Did a quick survey of downtown Monterey, went to the post office, then rode north to Cannery Row and the Aquarium. It is a nice aquarium, beautifully done with some very excellent display tanks. It's not as large as the Seattle aquarium, nor does it have as good mammal displays, but overall it was most helpful in helping us identify some of the sea life we`ve been seeing down here.
Took the bikes and cart up to the Valu Max grocery above Cannery Row and stocked up. They wouldn't take our check and it took almost all the cash we had, so we spent the next few hours hunting for a cash machine that would work with our Express Card - no luck! It is supposed to work with Plus System, but evidently not in California. We'll have to get serious about that tomorrow.
While we were looking for money we rode all over down town Monterey and also about two miles up the hill to the Delmonte Shopping Center. Monterey is sure a nice clean city, with lots of parks and of course, being the capital of Spanish California, hundreds of "points of historic interest".
Spent the day working that problem, finishing our Christmas shopping, and getting the presents mailed. Found a place down town called The Mail Box where they took our Christmas wrapped packages and packaged them for mailing for only $2.00 per package. It would have cost us almost that much just for the materials. We just filled out mailing lables and they took it from there. Good deal!
Saw the Coast Guard crew pull one today that made me feel not quite so bad about some of the forgetful things I do. One of their lifeboats went roaring out of its slip on the breakwater pier and then came to a sudden halt as the line all six crewmen had overlooked came taut! Had to be an embarrassing moment!
Also found that the Bennetts, who we met last spring in Port Townsend are living on their boat, the Patronella, in a slip at the Breakwater Marina. Nice couple with two teen aged boys, all on a 42 foot boat! From the weather forecast we'll be around a few more days and we'll try to get a chance to visit with them.
Here in Monterey Harbor we hear another sound, a sort of constant popping and crackling like a huge bowl of Rice Krispies that never gets soggy. It puzzled me every time I went into the engine room. I had concluded that it must have something to do with the Coast Guard's operation on the breakwater. Then, at the Aquarium the other day, I learned the answer. The noise is the sound of millions of tiny one to two inch long shrimp, called snapping shrimp, getting their dinners. They use percussion to stun their tiny prey. Makes kind of nice music when we are lying in bed at night!
Today was a stay-at-home day. The rain they have been predicting came, and came, and came. Not much wind, at least here in the harbor, although the clouds at 500 feet were moving pretty fast, but the rain was soaking. We went out once, just to get some air and ride the little shuttle to Cannery Row, and got soaked, so the rest of the day was spent reading. I finished rereading Steinbecks "Cannery Row" and started Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast", which I also read as a kid but don't remember. It should be fun reading about the California coast of 150 years ago.
The beach front from Cannery Row on out to the point (about three miles) is a marine reserve and park. It's a beautiful rocky shoreline, pocked by occasional little sand beaches where a brave or fool hardy surfer can find a way through the crashing waves to the surf beyond. There were lots of them out today! As we rode along the signs of the high surf were still very evident; sand and kelp strewn over the street, some houses on the far side of the street still with sand bags at their doors, street blockade signs left lying around. And the surf was still high enough to provide some good riding for those on boards, some of which were using a small board which I'll call a knee board. Looked like a compromise between the body surfing I did as a kid and the stand up surf board - great fun!
After our ride we had lunch at a Mexican place on the waterfront where we watched the sea otters playing in the surf just outside the window. Lots of them around here - they are around the boat all the time. At the aquarium they say that they are left only here and in Alaska where we saw them last summer. Really fun animals to see!
Back at the dock, we found Lynn Bennett about to go to the laundermat so we gathered up our dirties and she and Lois went off to wash while Joe and I compared notes on our weather faxes. Seems his experience is pretty much the same as mine - we both can usually get a usable picture, but getting a really good one seems to be a matter of luck. Both our machines got the 1800 Z Surface Analysis showing the huge low in the gulf - looks like we are still due for some weather the next couple of days!
After dinner the Bennetts came out to the boat for a while and we swapped sea stories. Nice couple! They were impressed with the room on our boat. We get to feeling kind of cramped but to they, who live with two teenagers on a forty footer, ours is a palace!
