Location: Morro Bay, CA
We are slowly making our way north towards San Francisco. We left Chula Vista Marina middle of August and have been cruising leisurely up the coast.
Friday, August 14 – Chula Vista Marina to La Playa Anchorage, 12 nm, 2.4 hours, avg. speed 5.0 knots
We left the Chula Vista marina around noon, after the kids and grandkids got on the road back to Texas, and motored up to the La Playa anchorage, on the north end of San Diego Bay, to spend the weekend. The anchorage was calm and we didn’t do much except prepare for sea, pick-up a few provisions and sample some of the nearby restaurants.
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| Leaving Chula Vista Marina |
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| La Playa Anchorage at sunrise |
Monday, August 17 – La Playa Anchorage to Mission Bay, 14 nm, 2.4 hours, Avg. speed 5.8 knots
Our time at the La Playa anchorage expired Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. We were still waiting for a pelican hook to be repaired for our anchoring system, so we left San Diego Bay and moved north to Mariner’s Basin at Mission Bay and dropped anchor.
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| Point Loma as we are leaving San Diego Bay |
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| Navy Warship entering San Diego Bay as we are leaving. |
Our part was ready Monday afternoon, so we rode the bus to the shop and picked it up. On the way up from La Playa, we tested our stabilizer pump and found that the cooling water flow was less than it should be. We decided to stay another day in Mission Bay so Dave could do repairs. He took the cooling water piping apart and found that the ID of the pipe was severely restricted with mineral deposit build-up. He flushed the system and scraped out the deposits and the flow improved immensely. In between parts and repairs, we did some snorkeling, swam to the beach and walked and explored the nearby neighborhoods.
Wednesday, August 19 – Mission Bay to Dana Point, 49 nm, 6.9 hours, avg. speed 7.1 knots
Our voyage was uneventful. We arrived at Dana Point about 13:15 and anchored on the west side of the harbor near the Ocean Institute. The harbor is full of activity. Fishing and sailing boats coming and going, people in kayaks and on paddle boards, etc. Wednesday nights the local yacht clubs host junior sailboat races. At our place in the anchorage, we had front row seats and sat on the stern to watch the action.
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| Junior sailboat racing - Dana Point |
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Spirit of Dana Point - a replica of a 1770s privateer used
during the American Revolution |
We spent 5 nights in the anchorage, the maximum allowed, and explored the area. Dana Point runs a free trolley service along the beaches during the summer so we took a tour. San Juan Capistrano, famous for the return of the swallows every year, is about 4 miles from Dana Point. We spent an afternoon touring the mission and learning the history of the local indigenous people. Dana Point is the west coast home for Nordhavn trawlers. There were several models at the docks including a new N68 that looked like it was still being outfitted.
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| Bells at Mission San Juan Capistrano |
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| B driving the dinghy - Dana Point |
Monday, August 24 – Dana Point to San Pedro, 37 nm, 5.3 hours, avg. speed 7.0 knots
Our goal in San Pedro was to buy fuel. We had done some research before leaving San Diego and found a place in San Pedro, called Jankovich, whose diesel prices were $0.30 to $1.00 cheaper per gallon than the price quotes we got in San Diego. We pulled up to the fuel dock and let them know we were going to take on ~1,000 gallons but wanted to fill slowly to make sure all of our fuel piping and valve repairs didn’t leak. The guys at the fuel dock said no problem we could take our time. The price was even better than the quote we got the previous week so we decided to take on more than planned. We ended up getting 1,650 gallons at $2.40 per gallon (tax included). That should be enough fuel to get us up into Washington with plenty to spare.
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| Dolphins riding the bow wake - Dana Point to San Pedro |
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Dolphins under the bow (notice the reflection of the bow
at the bottom of the photo) - Dana Point to San Pedro |
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| Lighthouse, San Pedro Breakwater |
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| Container Ship coming up the San Pedro Channel as we are fueling |
We docked at the Cabrillo Way Marina and then went out for supper with my cousin Barb and her husband TL. They have lived in San Pedro for 20+ years so they gave us a great tour of the harbor area and downtown.
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| Heron on the dock - Cabrillo Way Marina |
Tuesday, August 25 – San Pedro to Avalon, Catalina Island, 24 nm, 3.8 hours, avg. speed 6.3 knots
We did some laundry at the marina before leaving San Pedro Bay and heading out to Avalon Harbor at Catalina Island. They have a system of parallel mooring buoys in Avalon Harbor so that they can pack in a lot of boats without having to worry about them swinging with the wind and the tide. When you enter the harbor, Harbor Patrol leads you to your mooring. Each mooring has a pick-up stick which you grab, then you pull the line until a loop appears. You attach this loop to a bow cleat. Next you “walk” a spreader line back to the stern, pull until you can see the loop on the stern hawser and tie it to a stern cleat. It was windy when we arrived so Harbor Patrol helped us grab the pick-up stick and pulled our stern to starboard so that we could get the lines fastened to the port side. We launched the dinghy and went into town for supper at a local steak house – where we both had seafood.
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| The Casino - Avalon, Catalina Island |
Wednesday we took the dinghy into town, did some walking, had lunch, bought a few groceries, Dave got a haircut, and had Italian food for supper. Avalon Harbor is an interesting place. The harbor is extremely busy and the town of Avalon is thriving during the summer season. There are plenty of restaurants, things to do and the water is crystal clear.
Thursday, August 27 – Avalon to Two Harbors, Catalina Island, 13 nm, 2.2 hours, avg. speed 5.9 knots
We stopped at Goat Harbor, about half-way between Avalon and Two Harbors to do some snorkeling. Beautiful clear water and not as cold as we expected.
