Monterey had been a great time, we met some other cruisers who will also be doing the Ha Ha, we will see them again down the coast.
Rich at the helm at dawn leaving Monterey
We spent the day rolling in these 10-12 ft swells, chasing us from the stern (behind) and lots of other mixed swell. We tried putting up a headsail for a while, but the wind was too light and from the nose. We had considered doing an overnight sail to get us to Port San Luis, but it was near sunset and we were just outside San Simeon and decided to anchor there and get some well deserved rest. Another of the boats we met in Monterey had just pulled in before us.
This is a very nice anchorage, with the Hearst Castle on the hills above the cove. It is even lite up at night! Our picture did not do it justice.
San Simeon Bay
It doesn't show from this photo, but this was a very rolly anchorage, so we were not unhappy to weigh anchor and leave at 0900 on Saturday. Our intention was to make our next stop at Port San Luis, but when looking at the charts, and distance to round the dreaded Point Conception (the Cape Horn of the Pacific), we decided that we just might as well go for it. It continued to be very confused seas, but there was a good breeze on our starboard quarter, so we pulled out the jib and it stablized the boat fairly well and we motorsailed in clear skys. We rounded Point Conception at 2050 following the path made by the moon. If we had been less fatigued, we probably would have found it more romantic. But we "high-fived" ourselves on our accomplishment and settled in to exchange watches,get some rest and hopefully arrive in Santa Barbara by dawn. We had to slow the boat down, and despite this, we arrived off Santa Barbara at 0500 and motored outside until dawn. SB has a tricky entrance and with the city lights, we did not feel confident in entering the Harbor in the dark.
There was no room at the marina on that Sunday morning so we anchored off of Stearn's Wharf for a nap before checking back with the Harbormaster before noon. By then, we topped off the diesel and were told that a slip was available! Yeah, showers could not come too soon. Who knew that the sweat of fear (terror) can be so disagreeable.
A great shower and a little lunch and we are back in business!
Santa Barbara Harbor is full, busy and on Sunday, everyone was out enjoying the beautiful day and water activities. It is so great to be in the warmer climate, we are finally feeling that we are not just on vacation. Got our bikes out, did errands around town (laundry, shopping, etc.) and got some killer tuna to grill. We stayed 2 nights in Santa Barbara and enjoyed it fully.
This is the view behind our boat in SB Harbor
So we up and leasurly left SB on Tuesday, 10/10 and headed out for Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, CA. This was a nice 28 mile motor in calm seas, beautiful sunshine and, you guessed it, wind on the nose. The most exciting thing was the great company we had. There were lots of dolphins who approached out boat, rode our bow wave and gave us a great show! Cathy was watching for more when she saw a large blow and the back of a whale! Our first whale sighting and he, or they, made quite a show of even showing their flukes. The pictures do not do it justice since Cathy and our camera do not coordinate these action shots well, see if you can make out what you are seeing.
Dolphins!
We arrived in Channel Islands Harbor at 1330 and tied up at the Anacapa Isle Marina. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. What a great spot, and a great deal since they are discounting their rates for those of us who are doing the Baja HaHa. We will set out for Santa Catalina Island early tomorrow morning and will probably be out of wifi contact for a while.
We leave you with this look at Bella Brisa here in Oxnard
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