Just to keep the day interesting Jennie blew an exhaust hose about five minutes after I started her. I had never had it off before and when I got it loose found that it is a piece of molded radiator hose with a ninty degree bend. After going over to Joe's and finding that there were no auto parts stores open on Sunday I decided to patch it. I cut out the weak (I thought) section and put in a piece of pipe. Well, the first try didn't work, the hose blew again! I replaced that piece with a new piece of hose and tried again. No luck, I had just started Jennie when there was a bang, and water all over again! I'm getting kind of touchy by now and imagining that the muffler or exhaust line is plugged but, after checking all that out, I find that it's just that I didn't get a hard-to-reach hose clamp tight enough. Oh well, kept me busy on a day not fit for going out!
We've been here in Monterey a week now and there is no sign of the weather breaking. The huge low in the Gulf of Alaska is staying put and sending front after front into the Pacific Northwest. We are just on the south edge of the path but we need a couple of days of settled weather to get around Point Conception. Now it looks like no sooner than mid-week!
Back to town I went, this time paying $6.12 for a chunk of molded radiator hose (That's auto vs boat). Finally got it installed about 1:00 PM, cranked up Jennie, and ran her for about three hours with no problem. The hose never seemed to get very hot, but I have the impression that we are getting more steam in the exhaust than we used to. Tomorrow I'll check out the raw water flow from end to end.
They are predicting another front tonight, then hopefully we'll get a break and be able to move on south. The "Starbird", a boat from Port Ludlow owned by Jim and Kathy Klotz which we saw in Ayala Cove one day, came in the other day. Talked to Kathy who said Jim would be back Wednesday when they plan to move on south. It might be nice to have traveling companions for a ways.
Cloudy but not much rain today, still big swells on the bay. After I got through fussing with Jenny we took the camera and rode the bikes out to Pacific Grove to watch the action. Impressive breakers, even here on the inside of the bay. There were a few surfers out but the experts were staying where the novices were surfing last weekend.
Went over to the "Starbird" for a cocktail this evening. Kathy had some friends from Carmel on board, a mathmatics professor from New Mexico State college in Las Cruces, John Duprie and his wife. Found that Jim is a working pilot for United, so they do their cruising in three day segments when he has time off. They plan to leave tomorrow night for Santa Barbara, their next stop. Weather is starting to look good for the next few days.
The weather was pretty much as predicted, cloudy with just a hint of mist at times, giving way to blue sky in the PM. Called Shirley to tell her that we are heading on their way again. It'll be nice if we can have a little less noisy anchorage for a night or two.
05:45 - Out of Monterey Harbor before dawn on a beautiful moonlit morning with everything going tickity-booh all day. Rounded Point Pinos about 6:30 and even though we had a fifteen foot swell it was so smooth we never had to put the F/S's down. Probably the best visibility day we've had yet as we ran along the coastal range past Carmel and Big Sur, bright sun and sparkling clear air!
08:30 - Visit from a pod of Dall's porpoises. First we've seen since we left the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
14:05 - And again! This time I was ready withn the camera and they cooperated, staying with us for ten minutes or more, all the while doing their water acrobatic routine. I got some really good pictures of their antics!
16:00 - Into the bay at San Simeon. The "bay" is really nothing more than an indentation behind a point and reef, open to the south, and only a couple of hundred yards deep. There is one wharf built out from a long curving sand beach in front of buildings of the Spanish mission style plus a half dozen mooring buoys scattered around the center of the bay. The swell had been from the northwest and behind us all day, but it was big enough to turn the corner into the anchorage here - not fifteen feet, but maybe three to four were rolling right up to the beach. Since our only options were to stay or run all night, we decided to endure the surge. We put down the F/S's (they do a little good even at anchor), dropped the hook (I don't like to trust mooring buoys of unknown age), and rocked and rolled all night. We may someday get used to that, but for now Lois got no sleep and I only a few hours. In hindsight, we could have tied a line to one of the buoys before setting the anchor and kept our stem into the surge. Maybe I'll think of that next time! Oh well, we have a fairly short run tomorrow with Port San Luis at the end of it.
Because we only had a forty mile run today, I had decided to leave the F/S's in the water. Glad I did! Last night the weatherman had forecast diminishing swells through Thursday, but now he is saying eighteen feet and we find that they are even bigger! By the time we got opposite Morro Bay there was an occasional one I would guess to be over twenty feet. The NOS also has out a gale warning for this afternoon. With the present east wind of ten to twenty knots blowing the tops off the big ones it made an interesting ride. We were never uncomfortable, the F/S's did their job well! The scenery is super, the best visibility we've had while traveling the coast.
