10/07/2008, Santa Barbara
The last couple of days we have settled into a pattern, late morning rise, coffee/tea, followed by an excursion into town on our bikes. We did a wonderful Sunday brunch at a sidewalk cafe on State Street with decadent "endless mimosas" and crab benedict .... yum. The pic above represents our usual "catch", bringing food or other stuff back on our bikes.... We've traversed 6-7 miles away from the Marina on our boat to find little parts here and there. We found a great deal on some fishing gear so we can catch a little sushi on the way down the coast of Baja. Difficult to see, but Rina has a fishing net strapped to her bike and I have a 6 foot fishing pole, plus our racks loaded up with gear.
We've met some nice people here in the Marina. We attended a benefit for the Sea Shells youth sailing program, consisting of wine tasting and tours of various boats at the marina. Afterward we hosted a couple who are preparing to cruise on a similar boat as ours, so we had lots to talk about. In our neighborhood we have met the local rigger after catching a lady walk her dog and then let him poop right on his dock lines, suggesting that she clean it up. Unfortunately she did'nt clean it very well, as a couple of hours later he went to pick up the dock lines and as we came back to the boat, he had a funny look on his face.... I explained that we had suggested that the dog walker wash off the lines, and he asked if it was black lab.... sure enough... apparently she does this kind of thing ALL the time.... He's threatening to glue her dock lines to the dock.....
While we've had fun here, it's off tomorrow morning to Marina Del Ray, right off Venice beach for a day or two.
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10/04/2008, Santa Barbara
Here's some friends that I made on our dock...very nice, they really don't have much in conversational skills...but I liked them. I've heard many stories of these seals taking over boat decks....thanks to our high free-board, they can't reach us.
ok, off to do more chores...boatwork is never done...funny, huh?!?!
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10/04/2008, Santa Barbara
Rina and I always have fun in Santa Barbara. There is a West Marine right at the docks and good restaurants, bike riding and lots of friendly sailboat types hanging around. We'll be here for a couple of nights before heading to Santa Monica on Monday and then Catalina on tuesday. We had a gorgeous sunset last night, followed by rain early this morning. That's ok, gives us time to do a bunch of those little projects still on the do-list.
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Thank you for having us aboard to see all the wonderful preparations you have taken for your big cruise. You've given me some great ideas for improving conditons on Viking Lass.
I hope you found the produce store. Have you been able to stay in Santa Barbara for a few more days?
Best of luck to you on your amazing adventure. Have fun and enjoy the blue water and warm sun. I'll enjoy following your progress.
Linda Bishop
10/03/2008, Somewhere around Point Conception
Rina and I both make a big deal about battening things down before we sail. We have checklists for doing so that we are pretty good about.... usually... stupid me... I'm so proud of myself for fixing a horrid squeak that developed in one of the bulkheads that I forget to put my ^$&^$$ screw organizer back in it's home.... resulting in a mess on the floor of the garage..... that's ok, a rainy Saturday morning gives me time to put it all back together... Note to self: Don't ignore the mess in the garage!
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10/03/2008, Point Conception
Point Conception, from the sailors point of view, delineates Northern California from Southern California. Today was no different from our prior trips around the point.... overcast, strong winds, larger seas until you hit the point, and as you go around, sun, small seas and lesser winds... It's all sun from here we think.... (wrong again as it turns out)
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10/02/2008, On Way to San Luis Obispo
Amazing, I just can't get over this aspect of sailing...all the natural sea life....here's one of my favorites....DOLPHINS!! The pod came upon us on the nose and played for awhile. There was about 12-15 of them, bouting for the front of the bow...amazing! Just love it, they talk while they play...pretty cool.
I'm warm now..as Allan Said....I can't wait for MEXICO!!
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10/02/2008, Port San Luis
After a short 5 hour motorsail we landed in Port San Luis to wonderful sun... Did some wine tasting and chores and now hanging out in the cockpit reading.... I feel the clock starting to tick slower now....
Rina promises to write more..... send her comments to force her to!
allan
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10/01/2008, San Simeon, CA
Got to San Simeon after a very long day.... Left Santa Cruz at 3am because Rina and I couldnt go back to sleep... the upside is that it puts us into our next port during daylight and hopefully catch a sunset. Worked well in this case except for the southern swell that hammered us all night. We're lucky if we got 3 hours of sleep as sets would come in every 15 minutes or so that would rock the boat violently back and forth and shake EVERYTHING that wasnt tied down. Luckily, one of Rina's projects in Santa Cruz was sewing a net to the top of the galley shelves to hold the glasses and stuff in. Without that it ALL would have been on the floor.
We couldnt wait to get the hell out of there.... too bad, because it's usually a pretty nice place to hang out, with a secluded beach and no crowds.
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10/01/2008, San Simeon, CA
So I buy these little orange "rocker stoppers" that are supposed to help stop the boat from rocking in anchorages just like this one. We swing the mast over, rig the 5 rockers in series using an old polypropylene ski rope and toss it over, with a 12lb dinghy anchor holding it down. The concept is that the rockers stop the motion one way given the shape.... Well, about 2 hours after deploying, Rina hears a thunk, gets up to investigate and finds the rocker stoppers gone from the mast. The next morning we investigate and find the frayed ski line..... oh yea, poly line chafes VERY easy.... lesson learned (I think) - get good line. WRONG. As we raise the anchor the next morning I find the rocker stoppers tangled around the anchor rode (chain). The boat had spun around in the night and grabbed the contraption and ripped it off the mast.... Note to self: only deploy with good strong line and when the boat current/winds ensure we will stay in a consistent direction
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09/29/2008, Santa Cruz
Two excellent days in Santa Cruz.... Dinner with Alyssa on Monday at the Crows Nest... No car to pick her up LOL! She had to take the bus from UC Santa Cruz. Tuesday night Dinner with Rina's Mom at Johnny's... a couple of rare treats eating out. We reflected with Alyssa how we dreamed about being at this point some day.... Alyssa in college, us sailing away for awhile.
During the days we finished up boat projects and upgraded the boat lettering on Follow You Follow Me, as the old lettering was shriveling up after 5 years. Larry the boat lettering guy was located right there at the Marina so it made it very easy to iterate the design. Much bigger than the old lettering, which will be important for boat identification on the Baja Haha rally later this month.
We're staying way too busy we realize, but that will change once we get to Santa Barbara where we plan on hanging out for 5 days, riding bikes, kayaking and reading...
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