then say you are changing your name on your social security card and they will help you.

They did not charge me, and so I think it is free. It is the only free thing on this list of items you have to change. *sigh*

Then they will give you a piece of paper that is basically a receipt, or a temporary social security card, that says you have changed it and are waiting for it to be mailed. They will mail it to you within a week or two. Mine came quickly within about a week.

4. Drivers License or ID card ($27-35)

Take the form you got from the social security office with you, you will need this, they just want to see that you have done it.

 If you don’t do the social security card first you cannot change your DL because they told me when they go to look up your name in the system and they can’t find it on your SSC, then it will be reported as fraud and they won’t change your DL.

And who wants to go back to the DMV three times? I did. Well, I didn’t, but I had to and that was really frustrating to me, because I did so much online research AND met with someone at the LGBT center who was a social worker and trans and she was helping me.

In order to change your name and gender on your DL, you need to get a physician to sign a special form that you get from the DMV. I went to the DMV and got the form, but maybe there is a way that they can mail it to you if you go on their website and find out. My local LGBT center also had the forms and I requested they fill the form out and mail it to me, you can also do this. 

They charged me about $27 to get my new DL. The price seems to vary and could be up to $35.

What you will need:

- DL name and gender physician form

- original copy of physicians statement, they asked me to see this document even though it wasn’t listed that you do need it, just bring it with you

- original copy of court decree name and gender change - same as above

- DL new License form, you will get this form at the DMV

- old license - they took my old license from me, which is fine, but I thought it was weird, it must be something they do now

- Social security card receipt - they just want to see it

- bring your passport with you just in case, it’s good to have an ID with you that has your new name and gender, it made me feel secure to bring it with me

If you can, make an appointment at the DMV it will go a lot faster. If you go at odd times and don’t make an appointment that will also make it faster. 

5. Birth Certificate

This is pending for me and seems to be the document that I am least worried about changing in a certain amount of time.

The reason the other ones are so important is because of jobs, applications, traveling, and more.

But mostly for me because of jobs. In general I don’t want to be working for a company that is not trans friendly, but also, I don’t want to be discriminated against during the hiring process. I thought that it would be better to have updated ID documents, it would make it less awkward and a smoother process.

I did have a job before I changed my ID’s, and it was an awkward thing where I had to tell them, this is my birth name, but I am in the process of changing my name. And “I go by Dylan”. They understood I was trans, but there was some confusion at first and then they got it. Luckily I had a really trans friendly group of co workers and employers so it was not too bad. 

Changing your ID’s is a very expensive process. For all of your important ID’s not including your Birth Certificate you should allot up to:

$760

I wrote this because I was told so many different things in this process and had to go back and forth to the DMV three times and it was honestly such an irritating process. So I wanted to share my process in the hopes that maybe it will help someone else's process go a little bit smoother.

[ozsaill]

Planning a passage: Bonaire to Colombia

There is a good chance our upcoming passage will suck. Yay…

How do we know it’s not a simple downwind run in the trades? Enough friends, cruisers with miles, have told us how uncomfortable the stretch across the top of South America to give credence to the oft-repeated quote that this is one of the “five worst passages.” That quote is never sourced (if anyone knows a legit data source, please add in comments or contact me!) but experiences show there’s more to it than hyperbole.

How are we going to mitigate the misery? Jamie’s outlined our planning process as an exercise for the people working with us as cruising coaches. A summary of planning factors are and shared via email and our coaching Facebook group. We’ve helped as coaches with information on identifying tools to use, sources to check, questions to ask for developing a plan, as well as fleshed out details that make up the dynamics of this route. The exercise is broken into parts over a few days to facilitate discussion on different aspects in the safe space of the closed group, where there are no dumb questions or tridents thrown by Salty McSaltypants. What follows is pared back version of this exercise-turned-teaching-tool.

Passage Planning Basics

Totem lies in Bonaire over a pretty coral reef, safely secured to a mooring. Next stop: Santa Marta, Colombia! This is the planned route:

The route: Bonaire to Santa Marta, Colombia

YOUR TASK:

Assess passage for risks

Learn historical conditions AND track current conditions

Develop a safe, efficient route

Identify the weather window to depart in

identify BAILOUT options, should an issue require getting into port sooner

Know destination clearance processes

Prepare a float plan, if passage complexity necessitates it

At this point, coaching clients are asked to think about what they’d do: to pretend it’s their own passage. Identify tools, research conditions, create a plan, and especially: ask questions! They can document for feedback, discuss on our coaching Facebook group, or just let it sink in as future fodder. Below are the top notes of information shared back with them.

1 – Assess risks

Every passage has them; these are particular to our transit from Bonaire and Colombia. The purpose is to break them down and think about how they impact planning.

