Moving on Down the Coast
Zephyr is happily tuckered out!
Here we are in the next leg of the our sailing voyage! Still alive & bouncing back more each day.
We woke up in Cojo around noon. It was crazy, when we came out of the cabin, all the boats that were there that morning were gone! Did they all know something we didn’t? The wind did start to get strong but nothing crazy. It was sunny! That is always a plus. The water was fairly clear. And even though I knew if would be cold, I knew it wouldn’t be as cold as Santa Cruz. Since no one was around anymore, we took turns jumping in the water naked. Of course then immediately getting out & drying off. I felt super clean & refreshed. I think this really perked my spirits up even more!
Later in the afternoon a bunch of boats came in, including Oregon. -Who we had met in Morro Bay. We heard a warning for everyone to leave the Chanel Islands earlier that day due to a strong swell & winds. So I think most boats were coming from there. It definitely made me feel good about not leaving Monterey on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Might have been better to wait even a few more days though. -I have definitely learned that lesson.
The next morning we left for Santa Barbara! Finally, hopefully, going to a destination where we could dock again & get some things taken care of!
The sunrise was beautiful & the water & winds were calm. We even found a clear path out past the kelp. I did, (as always), check the weather conditions before we left & was led to believe that we’d have 7 - 8 knot winds early in the morning. Then they would be reaching to about 13 knots in the afternoon. So we motored, & motored & motored…. No wind came along -as much as we tried to will it to. We tried pulling out the sails a few times when it seemed that the winds were an average of about 7 knots. Of course then the wind wasn’t stable & just swirled around changing directions. Then, naturally, it decided to go back down to 4 knots. Wind, make up your mind!
Santa Barbara was a heavenly sight! This time it was quite a bit easier to find the fueling dock. -We needed to tie up here while I ran to check in at the harbor office. We got our slip assignment. I decided to get a 4 night stay here. I figured if we needed to leave earlier we could but that we probably needed 3 full days to somewhat relax. However I knew it would be mostly spent getting things done. Our slip was easy to get into & I felt a sense of instant relief. After going & going for a whole week, we could actually catch our breathe. We conected the power & then decided that Zephyr should get a walk in A.S.A.P.!
We admired the very lovely boats at the dock. Don’t tell MerSea. A big mix of both power & sailboats. On our walk we met a nice woman - who of course stopped us because of Zephyr. She actually lives on a boat at the harbor. I don’t think I’d mind living at this harbor either! You would still need a car but there are sooo many amenities here!
We also came across one of the sailboats we saw in Cojo. -I wrote the name of it down somewhere but can’t find it now. Michael was the owner & his friend, Kevin & him were aboard & also dealing with problems. They seemed like great guys!
I took a shower for the first time in who knows how long! I guess since Monterey. It felt so good! After that I was too tired to go eat out. We had planned to as we are still trying to celebrate our 21 year anniversary of being together. But that’s just going to have to wait.
Me feeling fresh & clean & warm!
The next day we took Zephyr for a walk on the beach & went to West Marine. -Just at the end of the dock from us!!! Then we came back to MerSea & cleaned her up a little bit. Matt fixed the wiring in the mast. We had to use the tabernacle again. So, that made me sad. I was really hoping that we wouldn’t have to use it until we got home again.
Our mast back to being horizontal for a few hours.
We had an interesting neighbor. He said his name was Phil Phillips. -So take a moment to let that sink in. His boat was interesting to say the least. It was weighed down with all sorts of stuff. He says he wants to start a museum from people’s cancellations. I overheard this all while I was working on the blog in the cabin. Matt was the one engaging in this stimulating conversation. Actually, he also said he was a reincarnation of John Lennon. I mean if you’re going to be a reincarnation of someone, John Lennon is a good choice. Guessing that this guy was in his 60s, this might make one ask a few more questions on how that’s possible but one might be sorry going down that road with him. He definitely kept Matt’s focus from being too intense on the task at hand. Unfortunately this was every time Matt was outside on the boat. I could go on & on about this guy but I really need to go back to our story. -See, he’s even sucking me into making this post about him.
