Lions and Tigers and Beasts...oh my!

Denis and Holly on s/v Tango invited us to join with them and Judy and Jordan (Sea Turtle), for a trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We hadn't planned on doing any sightseeing in San Diego, so we decided it would be fun to go along. It was Sunday of the Thansgiving weekend, so we thought it may be busy, but the overcast skies worked in our favour and the crowds didn't appear. We saw all sorts of creatures and critters, including lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, antelope, wildebeest, springboks, and tons of birds - pelicans, flamingos, condors, ducks and more. Overall, it was a fun day! And a great opportunity to get to know the camera a little better. As usual, more pics will be posted on flickr, when a lightning fast internet connection makes itself available.

Leaving America

We're about to release the dock lines, and head off in the afternoon breeze towards Mexico. It is a short trip and we should be in Ensenada by tomorrow morning.

I'll try to sort out our photos from yesterday's adventure, stay tuned! Hopefully, we'll find an internet connection!!

San Diego Wild Animal Park

We spent the day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park with Tango and Sea Turtle. What a day...we took a TON of pictures. When I sort them out I'll add a few here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great thanksgiving with Denis and Holly (Tango) and Ben and Marion on Guinevere (from Alberta!), complete with turkey and all the delightful fixings that accompany a proper feast!! I was expecting that we'd have to sacrifice some traditions for boat living...but this is not one of them!

Our next few days were spent enjoying the hot tub at the San Diego Yacht Club, doing odd jobs around the boat, shopping, and enjoying the company of the cruisers around us. Amazing how many Canadians are here. Jordan and Judy (Sea Turtle) are from Victoria, and Tenacious Grace, an Alberta boat, who we met previously in Santa Barbara, have just pulled in beside us. And many, many more.

Today we joined forces with Tango and Sea Turtle and headed into town with the intention of visiting the Maritime Museum and perhaps the Aircraft Carrier. Well...we only saw the Aircraft Carrier. It was my first time on such a ship, and it was pretty interesting....but imagine John's delight! Needless to say...between the two pilots and John, we spent most of the afternoon wandering around, glued to our headsets. Tomorrow...we continue our touristing...and then back to this cruising business...

Other blog-able news....I just bought a super-duper-wifi-antenna-gizmo. And now I can poach wi-fi signals from even further away! Yippee!!! Yahooo!! So once again, I have internet on the boat. Just before we leave.

Newport Beach to San Diego - Happy Thanksgiving

With our theme park fix satisfied, we set off on a heading to San Diego. En route we stopped at the communnity of Oceanside. What a gem.

The Oceanside Yacht Club was soon to be our best friends. They welcomed us in and we arrived during a critical game for the San Diego Chargers, determining the winners of the Western Conference. The club lounge was decorated in team colours and we happily took advantage of offers of food and drink that was freely flowing! After the game we wandered along the town's waterfront walkway, and drooled over all the great smelling restaurants. But after our $$ day with Mickey, we decided that pasta on the boat was all our budget would allow.

The trip from Oceanside to San Diego was in keeping with the rest of the week...light winds, warm sun, and smooth seas. We arrived in the early afternoon and were able to get quickly checked in with customs and found that there were at least 6 or 8 other Canadian vessels at the police docks!! So we decided to stay...at $10.50 a night, it is the best deal around and our cheapest moorage yet (with the exception of the complimentary Yacht Clubs). It has been a bit of a hike to get to the shops and to the grocery store, but I'm already a bus pro. Internet, on the other hand, has been devilishly difficult. I'm now on a quest for a wifi booster.

We were assigned a slip at the bottom of the ramp, so we quickly got to know many of the other boats in the marina. Almost all of the boats were also heading to Mexico, so it wasn't hard to find commonalities. We were invited to a Thanksgiving potluck in a neighboring harbour for the long weekend.

We'll be moving tomorrow (Thursday), in order to take advantage of a reciprocal moorage at the San Diego Yacht Club (and be closer to the turkey feast). Even though we will have access to internet again, I imagine we won't be able to update the blog as I'll be too busy lounging in the pool. So sorry.

And a happy turkey day to all ye yanks...

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Our main reason for stopping in Newport was its proximately to Disneyland! Surprisinly, once we arrived, we couldn't find bus service to Anaheim - not even the big hotels were running shuttle buses to the happiest place on earth! So we followed the advice of locals and rented a car for the day. We drove our cute, little VW Beetle to Anaheim to discover that the park was in holiday mode already. As we wandered through the gates, we set our sights high and decided to focus on rides that were marked as in appropriate for those with high blood pressure or pregnant women. Despite being a Saturday, the park wasn't too busy, and we only waited more than 10 minutes for a ride on two occasions (Space Mountain and the Matterhorn).

It had been 30+ years since John's last visit and 13 years for me. Somehow it wasn't nearly as humongous and fabulous as John remembered it. Perhaps we should have gone to California's Adventureland instead, and he would have been able to keep his grand 5-year-old memories intact. Growing up is hard to do.

