Morro Bay - October 08 - 13

Leaving Port San Luis in sunshine and having smooth seas and a short cruise made for a great day. It was a total of 22.2 nautical miles to Morro Bay and two and half hours.

Morro Rock

Coho Anchorage to Morro 

 Morro Bay is about half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles near Hearst Castle and the Big Sur Coast. It is a working fishing village. Morro Rock, its famous landmark, was named by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo when he first charted this coast during his 16th Century voyage of discovery. Morro Rock is the best known of the Nine Sisters of San Luis Obispo County, a series of ancient volcanic plugs that line the Los Osos Valley between the cities of Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.

            When we arrived there was no space on the Morro Bay Yacht Club dock and the mooring buoys had no lines, wand or float attached. Tripp had to attach our own lines via the dinghy and made a bridle after picking up the mooring lines with a boat hook. A little challenging but he got it done and we stayed on the buoy for three nights. The port captain reserved us space on their dock for our last two nights. We managed to be 'unplugged' for 14 days in a row and only ran our generator for eight hours total and we were still at 95% power. The solar panels and generator keep us going!

Finally on the dock

Our time in Morro Bay was quiet and we enjoyed walking around the town poking through little shops and finding restaurants with good food. The best was 75c happy hour oysters at Windows on the Water. 

75c oysters

Fisherman capturing mermaid

The frolicking sea otters were adorable and I enjoyed spotting them when we were out and about.

Sea Otters love crab

Tripp worked hard at installing a new 110 volt plug on our fly bridge and a USB plug. Yeah, we can now power our devices while underway and plug in a heater when needed. A new propeller arrived at the yacht club on Monday and Tripp swapped that out with the one that he'd put on in Port San Luis. This new one was the right size and pitch. We'll keep the other as a spare. 

Tripp working on 12V USB

Starboard engine issues haunted us this time with a bad connection on the starter. Tripp cleaned the connections up and got it working again. As we pulled away from the dock on the morning of departure the port engine died again. Tripp bled the air out of the line and it started again. He can't figure out what the issues are with that engine.

Click the link below to see where we are located.

 http://fms.ws/b-cNc/35.36217N/120.85335W

Port San Luis / Avila Beach - Sept 29 - Oct 08

Transiting in the darkness is not my favorite thing to do especially when one knows you’re going around a well documented, ‘dangerous’ point. In addition, losing the port engine for a time did not sit well but I kept my panic assuaged and my eyes fixed on the radar. Seas were bumpy with 10 kt winds and daylight didn’t come for another two and a half hours. Life seems better when the sun rises; however, before long the fog rolled in and we we were in the thick of it. On a positive note, the seas are calmer when you’re covered in a blanket of fog. 

Fog finally clearing

The journey was six and a half hours, our longest to date. Arrival into Port San Luis was challenging as we could not see 20 yards in front of us. Tripp had our fog horn blasting every two minutes and we knew that several boats passed us within 300 yards but we didn’t see them except on radar. The veil lifted slightly and we were able to see some boats moored to bouys. I had the boat hook at the ready and grabbed a line to secure I Sea Blues.  

Port San Luis is a commercial area. The pier is not user friendly! They have one loading dock but you can’t tie up there. One has to secure their dinghy forward and aft and then climb up a 20’ vertical rebar ladder to the pier. Er… thanks but not for this girl! Tripp was a gentleman and dropped me off at the loading dock and then had to secure 

the dinghy forward and aft and climb the ladder.  

     

Thursday found us hoofing it into town, we were told it was only a mile but it was actually two. Lunch at Custom House and wine tasting rooms were an afternoon well spent. Our friends, Melissa and Jason, from Seal and Pismo Beach met us and we enjoyed a fab dinner at Ocean Grill. We didn’t expect to be out so late and hadn’t left lights on the boat. Not only was it hard to find the dinghy, it had gone under the pier, but we were challenged in finding ISB. It is laughable after the fact but when it’s pitch black and foggy, you can’t see a thing in front of you. We went to two other boats before we finally found ours. We are a mile off shore and on one of the last moorings by the breakwater. We learned to turn our cockpit lights on before leaving the boat for the day.

A week doesn’t go by without boating issues and Friday night found us driving our dinghy home and having issues with the propeller. (it ‘spun out’) Tripp says that means that the rubber bushing inside the propeller is slipping and it won’t turn any faster than idle speed no matter how fast you rev the engine. A new prop was ordered. <<sigh>>   

Working on propeller

Donna, from Victoria, was in the area and met us for lunch in Pismo and we spent a lovely afternoon back in Avila. Always wonderful to meet up with friends from near and far.  