Side view of our neighbor’s boat.
Neighbor’s boat to the left. I couldn’t even capture the insanity of it.
That afternoon I took a walk on the promenade with Zephyr. Basically it’s a walkway on the other side of the sea wall that serves as a breakwater for the harbor. We got to make a game of it as there were many spots where the waves were going over the wall at different intervals. So we hard to run & then wait, run & then wait. And then parts of it we could actually walk. Pretty fun!
The splash o’ promenade walk!
Zephyr & I made it to the end without incedent!
Will we be so lucky on our way back?
Came home again worked some more. Once again, I was too tired to go out to eat dinner. So we ordered some Sushi from Sushi Go Go. Matt went to pick it up. Only 5 minutes away! It was so good! Very fresh. I don’t think the chef there has been there long. The sushi wasn’t rolled very tightly & fell apart. But still sooo good!
The next day we cleaned up the boat even more & I took another shower. We then knew that it was definitely time to do laundry! We already had 3 loads. -Well part of that consisted of rags.
Matt went on to the bigger West Marine -which was a 30 minute walk. Zephyr & I started the laundry. He’s good at it. -Well, except for folding. We then proceded to go on a gazillion walks. Okay, maybe actually only 3 but they were long.
Came back to the boat for lunch & then major cleaning, projects & organizing. Then took Matt on the promenade walk & we continued on a small path to a beach. Zephyr ran around & we got to watch sailboat races out in the bay.
Oh & that night we really knew we needed to take advantage of having good, inexpensive sushi one more time! Yum! Yum!
The fog came in. And then it left. And then it came in again. And then…..
A new friend for Zephyr!
This boy has amazing balance!
The 3rd day was market day. I almost got everything on our list. In the afternoon we decided to walk around Santa Barbara. -Or at least the parts that were close enough to have an afternoon walk around. I love the architecture here. So classic & beautiful! We really would have loved to go to the heart of downtown SB but just didn’t have time. It was nice to make it to the wharf! I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve been to this lovely town. Not a shabby place to stop for 4 nights.
Unfortunately during our stay in Santa Barbara we discovered that we needed to change our main plan for the trip. Two problems came up.
1- I found out that pets are not only prohibited from the Nature Conservancy part of the Channel Islands but all over all of them. This news didn’t actually surprise me. And it makes sense but I only noticed the statement that does not allow them on the Conservancy section of the island. It doesn’t seem to be highlighted about the rest of the Channel Islands.
2- My dad’s boat wasn’t really ready for a trip all the way from Dana Point up to the Channel Islands. It’s new & there are some things that still need to be taken care of.
So what was the solution? Go to Catalina! I spent many summers with my family, on a boat, in Catalina at a place named Emerald Bay. It was going to put more days on our plan. -As it’s quite a bit further south. But hey, I love that place, Zephyr would be able to run around on land, the water would be a little warmer than the Channel Islands & my parents would be able to make it up to meet us!
Sorry to make this short, but I will continue with this saga next week!
(Want to note that uploading the photos, where we were at the time, was insane! I could only upload one photo at a time. So I didn’t get to post all the photos I wanted to. Which also meant that needed to just get the blog up & out on time. So it’s shorter than was intended. Also I’d like to say that if this posting looks unedited when you read it, it’s because it went out before I got a chance to finish it. Thank God I’m not adding videos into the mix right now! Although I have filmed a bunch. I just need to really learn how to use the GoPro & also edit the videos from it & from my phone. Haven’t had time to learn properly. Thanks for understanding!)
Zephyr says, “Ta ta! Until we meet again next Wednesday!”.
*In real time we just found out that we get to keep our slip at the Santa Cruz Harbor! I cannot put into words how stoked we are. We were seriously thinking of staying in SoCal if we couldn’t get that slip. I mean if we can’t keep our spot surrounded by wonderful dock neighbors what’s the point of beating back up the coast in possibly crappy weather & long overnight sails? So happy!
Thanks again for reading! Stay tuned for our time in Catalina next week!