John gets a soaker on the Log Ride:

Channel Islands to Newport

This is the life. After leaving Channel Island Harbour, our approach to L.A. was obvious by the low low haze on the horizon and the frequent passing of large jets overhead. This time we stopped in at the King Harbour Yacht Club in Redondo Beach - just south of LAX. Again fabulous.Redondo beach had a pier with an assortment of bars, cafes and trinket shops...all well placed to enjoy another spectacular sunset.

We then travelled to Newport Beach, where we're now tied up at the harbour entrance. We stretched our legs by wandering around some of the gloriuos waterfront homes, but there wasn't much within walking distance of our slip.

Our last three days of travelling have been very similar. Light winds, less than 10 knots, from all directions. We've tried to sail a few times, but within moments, the sails are flogging, and we're at a standstill. Thankfully, our trusty motor has been performing flawlessly.

Santa Barbara to Channel Islands Harbour (Oxnard)

Nov 18
Distance: 30 nm
Ave Spd: 6.3 knots

We left Santa Barbara today and made an uneventful passage to Channel Islands Harbour - Oxnard. Lots more oil rigs on the way, tons of crab traps, and a few more dolphins along the way. We're now tied up at the Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club - with their beautiful clubhouse and pool. Membership really does have its privileges.
I've added a few pics to the last week or so. More to come.

Port San Luis to Port Conception...and Beyond!

Nov 16/09
Total distance: 91nm
Ave Spd: 6.3 knots
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

We had a long day from Port San Luis to Port Conception, but the weather was gorgeous - not a cloud in the sky. No wind for sailing, but that was hardly a concern for us. We had heard terrible things about the storms that rise around this point, the "Cape Horn of California". Yeah right...what a bunch of hooey. It was as smooth as a baby's bottom.
In fact, the day went so well, that we decided to push on towards Santa Barbara for the night. That would give us a whole day to rest and explore the city. We arrived in Santa Barbara at 9:30, and were directed to a slip for the next couple of nights, right near the middle of town, a fabulous beach, and close to all amenities.

The highlights of this trip were the dolphins which joined us in Santa Barbara Channel, and stayed with us for at least an hour, while I laid on the bow and watched them frolick below. It was glorious - it was after dark, the stars were glowing, and the waters was thick black, which made the contrasting trails of disturbed water that emerged behind their fins shine through the darkness. They played in the bow wake and really seemed to be enjoying themselves, as much as I enjoyed watching them. In fact...I think I may have witnessed dolphin sex!! Either that...or they were dancing a tango. If anyone is an expert in these matters - please let me know.

We also saw several oil rigs. This area is full of them. Oddly enough...all of the ones we've passed so far have names starting with an 'H'. Hidalgo. Hugo. Harmony. Heritage. Holly. Etc... Weird.

Our day in Santa Barbara was good - we fueled and watered the boat, did laundry and bought groceries, and explored town and the Sterns Wharf. The oldest working wooden wharf. Hmmm. Good chips. And I consider myself a bit of a french fry afficionado. These outshone even fries from Commercial Drive...or even from "Frites"on Robson Street. No cheese curds. No gravy. No basil garlic aioli. No nothing. Just pure, delightful, deep-fried, goodness. I expect that these will be the golden standard for some time. In fact, I don't know why I didn't take a picture.

San Simeon to Port San Luis

We arrived at Port San Luis at 1:00 today, after a 6 hour trip from San Simeon. It was a glorious sunny day, with very little wind for most of the day. We did get some fabulous sailing in this morning, when the winds picked up from the east - pretty unusual, as we still had swell from the west, but wind waves from the east. But it was a great sail, and we managed to keep our speed up for a short while. Not long after we started our motor, the Coast Guard came alongside - they were warning us about the one mile security zone adjacent to the nuclear power plant. Oops.

We arrived at Port San Luis to find out they were out of diesel fuel! We were pretty keen to fuel up, as we are still hoping to get around Point Conception tomorrow - while this high pressure system holds out. So, we took our jerry cans to the beach in our dinghy and paid $50 for a cab to take us into town for $30 worth of diesel. Oh well. Now we can rest assured that we have plenty of fuel for tomorrow. But...we did decide to eat on the boat tonight, instead of trying out the restaurant on the pier.

Renova at anchor:

The view from Renova at Anchor:

Carmel to San Simeon

On Saturday, we woke at 3am, and with favorable wind reports, we headed south. We had to cover a lot of ground, and needed to be travelling at least 6 knots all day, in order to make it to San Simeon before dark. So, we motored for most of the day, although we had a nice sail while we made (our second) breakfast, and again at the end of the day. The day was gorgeous. We first travelled in calm seas, beneath glowing stars and watched the moonrise. As the sun rose, we had a beautiful, sunny day, with moderate seas that made for a comfortable day. We arrived in San Simeon at 3:30pm, 12 hours after we started.

We're now nestled into a cute little anchorage with the Hearst Castle towering over us from the hill above. Although touring this fortress was on John's to-do list, we've moved it to the "Next Time" list. We've got a great forecast that should see us around Point Conception - the last nasty obstacle on this stretch of coastline.