As we passed Morro Bay I called the harbor office to inquire about entrance conditions. The gal who answered said that the surf was breaking over the entrance, but the crew was out checking and "a boat had managed to make it in". Glad we hadn't decided to go there!
12:30 - Into Port San Luis, a much larger version of San Simeon bay, and much more comfortable. It is also open to the south, but is protected to the west by a large breakwater. Here there is a minor surge from waves reflected off the shore a mile to the southeast, but it is much the same as we had in Monterey for ten days. The harbor authority maintains some mooring buoys which they rent for $4.00 per day but they are out in the middle of the bay and it looked to us like we could do better anchoring close to the breakwater with several fishing vessels. As soon as we did the Harbor Patrol boat, an inflatable similar to those the Coast Guard uses, came up with a young man and a girl who assured us we were in a good location, welcomed us to the port, and said water taxi service was available whenever we wanted it. Nice reception!
The afternoon gale arrived on schedule with thirty-five knot winds and forty knot gusts so we stayed on the boat reading and napping. By nightfall the winds were down so we got a good night's sleep. They are still forecasting gale force winds tomorrow so we'll stay here, at least for a day. Our next run is another long one, either to Santa Barbara or to one of the Channel Islands about 80 NM away.
There are about 500 moorings in the harbor but no overnight floats. The wharf is about 200 yards long and has a fish loading facility, a couple of seafood stores, and a restaurant on the end. Alongside the wharf are a few buoys and one float which can be used by skiffs to reach the ladders, but a better place to land a dinghe is behind a small breakwater which the water taxi uses. There is a small float evidently used in conjunction with a travelift during the season.
There isn't much on shore at Port San Luis, a bait & tackle shop, a pretty good marine supply store, a restaurant (FAT CAT'S), and the harbor office. The harbor office is very well equipped, even have a weather fax, and staffed with two very friendly and helpful young guys in snappy uniforms who seem very happy in their jobs. They told me that it was a mile to the nearest grocery in Avila Beach, that FAT CAT'S serves good food and lots of it, and that the wharf restaurant charges a lot and may leave you hungry.
Decided that since we were stuck here I might as well do the oil changing, so went back to the boat and changed both Jimmy and Jenny's oil, cleaned the HRO sensor, lubed the water pump, and reworked the battery isolator so that the radios and other 12 volt systems aren't pulling down Jenny's batteries. (I've had to jump start her a few times when we left two much on over night)
After getting all that done we called Ray in the water taxi again, took our waste oil to shore, and then walked to Avila Beach for exercise and a few groceries. Avila Beach is a town of maybe 500 people with a beautiful sand beach, a long fishing pier, and a single main street with several bars, restaurants, and surfing equipment shops on the side facing the beach. Even today, with a cold east wind blowing, there were lots of people surfing, kite flying, or just sitting on the beach against the rock bulkhead out of the wind sunning themselves. Just north of town there is a beautiful golf course along a small lake or lagoon. Nice atmosphere to the whole area!
By the time we got back to the boat the wind was picking up and it blew most of the night. They've still got the gale warnings out so it looks like we'll probably be staying through tomorrow. There are a lot worse places to get holed up.
06:30 - Dawn coming on in bright pink and blue as we near Point Arguello. For some time now we have been watching an uncharted red light with a faint white light beneath directly in our path and, a few minutes ago, the white light suddenly bloomed as bright as high beam headlights on a highway then faded again. Kind of spooky, especially considering that we are running inside the boundries of the Pacific Missile Range! As we got closer and it got lighter it became appearant that we were seeing an oil drilling platform, and after some more searching the charts, I found it identified in our Southern California Cruising Atlas as Platform Irene, eveidently too new to be shown on the official charts we bought. It is one of four which stand off the coastline around Point Arguello and Point Conception.
09:00 - Passing Point Conception we have a decision to make. Santa Barbara, what looks like a crowded harbor, is 50 miles to the east; the Channel Islands, unknown and without the kind of protected coves we are used to, are forty miles to the southeast across the twenty mile wide Santa Barbara Channel. With some trepidation we go for the islands, figuring that city harbors are pretty much the same everywhere, and probably more so here. As we head out across the channel we pick up a four or five foot chop coming up the channel from the east meeting the sometimes eight foot swell from the west - makes an interesting motion!