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| Dave snorkeling - Goat Harbor, Catalina Island |
The harbor was extremely busy with boats coming and going and plenty of weekenders driving too fast and running into things. We saw a boat run over a dinghy line and set it free (they retrieved it) and a sailboat run over a mooring line and set a mooring ball free (they didn’t retrieve it). Sunday morning there was a paddle board race from Two Harbors to Channel Island Harbor (~22 miles). Many boats in the mooring field were chase boats for the paddle boarders and left before sunrise.
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| Tall ship at anchor, Two Harbors, Catalina Island |
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| Rocky beach, Catalina Harbor (across the isthmus from Two Harbors), Catalina Island |
Monday, August 31 – Two Harbors, Catalina Island to Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard, 57 nm, 7.8 hours, avg. speed 7.3 knots
Dave finally decided to get a California fishing license so we put the lines in the water and fished along the way. We arrived in Channel Islands Harbor mid-afternoon, docked at the public dock and went to a local pizza parlor for supper. Tuesday we walked and did some provisioning.
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| Dave catches a fish |
Wednesday, September 2 – Oxnard to Santa Barbara, 30 nm, 4.3 hours, avg. speed 7.0 knots
Dave fished along the way and caught three mackerel so he can say he didn’t get skunked on his new fishing license. He cut them up and put them in the freezer to use for bait to catch bigger fish. We pulled up to the Santa Barbara Harbor accommodations dock and went inside to get our slip assignment. A historic sailboat, Golden Rule, was at the dock at the same time. She originally set sail in 1958 to protest nuclear bomb testing but, on the way to the Marshall Islands, the crew was arrested and jailed in Honolulu and they never completed their mission. The boat was recently rescued from the mudflats in Humboldt Bay, refurbished and relaunched. She was sailing to San Diego for a peace conference. You can read more about the Golden Rule’s history at
http://www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org/history/
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| Pumpkin patch near Solvang, CA |
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| Harvesting Pinot Noir Grapes, Babcock Winery |
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| Inner courtyard, Mission Santa Barbara |
While in Santa Barbara, we explored the downtown area and a few restaurants. We rented a car for two days and drove up into the mountains to explore wine country and to go to the casino. I explored the Santa Barbara Mission while Dave did boat chores. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, so two mornings I rented a stand-up paddleboard (SUP). The first day I used a beginner board, wide and sturdy, but the second day I graduated up to an intermediate board, not as sturdy but it tracked better and was more maneuverable. We did laundry and some provisioning before the next leg of our journey.
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| B paddleboarding, day 1, beginner board |
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| B paddleboarding, day 2, intermediate board |
Tuesday, September 8 – Santa Barbara to Becher’s Cove, Santa Rosa Island, 37 nm, 5.3 hours, avg. speed 7.0 knots
We left Santa Barbara and decided to cruise out to the northern Channel Islands. We saw a lot of dolphins along the way. We were planning to stop and anchor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island but when we got there we decided it would be too rolly. We continued west to Santa Rosa Island and anchored in Becher’s Cove for the night.
Wednesday, September 9 – Becher’s Cove, Santa Rosa Island to Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel Island, 19 nm, 2.8 hours, avg. speed 6.8 knots
As we were coming into the harbo, Dave spotted a hammerhead shark. The water here is extremely clear. The wind was blowing 15-20 knots when we arrived and continued to increase throughout the day so we stayed aboard for the afternoon, did some unlaxing, read our books and looked at the maintenance schedule for the next month. This island has a plethora of sea urchins. Several fishing boats came in during the day to dive and collect them and a few anchored overnight before heading out the next morning. Early Thursday morning the wind finally quit.
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| Sunrise looking toward Prince Island, Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel Island |
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| Shore birds along the beach, San Miguel Island |
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| Seals sleeping on the beach, San Miguel Island |
Friday, September 11 – Cuyler Harbor to Port San Luis, 71 nm, 9.9 hours, avg. speed 7.2 knots
We got up early and left Cuyler Harbor before sunrise. Our voyage today took us around Point Conception and Point Arguello, a leg of the journey where waiting for the right weather window is very important. It was a little lumpy before rounding the points, but the wind was blowing less than 10 knots and it smoothed out as we got further north. We saw lots of dolphins feeding, playing and riding our bow wake and we saw two humpback whales and a blue whale. We pulled into San Luis Obispo Bay mid-afternoon and picked up a mooring near the breakwater. We launched the dinghy and went ashore for a walk along the pier and supper at a nearby café. Saturday we took the free trolley in to Pismo Beach. The local hardware store was going out of business so we spent the afternoon shopping for “necessary items” at bargain prices.
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| Sunrise on the voyage from San Miguel Island to Port San Luis |
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| Seal swimming on its back, Port San Luis |
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The dinghy "dock" and the ladder we had to climb
to get up to the pier, Port San Luis |
Sunday, September 13 – Port San Luis to Morro Bay, 22 nm, 3.4 hours, avg. speed 6.5 knots
We timed our journey this morning to arrive at Morro Bay during slack tide as the currents can be fairly strong at the entrance. Morro Bay is known for its sea otters and we saw several as we entered the breakwater. The local yacht club hosts transient boats if there is space at its dock and there was. We were greeted by a yacht club member who helped us tie-up and showed us around the club. We wandered into town for lunch and discovered that the Avocado Festival was happening this weekend along the waterfront. We stopped at the festival, had a margarita, bought some fresh avocados, tomatoes, blackberries and oranges and listened to a local band.
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| Morro Rock, Morro Bay |
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| Power plant smoke stacks, Morro Bay |
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B signing up to win free avocados for a year
Avocado Festival, Morro Bay
(we are still waiting for them to call to let us know we won) |
It’s raining here today but the weather looks good for heading north again on Tuesday.
Our next stop - San Simeon.