Sat Phone Success

I've spent many, many hours over the past couple of weeks trying to set up our sat phone to send and receive emails and weather forecasts via our computer. What I thought would be a fairly simple task has turned out to be pull-out-my-hair frustrating. But I'm happy to report, that we have success!! Today I was able to request instant emailed forecasts, and weathergrib files (graphic images that show wind strength, wind direction and pressure isobars overlayed on a map). It is all compressed to be sent over very slow internet connections, such as our sat phone. Funny how such simple things can make me happy...

Carmel Update

We arrived in Stillwater Cove, adjacent to Carmel and Pebble Beach, after a fairly easy day of 27 miles from Santa Cruz. The swell was big enough to create quite a lively motion in the boat, and I spent most of the day in the cockpit to ease my queasy stomach. Yuck. But some of the highlights were seeing a couple of sunfish, and our first sea otters of the trip. Our next passage is a long one - 75 miles - so, we'll be watching the weather closely.

We woke up at 4:00 am on Friday, and after listening to the weather, we discovered it was already 20+ knot winds, which would be increasing throughout the day. We decided to head back to bed, and wait until a better forecast. And we were glad we did, since neither of us had a good rest in the rolly anchorage, and I spent most of the day nursing a headache. We did have a good time watching the sea otters play around the kelp bed that we were anchored in. John got a few good photos.

In Carmel

We arrived at Pebble Beach at 12:30 today. Mostly small swells, although occasional huge ones, which kept the morning interesting. More to follow when a reliable internet connection can be had. Big day tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.

Santa Cruz

We left Half Moon Bay at first light and had a great day of motor-sailing in light winds, averaging about 6.5 knots. We arrived in Santa Cruz at 2, with time for a shower before happy hour started at the marina bar. We checked the internet and enjoyed half priced appies, all while enjoying the daily dramas unfold on the beach and the (way too early) sunset beyond the horizon. The evening held its own entertainment, as John wedged himself into the engine compartment to change our transmission fluid. An early start for us tomorrow, as we head across the bay.

Going Crazy

Many a sailor has gone loopy as a result of long passages, and the relentlessness of the open ocean*. Here is proof positive that I am no exception:

It was late in the month of August,
When we sailed into San Fran' Bay.
We searched for a marina to tie for the month,
And found Clipper would let us stay.

In Sausalito, lies Clipper Yacht Harbour,
With great staff and hundreds of slips.
We settled in for what is to become
A highlight thus far on the trip.

In the 60's and 70s Saus' was a hummin',
Artists and hippies galore.
Peace and love were the order of the day,
But the community had much more in store.

City dwellers discovered the quaint little town,
Commuters rushed in to buy land,
Sausalito is now quite gentrified,
Not quite what the hippies had planned.

Now walking through town along Bridgeway,
One finds boutiques, cafes and shops.
The streets are alive, the sidewalks crowded,
As tourists shop till they drop.

We settled into Basin Four,
And John returned to work back home.
I stayed behind to watch the boat,
We'd talk everyday by phone.

I met my dock neighbors, all were just great,
Including Carol, Conrad, Betsy and Joe,
And there were many others I came to befriend,
Even Bob and Jane from Nanaimo.

I wandered the city by bus, ferry and foot,
I strolled beaches and we watched a ball game,
I saw the city from above, I shopped and I dined,
And viewed work by artists of considerable fame.

Oh Marin County - what a fabulous place,
I'd return at the blink of an eye.
To all the people who welcomed me in,
Thank you, be well, and goodbye.

--------------------

*I realize that I'm not a solo sailor and haven't been at sea for months at a time...but I tell ya...one long night shift in the cold darkness can make you go a little loopy.

Sausalito to Half Moon Bay

We had an uneventful passage from Sausalito to Half Moon Bay. After returning our harbour keys and saying goodbye to our new friends, we took off under the Golden Gate Bridge, into 8 foot swells but no wind. We motored south and were able to set our anchor at Pillar Point Harbour, on the north side of Half Moon Bay, just in time for lunch. The wind has picked up as we sit here, and we are swinging from side to side on our hook, but we seem to have good holding. I'm going to bake a batch of cookies to warm up the cabin, and test our email capabilities with the new sat phone!

Leaving Pillar Point at first light:
PS - now that we're on the move, we'll be using our SPOT to update our daily position. Feel free to click on the link to our location on the right hand side of the page.

PPS - the sat phone is experiencing hiccups....we'll continue to update when we can poach wi-fi signals.

So Long, Sausalito...

We'll miss you.
I never thought I could live in the States. But I stand corrected. I could live here.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow....

We'll try to leave again tomorrow. This morning we found pink fluid in the bilge.

So. We. Didn't. Leave.

We found a leak in a fitting on the fuel lift pump. It wasn't there when we went for a test run earlier in the weak, but John's managed to spend the morning fixing it, and now we're once again ready to leave.

Heading South

We're off. Finally. This morning, we're leaving Sausalito and SF Bay. Bob, Jane, Joe and Conrad came by last night to say goodbye. We'll miss the great people that we've met here (and the awesome internet connection), but looking forward to the next leg. We'll be updating the blog with our new satellite phone when possible.