13:00 - Nearing Santa Rosa Island we encounter our first herd of dolphins, either Common or White Sided, I couldn't be sure which. It was, according to the book, a small herd of maybe 50 to 100. They paid no attention to us, passing across our stem about 100 yards ahead.
14:30 - Dropped anchor in Becher's Bay on the northeast side of Santa Rosa Island. It is a wide, open bay, protected from the north and west, but open to the southeast. The only development here is a large cattle ranch with a pier. We experimented with putting out two anchors but found it wasn't worth the trouble because there didn't seem to be any preferred direction to the waves. We really didn't rock much until the next morning when the wind got stronger.
Went to bed early to the sound of snapping shrimp which seem more numerous here than the were in Monterey.
07:55 - Finally on our way. The weatherman is now talking the strongest winter storm to hit Southern California in years, so we need a good place to hole up and sit out one of Richard Henry Dana's Southeasters. After studying the charts and the forecast we decide that Chinese Harbor at the northeast end of Santa Cruz Island is probably our best bet. It is about 20 miles away and appears to offer good protection from all but northwest winds.
09:10 - Running in four to five foot seas off the north shore of Santa Cruz Island we talk to Coast Guard lifeboat 41406 who is looking for a disabled "25" foot vessel called the "Captain's Cocktail" along the north shore of Santa Cruz. They say Chinese Harbor is OK but may have some swell.
10:00 - Watch as Coast Guard 41406 finds and takes aboard what must have been three very frightened people from a 15 foot vessel not more than 100 feet off the rocks. The Pacific Missile Range heliocopter, Bloodhound 41, helped find them. Seas are very steep and we are doing a lot of pitching even in the Sea Raven.
11:30 - We anchor in Chinese Harbor after also taking a look at a very small inlet called Potato Harbor which is better protected but so small that I was concerned about swinging room. Chinese Harbor is behind a high bluff which projects to the northwest from the east end of Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz itself is a twenty-five mile long island running almost east-west on the south side of the Santa Barbara Channel. It's probably close to 1000 feet high for most of its length so, anchored where we are, we are pretty well protected from the south and east.
We spent a quiet afternoon waiting for the storm to hit and it never did. We were soon joined by a couple of fishing vessels, the "Tricia" and another, the name of which I couldn't see. Along about dark we started getting some 20 to 30 knot gusts, but no rain. It wasn't until about 2:00 AM that the rain started and by then the gusts were getting really strong; don't know quite how strong because when it gets wet our ananometer quits indicating.
"Tricia", the other fishing vessel anchored near us, hauled anchor about 8:00 and, much to our surprize, headed out into the channel. A couple of hours later we monitored the Coast Guard evacuating the crew with a heliocopter. Evidently the skipper had gotten sick, the deck hand didn't know how to run the boat, and they decided to abandon it; left it floating in Santa Barbara Channel. Earlier, three people were lost when another vessel with nine people on board sank in the middle of the channel, about ten miles north of us. The storm tore loose barges and boats at the Santa Barbara harbor doing millions of $ in damage. A gust of 100 miles per hour was recorded at Platform Harvest, an oil rig off Point Arguello.
For us it was a miserable, nerve racking day! From three in the morning until after dark there was almost constant rain driven by high gusty winds. Our biggest consolation was looking out on the seas in the channel and being glad we weren't out there! During a slight lull I took the steadying sail down because it was making such a racket and almost immediately wished I hadn't; it does have a significant effect on keeping us into the wind rather than drifting to and fro. Soon after that we had a start when, in a particularly strong gust, there was a bang and rattle that shook the whole boat. My first thought was that our anchor chain had parted and I started the engine, but then just a glance forward told us that was not the problem. It wasn't until it happened again a few minutes later, when I happened to be looking, that I discovered that the chain was jumping on the gypsy, actually popping out of the dogs a few links at a time. That problem was easily fixed with a chain hook and lines to the bitts.
By nightfall the rain had pretty much abated and the wind was down to a dull roar. It even cleared up enough to be able to see the lights of Santa Barbara in the distance but, about midnight, the wind started again, with renewed vigor. Down in the cove where we are, under the lee of high cliffs, the wind doesn't blow steadily; it comes in bursts, blowing spray from the tops of the breakers on the shore far back toward us, a quarter of a mile away. Spent another long night dozing between checks to make sure that the hook was still holding and the wind was keeping us off shore. This is by far the least desirable of our boating adventures to date!
