LeT’s Try This Again

Good Morning Santa Cruz!

I'm just going to give a spoiler alert at the beginning of the blog: Our trip to Monterey was NOT a disaster! We consider it a success! Hooray for us! It was a lot of fun & it was unusually warm & sunny in Monterey! Probably would have even stayed a 3rd day if it weren't for those pesky things called jobs that we had to get back to. Oh well, at least we had the luxury of taking 2.5 days off.

Leaving SC Harbor.

We did know that there wasn't going to be much wind at the beginning of our sail. We also knew that there was a small craft warning out that day, as winds were going to get up to around 24 knots by 1 pm. -Not that we couldn't have handled that but we would rather be comfortable & our goal is definitely to have fun first. I'll deal with stress if I have to but if I can reach my goal without it, why not?

There was no wind until about half way. -Kind of a bummer but it was pretty out & it was nice just to take in the surroundings & also take off some layers. I think I got down to 4 layers! Not giving up though. I will continue to carry my bikinis on board for that day that I'll get to start slathering on reef-safe sunscreen instead of fleece & wool layers.

Let’s see if our kayak holds on.

OMG! We saw whales on the way! My marine life photography skills could definitely take some improvement but I tried. Only had access to my iPhone & being at the helm & trying to get them in the photo & up close enough was quite the challenge for me. The swell was pretty rolly, so keeping the whales in the frame was a bit tricky. Plus, I really like to be in the moment & see things with my own eyes & not just through the lens of a camera. Some day I'll get the whales to pose & then you'll all be impressed!

There were also a lot of fishermen out. If we were any further east I would have felt like we were in a shipping channel! Can't wait until "we" install our AIS. Then we'll be able to feel a bit more prepared when coming up to a high traffic marine area. And we'll also be able to tell where the really great fishing spots are! -Although first we need to properly learn how to fish. Hey! Don't give us flack! There are other very important & talented things we know how to do. Fishing just isn't one of them.......yet!

Bird Patrol!

One thing that is so nice to have on board is our autopilot -who I have dubbed Harriet. I named her that because she has lasted, (she came with the boat & they don't make autopilots like her anymore). She leads us to where we need to go. She's tough. And she gives opium to babies who cry. Really. She does. Well, we've never had a baby on board & she did only tell me this in confidence when Matt & Zephyr were asleep but I'll take her word for it!

This reference have may gone way over your head. -In that case, I suggest you do some reading & then some more, on Harriet Tubman. She is one of my heroes & I mean no disrespect in naming the autopilot after her because I think they are both pretty badass! -Especially Mrs. Tubman. The more & more I learn about her the more she amazes me. You might think you know all about her but you don't. Trust me.

Auto pilot brain & mechanism.

Anyway, we finally did get to sail after a couple of hours for a couple of hours! Both the genoa & mainsail were up & MerSea was making about 6 knots! So, that was pretty sweet! The blissful nature factor goes up when the motor is off. Thank you winds from the west!

After 2.5 hours of motoring & 2.5 hours of sailing we arrived in Monterey. Checking in at the harbor was a little easier than at Moss Landing but not quite easy. I think I need to start calling in to the harbor when we get to it from now on. I love you Babe but ..... well.... this is what I hear: "Monterey Harbor, Monterey Harbor, Monterey Harbor. This is sailing vessel MerSea, sailing vessel MerSea. We have a reservation under Watson...... Ok. Thanks." Then I ask him, "Where do we go?". Him, "I don't know. We need to pull up next the the blah blah." -He didn't actually say blah blah but he might as well have or even said something in Cling-On. He didn't understand it either but I think he thought the guy on the other end was just an idiot & didn't know what he was talking about so Matt just gave up. Okay. Great way to solve the problem, Babe! Matt, I guess, decided it was the harbor guy's loss if we couldn't find where we were supposed to dock. That'll show him!!

So we pulled up & docked somewhere unlikely for about 2 minutes & then decided to pull around to this other place where I thought the harbormaster office might be. Some guy there motioned for us to pull up to the dock & we tied up & then for some reason I decided that Matt, with his great recent communication skills should go with the guy to check in. Fingers crossed?

Well, Matt came back with success & even a pamphlet bag. -Which is like a goody bag but just with pamphlets in it. So we literally went one dock over & tied up for our stay. Yay! All I know is that Matt can actually dock the boat & I am not so smooth. Pretty sure all the scuffs on the sides of our boat are my fault. So let's just say we have skills in different areas.

Our neighbor at the dock.

