Hard to believe we left 3 months ago. It has been quite an adventure to this point. We thought we left "early" enough which we did, however, it has been a busy hurricane year on the west coast with resultant large swells and storms. We waited out weather in many areas, sometimes up to a week before we felt comfortable venturing out. Everyone has their own tolerance for what they may want to deal with ie. big seas and big winds. We also spent 6 weeks in Berkeley, where we hung out with family and explored the area.
We loved Monterey and we are really starting to enjoy getting used to lots of sunshine and warmth. We have been blessed with dolphins swimming with the boat on multiple occasions including the Rizzo dolphins which are white, large dolphins. I love hearing and seeing Journey yell and get excited when we see the dolphins swimming and jumping off our bow.
We rounded Pt. Conception which is known as the "Cape Horn" of California. For those of you who are not sailors this basically means be prepared for some serious shit! After this point, you are in Southern California. We started to psych ourselves out, but after analyzing weather 4 times a day from various resources, we chose our window to leave. We opted to go straight to Santa Barbara which would mean 36 hours at sea. We had a great first day sail, the night was beautiful and pulled into SB early evening. Pt Conception fortunately, uneventful-just the way we like it!
It was amazing to wake in the morning to Santa Ynez Mountains, tall palm trees and sugar sandy beaches.
We have been buddy boating with our friends on sv The Red Thread since San Francisco. It has been fun spending time with Jesse and Neil, voyage planning and exploring these areas together. I met Jesse through a FB group and then we met at the Seattle Boat Show. While our boat was getting worked on in Seattle, we were able to spend some time together. We all became fast friends and would bounce ideas off each other as we voyaged planned. We did not expect to see much of Jesse and Neil until Mexico as they were leaving later in the season due to work commitments.
As luck would have it, we got to welcome them to Berkeley, sailed to Monterey and now to Santa Barbara. Jesse has a great blog svtheredthread.com. Our paths will part for a bit due to a loss in their family which is heartbreaking but we will reconnect at a later point.
Some of our other boat buddies are on the BaHaHaHA and on their way to Baja. We look forward to reconnecting with them too.
We are enjoying exploring, rented a car to drive up towards San Simeon and take in the Hearst Castle.
Woo hoo! We look forward to seeing you guys in Mexico. We are still up north, but slowly making our way south. We have Thanksgiving plans in La Paz, so will be there by then. We plan to cross this year to the South Pacific, so we'll be in the La Paz area for most of the winter--expecting relatives to visit too. Anyway, hurry down!
ReplyDeleteHi! It was great to see you in Newport. We are at the dock on Shelter Island. Let us know when you come through San Diego. We'll be camping here til next year.
ReplyDeleteCool! That is a lot of miles and places you have covered. I bet that's not the end of it. There is a vast reach of the ocean, and it's waiting for you to get to most of it. Safe travels everyone! Your boat is serving you well. All the best!
ReplyDeleteKent Garner @ Whites Marine Center
Hi this is Mrs. Sanner again. I see that you went through Monterey and Santa Barbara, my husband and I used to drive that area. I always loved the beautiful blue ocean and the area is just lovely. Glad to hear Journey is enjoying the dolphins They are beautiful, entertaining critters. In 2012, I went back to Guam for my mom's stroke and we would see the dolphins entertain people who would be touring. What hams! It is fun to read your blog. Have fun!
ReplyDelete