Got a call from the fishing vessel anchored near us this morning. It's the "HAL-G-DOT" run by a seventy-year-old fisherman named Hal who is heading for Tahiti to fish for Albacore. He's out of Westport and plans on stopping in San Pedro for fuel and a "High Seas Permit" before heading out. He weathered last week's storm in Coos Bay with 120 mph winds. He says, "Once you get 500 miles offshore it is downhill all the way." Recommended Fish Harbor in San Pedro for good fuel prices. Wish we could get better acquainted; sounds like a neat guy on the radio.
12:30 - When the wind seemed to be shifting around toward the north I started getting a little nervous and decided we ought to see if we could get over to Channel Islands Harbor; so, we hauled anchor, said goodby to Hal on the HAL-G-DOT, and headed out.
13:00 - Just rounding the end of Santa Cruz and burying the stem on about every third wave, we decide that maybe Chinese Harbor isn't such a bad place after all! One nice roll to get turned around and we're riding it downwind back to the harbor. We anchor just a little farther out this time just in case of northerly weather.
While we are on our little escapade the Coast Guard cutter, Point Judith, has arrived. It's a big cutter, maybe 200 feet long, very neat and sea-going looking. The skipper hails us and we chat for a while, shouting over the wind which is still at twenty knots, while the crew works at getting their launch over the side. He wants to know where we came from, where we are going, and then asks if we've been boarded before. I say, "Yes, four times on the way down." I'm kind of looking forward to being boarded - always like to show off our boat, but when I ask if they are coming over he said, "No, it looks like you guys are doing all right." They end up boarding the HAL-G-DOT and it turns out one of the boarding party is a neighbor of Hal's in Westport. He said they had a nice chat.
Later in the day we are joined by three local fishing vessels, so we have quite a little group for the evening. It is clearing off and the wind is dying down and we can look forward to getting a quiet night's rest for the first time in three days.
06:40 - On our way! The HAL-G-DOT snuck out while I was doing the log so I called him and got a weather report from the channel; smooth sailing! And he was right, for a while, bright and sunny with almost no wind and low seas; however, once we cleared Anacapa Island we started picking up some three to four foot seas directly off our beam so had to put the fish in the water to slow the rolling. Once we got those in we had a very nice run to Santa Catalina Island. The visibility was probably as good as it ever is and we could see both Santa Barbara and Catalina islands before we were an hour out. Snow covered most of the coastal range, even down to the Santa Monicas. The Los Angeles basin was covered with a yellow haze, as usual, but the snow covered San Bernadinos and San Gabriels rose above it clear as the proverbial bell. Off to the south, Point Vincente, the Palisades, and Rolling Hills looked like another island across the channel from Catalina.
11:00 - Had a visit from Dall's Porpoises but it's a bit rolly to go out on the deck to greet them as I usually do.
16:00 - Running off the West End of Catalina Island and this time the dolphins join us. They aren't the spectacular black and white of Dall's porpoises but they do more acrobatics, jumping completely out of the water as they play beside our bow wake.
We took a look at some ot the west end coves on the north side of the island but decide it is early enough to make it to Avalon so keep running. Not much in the way of protected harbors on this side of Catalina!
17:45 - Avalon! I call the harbormaster who tells us to wait off the pier for a patrol boat. There are no floats or slips on Catalina; only buoys, and of a very special fore and aft kind. You first pick up a small float with a long grab pole attached to a small line. Pulling that line in first brings up a forward howser which can be hung on the bow cleat, then more pulling surfaces another howser, secured aft, to tie at the stern. After waiting for the patrol boat to work a sailboat in front of us we are charged $20.00 and assigned a buoy. Missed the first attempt to pick up the aft howser because the wind was off the stern, but got it the second try and, with a little help from the patrol boat got all tied down. Didn't feel so bad when we then watched another sailboat take six passes before getting secured!
We decided that, since we were getting nothing for our twenty dollars but a place to moor we had better take advantage of it; so, we got ourselves all gussied up, called the shoreboat, and went out to dinner. After a pretty good but not outstanding dinner at the Cafe Prego we walked down almost deserted streets to the famous Casino to the west of the harbor. It too was almost empty although the theater was open. We took advantage of an open door to climb the ramps up to the ballroom on top where a couple of workers were making preparations for a big Christmas party on Sunday. All around the outside of the ballroom is a prominade where we could walk and view the town, harbor, and San Pedro/Long Beach off in the distance. Kind of a nice evening!