Jim and Dena from Seal Beach, own a timeshare in Avila Beach and were generous in giving us four of their nights. Wahoo! Real showers and the ability to do laundry had me very excited. We thoroughly enjoyed our nights at San Luis Bay Inn and all of the amenities that it offered. Thank you so much J & D!
Also, Jason and Melissa lent us their jeep for several days. We loaded it up to bring stuff, (ie: a month’s worth of laundry) to the Inn. Moreover, it allowed us the opportunity to reprovision at the Costco in San Luis Obispo and to explore the delightful town enjoying a lunch at SLO Brew. Our second to last day in Avila found us on another wine tasting adventure in the Edna Valley. We managed to leave a dent in the supply at Sextant, Baileyana (which includes Tangent & Truth Myth), Kynsi and last but not least, Saucelito Canyon. We DO love our wine tasting and so appreciated our tour guides, Jason & Melissa, that day. So many vineyards… so little time!  

Pismo Beach - Jason, Melissa & Darla

Having fun at Baileyana

 As we get ready to leave for Morro Bay we had to refill with water and refuel ISB so that we can make the long hike around Big Sur to Monterey. That’s a few days off yet though. Did I mention earlier that the pier in Port San Luis is not user friendly?? Not only the dock for getting water but the fuel pier is a menace to one’s boat.

Being refueled from above      

Click the link below to see where we are located.

 http://fms.ws/bzLai/35.15948N/120.74919W

Cojo Anchorage - Sept 28

The cruise to Cojo Anchorage was very smooth. Aside from a disappointing and awful, stinky oil slick that went for a few miles we were delighted to see quite a few pods of dolphins.  

Cojo a little cove that is a convenient spot for resting before going around Point Conception… known as the “Cape Horn of the Pacific.”  It seems to be a point of extremes; either there is little or no wind or there is a great deal of it.

Cojo Anchorage / Pt Conception

Using our Sail flow app we determined the best time to arrive and when our departure would be. Our journey was just over four hours.  Tripp switched from auto pilot to manual steering and alas, no steering. Thankfully I managed to drop the anchor and got ISB situated. Tripp fixed the steering and we settled in for the night.

We pulled up anchor at 0400!! 150’ of chain in about 30’ of water. Relatively easy except that it was dark. We lost the port engine for awhile on the way out. Not fun! Left straight to the south to clear the point by about 3 miles before heading NW. We got the port engine back on line before we started a 17 mile track to get around Pt Arguello. The seas were the worst that we'd had thus far, about 10 kts of wind going straight into it. Turning north on the next leg we faced heavy fog and rolling seas.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
 http://fms.ws/bg-Cu/34.44596N/120.44601W

Santa Barbara - Sept 21 - 28

It had been our intention to stay an exta night in Oxnard but having looked at our app “Sail Flow” we saw that the winds were going to be whipping up on Thursday so we decided to leave on Wednesday at 05:00 AM. If any of you know me then you are well aware that I am not a morning girl! Not only that, we are pulling off a dock and I can’t see a thing in front of us… Tripp was calm and relaxed. Oh me of little faith… I should trust my Navy, sea-going, ship driving man of 32 years! Just after 0600 the sun started to peak above the horizon and I was able to chill and enjoy what was in front of us. Seas were calm and although it was a bit bumpy to start it remained smooth. Santa Barbara was 29.3 NM and it took us 3 ½ hours.

Art Walk

View of Santa Barbara

Mountains meet the sea

The Pier

We were assigned a slip in the harbor and squeezed ourselves in with barely an inch to spare. Santa Barbara is a beautiful city where the Santa Ynez mountains come down to meet the sea, spectacular! They call this area the American Riviera and we could well understand why.

There is so much to see and do in Santa Barbara and we tried to fit it all in.  State St was on our to-do list so we headed their our first afternoon. We ended up at a wine tasting bar on the pier, relaxing and taking in the view.

Mission Santa Barbara, known as "the Queen of the Missions," was founded in 1786. The Chumash Indians helped to build the mission and were an integral part of the history. The architecture and the grounds are beautiful, and the museum/tour are interesting and educational. This is a "must see."

The County Courthouse is located downtown. The Spanish Colonial Revival style building was designed by William Mooser and completed in 1929. Architect Charles Willard Moore called it the "grandest Spanish Colonial Revival structure ever built," and the prime example of Santa Barbara's adoption of Spanish Colonial as its civic style. Gorgeous!

Santa Barbara Courthouse

Our friend Mardele arrived on Friday and we headed off to The Hitching Post, of Sideways fame, for a fabulous dinner of prime rib steak and a bottle, or two, of Pinot Noir. Saturday found us sampling wines at several vineyards and a couple of our favorites were 'Roblar' and 'Fess Parker'. Thankfully we had hired a driver so could partake without the worry and so we did! 

