San Simeon - Oct 13

Preparing food, the night before we left Morro Bay was on the to-do list as we would be at anchor in San Simeon overnight. I have become the master at one pot meals thanks to Pinterest. This was a chili mac and cheese, reminiscent of Hamburger Helper. Come on, who didn’t like that in the day? 

Making chili mac & cheese

Driving out of the harbor was easy while Tripp worked on the port engine and I avoided paddle boarders and watched the sea otters. The seas were smooth and rolling and it was a bright sunny day. San Simeon was 24.1 nautical miles and we traveled at a comfortable cruising speed of 8 kts. We dropped 125’ of anchor just after noon in about 20 feet of water and settled in to have some lunch. The wind was blowing at about 6 knots but we felt comfortable.

A key feature of the locale is Hearst Castle  a hilltop mansion built by William Randolph Hurst in the early 20th century that is now a tourist attraction. The area is also home to a large northern elephant seal rookery, known as the Piedras Blancas rookery. Taking our dinghy to see the elephant seals was going to be a highlight of staying in the cove.  

Hearst Castle

View from I Sea Blues

       

After checking ‘Sail Flow’ again and another app called ‘Windyty’ we thought it best to pull anchor and head for Monterey immediately. It was 4:12 PM when we got underway. Winds were at about 15 knots and the seas were choppy, but forecast was for low winds and seas until about 2 AM. Tripp was concerned about our dinghy as it was bouncing around and he thought we might lose it. As the sun was setting we saw three whales which is always a wonderful sight.

Once darkness settled the fog rolled in and we couldn’t see twenty yards in front of us. The moon was almost full so when the fog cleared for a brief time around 9:30 PM we could see the mainland and the lights of cars driving HWY 1. Being able to see something gives one some form of comfort. Unfortunately, it did not last long and the fog rolled back in and stayed with us until we rounded the point toward Monterey. It was hard seeing the red light marker buoys in the channel and I realized that my night vision sucks! I stood on the bow of the boat and Tripp read the radar as we entered the harbor. We figured it out and he navigated toward the marina opening, which is very narrow, and headed to the dock at Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club. Harbor Control spied us coming through and called I Sea Blues on channel 16 asking us to identify ourselves. They gave us a heads up that we were going in the right direction and we carried on for another couple of minutes until we found the 20’ of dock that was available in front of the club. Hhmmm… our boat is probably 42’ overall and try as we might there was no way we could stay on that dock. Harbor Control to the rescue again and we were assigned an end tie across from the yacht club dock. All’s well that ends well and we finally tapped out about 3:30 AM just ahead of some foul weather and after a 115 nautical mile day. 

Click the link below to see where we are located
 http://fms.ws/cADq1/36.60256N/121.89008W

To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, but life without meaning is the torture of restlessness and vague desire - It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid. Edgar Lee Masters