Had lunch at the Busy Bee, a waterfront restaurant established in 1923, and then went to the little museum in the Casino and got some more history, some of which I can remember. Lots of pictures and models of the Avalon and Catalina steamships which stopped running in the sixties and also pictures of the old trams which we rode around the town. Clarified something for me about the casino. There has never been gambling on the island; the word "casino" means gathering place amd that's what Mr. Wrigley intended when he built it in 1929. It consists of a theater topped by a huge ballroom that can handle about two thousand people. The museum had lots of pictures of the "big bands", Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, Harry James, etc. playing for huge parties there. They used to bring people over in the afternoon, let them dance until midnight, and then arrive back at the Wilmington terminal at daybreak.
Got a few groceries and found a bulb to replace a burned out running light then went back to the boat for a New York steak dinner.
11:00 - Stopped at the Harbor Patrol guest dock at Newport where we were told that not only were there no slips available, there were no moorings either, only an anchorage where we would have to stay aboard the boat. I called Don who said he and Shirl would be here by 2:00 so, since there is a twenty minute limit on the "guest" dock, we took a tour of the bay. I've never seen so many BIG boats anywhere before. And busy, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon it was like a freeway, you had to watch for a place to change lanes!
14:00 - Back at the dock with Don and Shirl waiting and, after greetings, Shirley decided to stay with us and watch the Christmas boat parade then ride down to Dana Point with us tomorrow. Since Don didn't have to leave until 6:00 we thought we'd take a little tour of the bay but, when we tried to leave, we found we were aground; there was a -1.5 low tide and the chart's 10 feet wasn't there! No problem, just an hour to low tide, until the sheriff came along and said we had to move. I told him we'd love to and, because they wanted the dock for some "emergency", he decided to pull us off with the patrol boat. Fortunatly we weren't stuck very badly and, after some discussion about the inadaquacy of his tow line, he managed to tow us off, then had to see our documentation and ID simply because I had impuned his intelligence.
| That little detail out of the way, Lois, Shirl, and I (Don got off before we were towed) went up to the anchorage which turned out to be the prime location from which to watch the parade; and quite a parade it turned out to be. It's been a long time since I saw the Seattle Christmas Ship Parade but this one must have had ten times as many boats with elaborate decorations! Neat evening! |
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07:30 - Brought up a very muddy anchor and chain with the help of Shirley with the washdown hose. Was glad I only had 75 feet of chain out! A few dolphins at the harbor mouth were the only thing of interest on the way to Dana Point. The coastline along Laguna is just lots of houses and condos and the day was windless, with a cool sun peering through a thin haze.
11:00 - Docked at Dana Point, a very nice new and clean harbor. They assigned us a very nice end tie with power and water, but with a five day limit. We decided to stay at least one night which will give us a chance to check out the harbor at Oceanside.
Don works until 5:30 or so, so we spent the afternoon cleaning up the boat, doing a washing, and painting Hypolon on the upper side of the Metz (Hopefully that will extend it's life in the sun for a year or so). Don got to the boat about 6:30, took us to dinner at Delaney's, a restaurant right at the harbor, and then home to their place in Fallbrook for the night.
We went with Don to the pharmacy where he works then borrowed his car to get organized with. Didn't take long! We found that there was a nice slip available at Oceanside and that we could rent a car on an Avis holiday special right by the harbor. Back at Shirley's, Shan took us up on our offer of a boat ride so she, sons Jeff and Scott, Shirley, Lois and I all piled in the Buick and headed for Dana Point.
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12:30 - Off the dock at Dana. Had a heck of a time finding the road to the Harbor Office where we were docked but finally figured it out (It was dark last night when we came out). Had a nice smooth three hour trip down to oceanside with Shan and the two boys. Jeff particularly seemed to enjoy the boat ride. |
To Don and Shirl's for dinner, then back to the boat. Takes just 1/2 hour from their place to the Jolly Roger parking lot.
| 09:45 - Off the dock for what Bob calls Jeff's "day off", from the
ladies that is. Ran out of the harbor and NW about two miles to where several
"cattle" boats were anchored and fishing. Didn't take long until Jeff started
catching fish; Sand dabs, Greenling, & Mackerel. It was sunny, windless,
and smooth so we were soon stripping off our winter clothing.
