Anchoring Out in Our Backyard

This weekend we decided to anchor, basically down the street from our house, but in the ocean. The deciding factor for this was that the swell was going to be down to 2 - 3 feet during the night. -Favorable for a less rolling & rocking sleep. It doesn't come often to our area so we really wanted to take advantage.

Before Saturday, we did go out sailing on Thursday afternoon; due the tides & winds being ideal. We only sailed with the genoa out, as the mainsail had to be taken down so I could fix the slugs that had come undone. The awesome thing was that at around 12 knots of wind we made almost 6 knots of speed with just the genoa up. I'm kind of loving our genoa a bit more than the mainsail. It's easier to put out; being on roller furling. This also makes it easier to reef. -We can do all of this from the cockpit.

On Saturday afternoon the winds were at 20 - 22 knots. -A bit different than what the weather predicted the day before. Stupidly, I forgot to check again in the morning. Yet, if I did, we may not have taken MerSea out. We know that we can handle those kind of winds but they can overtake the sails & then we can run into problems if we aren't able to reef. So it was a blessing because now we have the confidence to handle higher winds on our boat. We reefed in the genoa half-way & still we were making 6 knots! -A little crazy but exciting! Not sure that Zephyr liked this though. Actually, I know Zephyr wasn't thrilled about this. He braced himself under the helm most of the time.

After sailing for an hour in these conditions, we decided to claim our anchoring spot. The wind calmed down quite a bit when we got into the little nook between the cliffs & the wharf. It's not easy to anchor in the wind so very thankful for this.

Matt is the Anchorman! -Not in the "Stay classy San Diego!", sense. But in the lowering & setting the anchor manually sense. Some boats have a windlass which helps with raising & lowering the anchor. And sometimes that windlass is electric. -Although only lazy people use these. I jest. I'm jealous of these people. Matt isn't. He would have to fix that electric windlass whenever it would break. Study up Babe! I see one in our future!

My attempt at a panorama shot.

It was so great to relax finally. -Which is way easier to do for us when we're not at home. Not exactly easy but easier. I do have to say, if we are officially on vacation, I'm transported to the world in which work & a spending limit don't exist. Didn't any of you see the Wizard of Oz?! -Free ruby slippers & no work!

Zephyr & I got a little bit of sun that afternoon. I had to almost force myself on Sunday to put on my bikini & take an hour to layout. Usually, I feel like I should be doing something more important & don't allow myself to do this at home. -Even though we live 2 blocks from the beach. I know. I know. I should be slapped sideways for this! My only real justification is that they don't allow dogs on the beach by our house. -It's the Boardwalk beach. -If they saw Zephyr in person though, do you think they'd give us an exception?

Matt needs to be a little bit more industrious when on the boat. He's not really a laying out kind of guy. So he put a hole in our boat! Luckily this hole does not let water in the boat that may, in turn, contribute to sinking it.

This might seem somewhat minor but now we don't have to lift up the cushion & the compartment underneath to open the stop cock to start the engine. -We have to open this to let water cool the engine while it's running. (I promise that a sailing term post is going to come soon!) I don't know which one of us is made happier by this! I know I'm ecstatic! And of course Matt made it look so easy to do. I think it only took him 1 minute.

On Sunday we decided to see what it would be like working on work, work from the boat. As much as it's nice to be less connected to the world, it's incredibly fortuitous that in this day & age a lot of people can work from wherever they are. -Although, right now, our jobs do require we are at home much of the time. -Yes, we both work from home & have been for a while. So we know what it's like to be in a fairly small place 24/7 already. MerSea is an even smaller version of that layout but we have a head start compared to other sailing couples in terms of spending all of your time together. What's our secret? We find closeness in making fun of the same things. I'm kidding. Actually I'm not.

Luckily, Matt was able to take time to paddle-board in the evening when the wind had died down. It only took him 8 months to try out the new, inflatable board that Zephyr & I got him for his birthday last year! I was getting ready to re-gift it to myself.

We feel so lucky that this is all coming together. So fun to be in our little house on the water. Can't wait until that water becomes warmer! All in good time, I guess. I really don't have another choice.

Not sure when our next sail is going to be. The winds are supposed to be strong all week. I definitely want to get the sail slugs sewn into the mainsail in the next few days. I'm typing this out so that you all can hold me to it! However, the 4th of July is coming up next week & we're a little tempted to spend it on MerSea. On the other hand, it can be crazy out on the water here during that day & night. We'll see...

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