Another good winery

Daniel Boone - Fess Parker

Engine issues seem to haunt us and our port engine died when we moved slips. Thankfully, Tripp is a whiz at replacing the first stage filter and had it swapped out in no time. He spent another day installing a new seawater pump on the generator. I fear our boat issues are never ending.

Anyways, I can’t say enough good things about Santa Barbara and the fun things that we were able to enjoy… the Urban Wine Trail, the trolley tour and so much more! We will have to come back at some time.

Click the link below to see where I am located.
 http://fms.ws/bgAk3/34.40633N/119.68939W

   

Oxnard - Sept 19 - 21

Oxnard took us 5 hours / 44.3 NM at a speed of approx 8.7 Kts. It was a sunny morning departure with calm seas but the fog rolled in thick around Malibu and hung in for a couple of hours.

PCYC

the canals

 We spent two nights in Oxnard on the guest dock of Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club. A full afternoon of wandering led us to ‘Sea Fresh’ for a relaxing happy hour and then back to the yacht club to hang out with some of their members.  The following day we took a dinghy cruise through the canals. Beautiful homes and a lovely area. 

Marina del Rey - Sept 12 - 19

Our early Monday morning departure from Two Harbors found us with calm seas and the kind of crossing that I like, smooth and easy. Sail Flow has been a great app for our phones and our new AIS has been wonderful in helping us to plan our timing and to see other ships. Our average cruise speed is about 8.5 knots. The trip was just under 4 hours with a total travel distance of 33.1 nautical miles.

The Marina, the world's largest man-made small craft harbor with eight basins, is home port to approximately 6,500 boats. Prior to its development, the land occupied by Marina del Rey was a saltmarsh fed by fresh water from Ballona Creek. Marina del Rey falls within unincorporated Los Angeles County and is southeast of the L.A. City community of Venice and north of the L.A. City community of Playa del Rey. It is located four miles north of Los Angeles International Airport.

California Yacht Club had a slip available to us so we enjoyed all the amenities of the club and surrounding area. Tripp and I spent one day exploring Venice Beach… an eclectic energy, to say the least.  Another day we took our dinghy around the harbor and found his former sailboat, Siesta. He recognized the mast amongst a myriad of others. We loved looking at all the boats. He’d secretly like to own a Lagoon 450 Catamaran. Sea Lions seem to be an issue for boaters here, as well as other harbors along the coast. Most boats have buckets full of water on their swim steps or parking cones to keep the mammals off.

We were blessed with several friends visiting from Long Beach, Mardele on Thursday and Friday. Bob, Donna, Sparky & Terry on Saturday. We love you all and enjoyed our time very much! Local friends, Alex & Marlene, were kind enough to tour us around and took us for lunch at Paradise Cove Café in Malibu. The food portions were over the top but also delicious! Our week in Marina del Rey flew by and it was time to head to the next port of call.

Venice Beach

Paradise Cove

Marlene and Alex

Siesta

Mardele

Donna & Sparky

Bob & Terry

Avalon and Two Harbors - Aug 31 - Sept 12

Our time in Avalon flew by so fast. We had the first couple of days to ourselves and took advantage of the quiet to decompress from the business of Change of Command, our farewell party, stocking and reorganizing the boat for our journey.

Unfortunately, the long weekend brought many of the mooring’s owners to the island and we were moved four times. If you ever had to watch someone pick up a mooring let me tell you that it is free entertainment. Two of our moves were quite tricky as the wind had picked up and was blowing off our beam. Of course the Captain is at the helm and the first mate is struggling to grab the sand line. One has to keep their language in check! Stressful and not fun!

Friday came with the birthday girl, boy and entourage arriving around noon. Let the games begin! A full weekend of activity and frivolity ensued. Happy Birthday to Lisa Meier & Bob Green. We were thrilled to be a part of your celebrations!

Mini Golf Competition

Happy Birthday!

Avalon Grill with friends of the birthday duo

Two Harbors is one of our favorite destinations… an easy 80 minute cruise from Avalon. Talk about laid-back from way-back! Not much to do but relax and enjoy… buffalo milk… sand & sea, the Star Wars bar and Harbor Reef Restaurant.

NYCLB friends arrived for a cruise-out on Friday the 09^th. Saturday found us in a float-a-palooza behind I Sea Blues and a grilling steak aboard ISB in the evening.                              

Buffalo Milk - Yum!

This is relaxing! 

Float-A-Palooza

The Guys

The Girls

 Click the link below to see where I am located. 

http://fms.ws/b5NQJ/33.44392N/118.49858W