14:30 - With twenty-one fish in the cooler and the weather turning cool, cloudy, and windy we decided to call it a day so headed home with some happy fishermen. Dinner at Don and Shirl's topped off another fun day! |
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Since our passports won't be back for at least three weeks we had to get affidavits notarized attesting our citizenship. By the time I got those made up, we found a Notary Public, drove to San Diego, and found the Mexican Consulate (They moved three years ago but the telephone book still has the old address) it was 2:30 PM. Guess what! The Consulate hours are from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM! Oh well, we found the place (It's only about 8 blocks from the waterfront), checked out the commercial fuel dock where we can fill for $0.633 per gallon (plus 6% California sales tax of course), and wandered up and down the interesting San Diego waterfront. They have done a nice job on it, from the waterfront parks to the Marine Museum and the spectacular Mariott Hotel. Part of the museum is the "Star of India", a clipper ship similar to the one Richard Dana wrote about in his "Two Years Before the Mast". I think we'll plan on spending a day or so in San Diego before heading on to Ensenada.
Yate "SEA RAVEN", Capitan Dale Putnam
al cuidado de Capitan del Puerto Cabo San Lucas
Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., Mexico
Also talked to Lynn Nansen in Tacoma who said that Ralph and Phyllis are having some of their mail sent to Papi's Ice Cream Parlor and Deli, a place in Cabo San Lucas that is sort of the center for Yachties. They also operate a communications network on VHF Channel 22 every morning at 8:00 AM.
Spent the afternoon defrosting the freezer so we can load it up with Price Club frozen meats tomorrow. Roast leg of lamb dinner, al la Shirley - we sure do eat well!
Called Kathy at Rainier who wired some money down to Security Pacific for us so we picked that up in the afternoon and then went back to Price Club and loaded up on frozen meats. They didn't have any vegetables so we'll have to get those somewhere else. Other than that we are about as ready to head on south as we'll ever be.
Had a very quiet New Years Eve at home with a movie we rented; Peter Sellers in "The Trail of the Pink Panther".
12:00 - Just off Point Loma and Lois spots a whale. We circled for a few minutes while he blew once more but then he disappeared. Lots of whale watching boats loaded with people were running back and forth from the bay to Point Loma.
12:30 - Rounding the Point Loma kelp beds we toured the bay for the next three hours, going into all of the Shelter Island, Commercial, Harbor Island, and downtown basins. The book says San Diego Bay has slips for 4200 boats and I think that is an understatement, but there are damn few transient facilities anywhere to be seen.
16:00 - Decided we'd like to eat at Ruben's, a nice waterfront restaurant on the east tip of Harbor Island, but couldn't find any place to land, so we rented a slip for the night at the new Sunroad Marina. They have a nice facility but the $0.50 per foot rate is the highest we've paid yet. Then, after we got all settled, we decided to send out for Pizza instead of going out. Lois is nursing a backache (The first I've ever known her to have) and Don a cold, so we stayed home and ate a really good pizza from a joint whose name I can't even remember. (I just looked them up in the yellow pages and then promply forgot the name.)
After our little hike Don bought our lunch at Anthony's, a very nice Seafood restaurant next to the "Star of India", an 1863 sailing ship that is now part of the Maritime Museum. We then came back and put Lois to bed while I walked up to the Santa Fe station where Don and Shirl caught the train back to Oceanside. We spent the night on the fuel dock, really a very nice handy moorage, and the price is right!
After we got through with that we ran over to the Commercial basin and tied to the Kettenburg dock while I went running around spending money like mad. Kettenburg is the biggest marine yard and supply operation on the Southern California coast and I spent about $600 for extra line and other supplies which we might have a tough time getting in Mexico. Also found a place called "Downwind Marine" which operates sort of a communications and supply network for people cruising Mexico. They will arrange to have packages taken down to Cabo or La Paz or wherever by boats going that way - no charge! Several people have told us that that is the only way you can count on getting something through; packages will just disappear in the mail. We may make use of their service.
Lois was feeling a little better in the evening, so we went to the Chart House for a steak dinner. We'll stay around San Diego another day though, to make sure she is recovered before heading south.