After that, I think we both wanted to take it in that we did it! We sailed to Monterey from Santa Cruz! Pretty stoked we finally made it here! I think I've had it on our to do list for almost a year. This is a lesson that you need to get used to when owning a boat: Your schedule, the weather's schedule & the boat's schedule all need to coincide for things to happen. That can be hard enough to do with two other friends. Think of scheduling things with two unreasonable beings. Yep, that's what it's like.

I wouldn't say we were wiped out after our sail. I think there was just so much buildup of actually finally taking this trip & the will we or won't we make it that it tired us out a little bit. Didn't feel like sleeping. -Well, Zephyr did. But also didn't feel like moving after plunking down on the cushions in the main cabin. I was hoping that Zephyr would magically wake up & have the ability to walk, have opposable thumbs & an eager to please attitude & make us some coffee. I'm still waiting...

1. Zephyr start some hot water for coffee!

2. The electric kettle is too far away....

So after an hour of chilling & cleaning up things a bit we decided to venture out. Pretty fun to do, since we've been to Monterey a ton of times but never by boat. Now come to think of it parking in Monterey is way more of a pain than docking.

Took a walk up to Fisherman's Wharf. We couldn't believe how clear the water was! Clear does not mean warm though. Not the most enticing water to swim in. -Unless you're the kind of person that likes to put ice cubes in your bath.

It was a nice walk to Fisherman's Wharf. I actually hadn't been there for a while. The fact that they let you bring a dog onto the wharf is so great. They don't in Santa Cruz, which is a huge bummer because we live just up the street from it!

We did something different to celebrate reaching our goal. We got hot chocolate at a place on the wharf called Water & Leaves. They had teapot lights! -Thought of you, Sis. They make the best hot chocolate so don't pass this place up if you are in Monterey!

After trying to make our drinks last long we decided to walk around some more. We found out that Monterey used to be the Mexican capital of California before we took it away from them between 1776 - 1848. The museum was closed by the time we got to it. So you will have to Google it or go see it for yourself & answer burning questions like: Why Monterey? Why not San Diego or San Francisco? Monterey is kind of small. Why isn't there more built around here if it made such a good capital? Why didn't I know this before? Did they teach this to me in school & I forgot? Am I a bad Californian for not knowing this?

On day two, we all took it pretty easy. Went out to breakfast at the Wave Street Cafe. Walked to the Aquarium. Then decided Zephyr really needed some beach time.

There was this cute little hidden niche of a beach we found when walking back. It looked like there used to be another structure on it at one time. Zephyr had the best time running around on it! I wish I could show video of it but don't have the ability to here. So you'll just have to picture the cuteness.

Monterey is really a charming little town. If I didn't know that the fog usually collected here most of the year, I might be tempted to move.

Our beautiful MerSea!

Matt decided to go for an early afternoon snorkel. Don't gasp, he does have a super thick wetsuit that makes this possible. Although, I think it's still probably fairly cold with it on. I guess there wasn't a ton to see but he did get checked out by a couple of harbor seals. -Pretty cool. Zephyr & I saw all of this from a walk on land. Our docking spot was in a very convenient place.

Oh, something I have forgotten to mention before- not sure if our fuel gauge is working properly. Yeah, kind of fun, right?! We think it's semi-accurate. But just to be on the safe side we fuel up kind of regularly when we think it might not be the best time to run out of diesel. I am kind of learning towards just replacing our current one.

Until then though, we just have to be very prepared. Since the fuel dock wasn't going to open up until after we wanted to set off in the morning we decided to motor our boat a dock away, (instead of just pull it there which we could have done), & get fuel.

After that, Matt wanted to motor around & sightsee by boat the surrounding area. This was fun & Zephyr got to get his barking out at the birdies.

The weather situation the following day was going to be similar to the way it was while getting to Monterey. So we decided to make it an early night in order to get up early & beat the 25 knot winds -before they started, back to Santa Cruz.

Got up at the break of dawn & prepped the boat for the sail across the bay. It's so much easier when we don't have to think of tabernacling to get out of the harbor.

We didn't end up getting to sail at all. There wasn't a bit of wind the whole way. However, the waves did want to engage & there were 6 - 8 foot swells when leaving Monterey. -Luckily we could just head into them. By the time we got close to Santa Cruz though, they were coming abeam to us & I had to adjust Harriet so that we weren't rolling side to side so much.

Until next time, adios, Monterey!

It took only about 4.5 hours to get back. At this point we were exhausted. Isn't that usually the case when getting back from a vacation?

Taking our time to clean up the boat, we got to our house before 1 pm. -Just in time to get back to work. It almost seemed like the whole thing was just a dream. Glad we have the photos & this blog to prove that it wasn't.

Thanks so much for reading our blog! If you liked it, click the like & follow buttons below. I'll be in touch again next week.