Trip Summary

Tried to make up some maps but it did not work out, will try again later and add them to the summary of the trip.

Just for reference 1 nautical mile = 1.15 miles or 1.85 kilometers. A nautical mile is equivalent to the distance spanned by one minute of arc in latitude; 1,852 meters

Day 1 Saturday, Oct 28, 2006 Left Berkeley in the morning and headed towards the Golden Gate, Winds were light but took us directly to the Gate without having to tack. Once we were beyond the Gate, we headed south to Pillar Point. Winds remained light so we put up the spinnaker, only to have it jump around and pop the halyard shackle, causing the spinnaker to crash down to the deck and water, leaving the halyard at the top of the mast. We arrived quite late and anchored in the Harbour. Nice breakwater, making for a quiet night. 34 Nautical Miles.

Day 2 Sunday, Oct 29th. Got up early to climb the mast and retrieve the halyard then pulled anchor and continued south. Planned on anchoring at Ano Nuevo and arrived late in the afternoon. Swells made for a pretty rocky anchorage and after assessing, we decided to continue southwards and made for Santa Cruz. Got in fairly late, making our way through the bay and into Santa Cruz harbour. 50 Nautical miles.

Day 3 Monday, Oct 30th. Very Pleasant day. Left Santa Cruz after fueling up, and headed south across Monterey Bay. Nice winds, sun, put the spinnaker up for a few hours and enjoyed a great sail and a great sunny day. Arrived in Monterey, which had more sea lions than Sea World. They were everywhere and all barking to let us know they were there. The harbormasters office was very friendly and they set us up in a slip near the office. Shopping near by. We decided to stay an extra day. Walked through Cannery Row on the way for groceries. This was a warehouse area at one time, the center of the fishing industry and the basis for John Stienbecks book "Cannery Row" which eventually was made into a movie. That evening there was a market on one of the nearby streets so we went shopping. Happy Halloween, some scary creatures out there.... 23 Nautical miles.

Day 5 Wednesday, Nov 1. Big two days, decided to make the push for Morro Bay, leaving Monterey and following the coast along Big Sur. Nathene and I had looked at doing the Big Sur Marathon last year so it was neat to look at the route and seen some of the topography. During the night, Bonnie spent much of her time at the wheel in the company of dolphins playing around the boat. I got up and took over and they left me sitting at the wheel in the dark with showers until dawn. We bypassed Simeon Bay, site of the Hurst Castle and made it to Morro Bay late in the afternoon, tying up on the Morro Bay Yacht club dock. Great hospitality! Supper out, and a tour of the local stores in the morning. Another boat had just arrived with a solo japanese sailor who came out of Japan to BC in 41 days and was making his way down the coast. 107 Nautical miles.

Day 7 Friday Nov 3. Fueled up and hung around waiting for the fog to lift. It finally did and we set out in sun only to catch up to the fog later. It rose up to an overcast day, clearing near sunset to start a bad night around Point Conception. Gale force winds, heavy seas, black night, drilling platforms, missle tests, and the US Navy all part of this night. Winds were so strong that they blew the flag for the overboard pole off and it was lost at sea. Anchored in swells at coho anchorage by 0130 hrs. 73 Nautical Miles.

Day 8 Saturday Nov 4. Pulled anchor in sunshine and light winds, setting sail for Santa Barbara. We arrived late again, after dark, and found our way through shallow waters, kelp beds, and into the bay. The harbor patrol did not have any berths left but allowed us to tie up to thier dock for the night. Nice to have power, a beer, and a few nachos. A litttle shopping in the morning but we haqd to leave by 0930 hrs. Chatted with a crew member from "Laura" a little motor yacht that had just come from France via the Panama Canal. Had to go short handed with only a crew of 28, poor guys. 41 Nautical Miles.

Day 9 Sunday Nov 5. Sunny day to Channel Islands. Nice harbour, friendly. Went for supper, showers, landery, and stocked up on some ice. 30 Nautical Miles.

Day 10 Monday Nov 6. A little shopping on the way out of the harbour, and south towards LA, sailing across Santa Monica Bay. Winds picked up for a while making for choppy seas, then the winds lightened up. Phoned various marinas only to be told no slips available, after checking to see what type of boat we had. Not prestegious enough for some, one actually hung up on me. LA was not friendly to us. Ended up in a marina in San Pedro bay. San Pedro bay is a big shipping port with large unloading facilities and lots of activities. 65 Nautical miles.

Day 11 Tuesday Nov 7. Departed early for Oceanside. A pleasant day, a little cooler but nice. Watching out for the big ships and fishermen coming out of the bay, busy place. Down the coast, past Newport beach and the ocean glassing over before the end of the day, arriving just at dark. Friendly place once again. 57 Nautical Miles.

Day 12 Wednesday Nov 8. Making the big push to try to get to Ensenada. Stopped by the navy for another missle test. Lots of traffic on the radio from warships in the area. Ended up coming in late aqain and into Mission Bay. Anchored in a free anchorage, good for 72 hours max. but we were only staying 12 hours. About a 1/2 dozen other boats also anchored there. 31 Nautical miles.

Day 13 Thursday Nov 9, fueled up at about 3.80 a gallon for diesel, wanted to empty the holding tank, but the pump out was broken. Grrr. Headed out, lots of helicopter traffic and we were hailed by a warship wanting us to stay at least 500 yards away as he traversed through to San Diego harbor. At 5 knots, we could not have gotten near him. Several helicopters came over and checked us out. Once we got close to the Mexican border, we started seeing much more wildlife again. Got in to the Coral Hotel and marina early in the morning and were met by Luis from Security. He set us up with a berth and made sure we were comfortable for the night. 65 nautical miles and the end of this trip.

Total distance 576 nautical miles or 662 miles or 1067 Kilometers

Day 14 Friday Nov 10. Spent the day resting and doing paperwork to secure the boat in Mexico.

Day 15 Saturday Nov 11. Cleaning up then back to San Diego to catch the plane home, arriving around 11 pm.