Dangerous waves: Comfort underway is all about the sea state. Three factors set up risk here: 1) a long fetch creating bigger waves, 2) deep water bunching at the continental shelf, and 3) strong katabatic winds.

Shipping: This is the highway to/from Panama Canal. The radar and AIS will get a lot of use watching out for traffic!

Debris in Water: River outflows send floating mats of weed and large deadheads; it’s also the leeward end of Caribbean Sea. Risk of hitting debris is higher, especially closer to the coast.

Security: Colombia and Venezuela present security risks of different dynamics, with aggressive incidents at sea and coastally.

2 – Historical weather and current conditions

Historical weather first! It trends in three-month periods, alternating between rough and calm conditions. December to February has rough conditions – lucky us! (It’s a choice. It’s always a choice.) Key dynamics are the prevailing trade winds, from the east (speeds increase in the western part of the sea), and strong katabatic winds off mountains on the continent. These katabatic winds can create sever conditions, including rough/confused seas. Helping Totem along: there should be a positive current, up to 2 knots at times, for the first 12-24 hours. It may not help the sea state, though.

Now current weather conditions: this is a complex 2 to 3 day passage. Begin watching weather well in advance to look for patterns. Look for systems that disrupt/ease prevailing trade winds/waves. The katabatic winds aren’t well integrated to GRIB models. PredictWind has more detail along the coastline, but may understate their effect.

Watch the currents for flow pattern – is it linear or disjointed? Will you have to navigate eddies and meanders? Now that we’re in countdown mode, weather and current are closely tracked to make a go, no-go decision.

OpenCPN with Climatology plugin overlay

Sources

Historical weather trend data:

Pilot Charts, like Cornell’s Cruising Ocean Atlas

Climatology plugin for OpenCPN (shown above),

Communication / blog posts by cruisers that have done this trip

Current weather conditions and forecast: note these are what we’re referencing on this passage. Other passages may add regional-specific sources!

PredictWind (various models and tools)

GMDSS (text) forecasts

local marine forecasts

observations for cruisers (when possible- thanks Itchy Foot!)

3 – Develop a safe, efficient route

We use PredictWind routing for an efficient path based on wind, waves, and current from four different GRIB models. The results show generally good grouping between the models, suggesting they agree on conditions. This still requires interpretation, however. Wave GRIBs are not good at representing real conditions when waves are affected by some land features; there are also the katabatic wind induced waves to consider.

PredictWind routing models based on different weather algorithms

The first third of the PredictWind route is free of increased risk we’ve noted earlier, and takes advantage of good current. Beyond that, we want to keep to deeper water – giving a wider margin to the continental shelf and mountainous headlands, and avoiding shallow banks. Hopefully this will reduce the katabatic wind affect and the chance of debris in the water. On the other hand, there will probably be more shipping traffic.

The wider route adds distance, making it roughly 400 miles. Estimating our boatspeed in these conditions, we hope to transit in a little over two days: a morning departure for a midday arrival after two nights at sea.  It’s possible we’d need to slow down, as we did sailing to Bonaire from Martinique. At least the moon is waxing again, so there’ll be nice light until midnight.

If seas get sloppy close to the islands, we may go further north. OpenCPN screenshot

4 – Weather window

Watching weather for the last week plus observations from cruisers in Santa Marta to helps index what forecasts show. While the forecast is for  a moderate 20 knots, to 25 knots on approach to Santa Marta, local observation is that wind is actually much stronger – up to 40 knots! Long range forecasts showing a possible window on December 26. That’s our ideal departure date, to give us a few days in Santa Marta before Jamie flies up to Puerto Rico for a rigging job. Six days out is just too far to count on at this point, but we’ll keep watching, seek local reports, and shift Totem’s plan as necessary.

5 – Bailout Options

Curacao and Aruba are options for the first part of the passage. Beyond, bailout options wane, but a helpful post on our Facebook page recommended Cabo de la Vela (thanks James!). In general, we have security concerns about stopping along Venezuela or Colombia and will avoid it if at all possible. Most passages should have multiple bailout options: find them by using guide books, charts, Coast Pilot books, and asking other cruisers.

6 – Destination clearance procedures

Outbound clearance in Bonaire is easy: one stop, one window, and they’re even going to be open on Christmas! For inbound to Colombia, the Marina Santa Marta makes it a snap. They facilitate the paperwork and cover the cruising permit, a costly process required if clearing further west at Cartagena.

7 – Float plan

I won’t get on the float plan soap box except to say – it’s important. We’ll update our existing float plan for this specific passage:  download our float plan template from here.

From our crew to yours, our warmest wishes for happy holidays! We have our festive frolic going on here on Bonaire, and hope the weather window holds for a departure on the 26th.

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