We left Half Moon Bay late and in the fog. On the way out, we passed a fleet of sea kayaks heading out into the fog. These were ultra-narrow sea kayaks so they were fast. One kayaker seemed to think he could keep up with Panta Rhei. We were going 7.5 knots at the time and he almost did it for a while. I pondered for a while just where they were going? There are a few buoys marking the channel into the breakwater but otherwise there is nothing to go to except open ocean. Also, none of them seemed to ever look at a compass. I thought about that for a while and eventually came to the conclusion that I was very very very glad to be aboard a capable vessel with GPS, foghorn, compass, and all sorts of other good stuff that make our trip safe and comfortable. Maybe comfortable is stretching it a bit. The seas were rough and soon the wind came up. This time we had 30 knots at about 150 degrees to starboard. We pulled out the jib and enjoyed the quiet ride most of the way to Monterey BAy. It's a 65 nm trip so it took all the rest of the daylight and we were glad for the speed that the wind gave us. We were making somewhere faster than 8 knots though as we rose and fell on the swells the knotmeter went from 6-11 knots. Suffice to say,, we sail faster than we motor if we have sufficient wind.

So now we are in Monterey Bay and are planning a trip to the acquarium. The wind is forecast to exceed gale strength tonight and tomorrow so we'll just stay here. It's a tail wind, so we could go but the seas will be considerably more comfortable if we wait a day or so. And we are ready for "more comfortable". We've got a little sun and it is warming up a little and that all feels like what we came south to find. We are beginning to be much more comfortable with our journeys on the open ocean. Our knees no longer knock and we've found a path around seasickness using Stugeron. We move around the deck with much greater confidence now. I suppose there is a benefit to starting this trip in the Pacific Northwest. From there the rest of the ocean looks progressively easier no matter where you talk about going.

We are looking forward to the friends that we will visit soon in Los Angeles and San Diego.

It appears the Seattle fleet will be rendevousing in San Diego after Oct 25. That is only a couple weeks away!