Sherry
11/08/2010, Dana Point, CA

California or Bust - Missive 8

October 30 - Nov 4, 2010: We had a wonderful easy going week here in Avalon - it was paradise since it's off season with hardly any boats in the anchorage. November is downright hot ... we had temps in the high 80's and lots of sun. Hot enough to put up our sun shades!

On Halloween all the little ghost and goblins paraded down the waterfront parkway to the entertainment of all the adults. I would have never guessed there were so many kids in town.

We filled each day with one or two chores, a stroll in town, a nap, dinghy ride or some tourist activity. We found out that the buffaloes on the island were introduced back in 1924 when Hollywood brought them over as part of a Zane Grey movie. And if you have about $750,000 lying around in loose change you too can own one of the mooring buoys here in the harbor.

The casino is not really a gambling casino as we first thought; it's actually a theatre, ballroom and museum. "Casino" in Italian means "a gathering place". The community clock chimes each quarter hour which was very pleasant to hear except for the one note that was off key. The water is crystal clear showing off its large kelp beds, schools of fish, pelicans and sea lions.

Nita & Mike Conlon on Odessa joined our buoy neighborhood on Wednesday. It was great to see them, catch up on all the news and share in a delightful meal.
Our unique Pacific Northwest boats were admired by many local sailors.

November 5-8, 2010: I was sad to leave Avalon, it was feeling mighty comfortable but time to head for Dana Point to meet with family and entertain great nieces and a nephew. We got a short sail in before having to motor but no complaints as it was a lovely day.

The Dana Point Yacht Club is nicely placed at the west end of the marina area. A hubbub of activity throughout the harbor has kept us quite entertained ... walkers, paddle boarders, sailors, kayakers, jet skis, tourist cruises ... you name it. Dana Point Harbor is named after Richard Dana, author of Two Years Before the Mast. The harbor is home to the tall ship, Pilgrim, a replica of the ship Dana sailed on from Boston to California in 1834.

We were excited to see family especially the little ones Allie, Tristan & Bella, our great nieces and nephew. My niece Rachael & her husband Adam live in Lake Elsinore, a short drive from Dana Point. And my sister Mona & our brother-in-law Dick were down from Boise to babysit the crew while Rachael & Adam attend the birthday bash for the Marine Corps. Rachael had served two tours of duty while Adam is still active.

The last couple of days have been filled with multiple dinghy rides, fishing off the dock, watching cartoons, eating, walking and coaxing kids to take naps. In between keeping the junior crew in line, the adults managed to catch up on family news.

It was hard to say goodbye; the little crew members were sure fun to be around especially at the ages of 1 ½, 3 ½ & 11. But we hope to see them again while we spend a couple of weeks in San Diego.

Tomorrow it onward to Oceanside for a night and then to Marina Cortez in San Diego.

Comments [1]

Sherry
10/30/2010, Avalon, Santa Catalina Island

California or Bust - Missive 7

October 23, 2010: Panta Rhei departed early this morning while Bob & I were sawing logs cuddled in bed. We opted to stay another day and visit the Ventura County Maritime Museum. Boy was it a treat and labor of love. It has an unbelievable collection of model ships on display some dating back to the 1700's built by French prisoners of war by using dried bones from their meals. One group of ship replicas (8 in all) was built by a man using dental tools. It took him 30 years to build these ships; the workmanship was unbelievable with extreme attention to detail. One figurehead alone took 600 hours to carve.

The history and artifacts this small museum has collected was well worth staying another day ... and it was free! Later we enjoyed a delightful dinner aboard Grace with Paul & Judy.

October 24, 2010: I had the rare problem of needing to wear my sunglasses first thing this morning. For the tradeoff of sun, we had no wind but that was ok as we finally got to see the shoreline for a change. We had an easy ride to Marina del Rey while entertained by dolphins, whales and pelicans.

October 25, 2010: We are guests of the Del Rel Yacht Club and it is quite an impressive club including a swimming pool, bar & dining room. From what we can tell, it is a very active yacht club ... yesterday little ghosts and goblins were trick or treating with dressed up adults handing out candy. Tonight the big boys got to enjoy Monday night football in the bar area.

I spent the day mucking out the boat of dust bunnies & mold. Bob was eyeballing the engine and discovered a leak in the exhaust elbow. A small amount of salt crystals were clinging to the outside and that sight raised alarm bells with Bob. Sure enough we had a small hole in the elbow ... it just plain wore out. A year ago we had problems with this part coming apart from the exhaust hose. Fortunately we are at a dock and we didn't have major problems at sea.

October 26, 2010: By noon our exhaust elbow was fixed by a local mechanic - we could get the elbow but Bob didn't have the tools on board to install it. That was fine with me ... he didn't need to worn out by working on the engine. It was worth the $650 of which ½ of this was for the stupid Westerbeke part.

I did my part and did laundry. I really am in southern California; the washers & dryers were outdoors under a patio cover. While in between loads I lounged by the swimming pool reading. Life is tough on the frontier!

October 27, 2010: The high winds and waves have now abated and time to move onto Two Harbors on Santa Catalina Island. During the 30 mile trip I kept humming tunes about this island ... "the island of romance, romance da a da a". Hate to tell you we were wearing shorts & t-shirts for the entire trip.

This was our first time to try the mooring buoys with bow & stern ties. Each mooring consists of a mooring can, pick-up pole and two bottom weights for the bow and stern. Each weight is attached to lines that attach to your boat. And depending on the season, your bow will face the shore in summer while facing away from the shore in winter. The harbormaster assigns the buoy based on boat size, directs you to the correct location and collects the fees ($37/night, UFF DA!)

As you pull in close to the mooring ball, you grab the pole and pull in a small line until a large loop appears. That gets attached to your bow. Continue pulling up the "spreader" line as you walk to the stern of the boat and another loop will appear. This gets attached to your stern cleat. Then you adjust as necessary to get the proper tension. It's relatively quite simple. They can pack in hundreds of boats in harbor with this method. We arrived off season so the anchorage was calm and relaxing.

October 28, 2010: It was a lovely sunny day, mid-70's, as we headed to shore for an excursion. Catalina Harbor was just across the isthmus from Two Harbors, an easy stroll to stretch our legs. Two Harbors, a small community of 70 people, is home to Buccaneer Days in early October. As the harbormaster stated ... "it is spring break for 40, 50 & 60 year olds". They will raft boats up to 3 on a mooring. With all the coves surrounding this area there must be a 1,000 mooring balls ... can you imagine the number of boats coming to this beach to play pirate? It shivers me timbers! Grog and swords are for sale in the general store.

I am not sure what I expected for scenery or wildlife on Catalina island but seeing buffalo??? There are several residing on the island, laying about in the fields and resting in the shade of palm trees. This whole island is dry, arid and full of cactus. However, I got the best cell phone & internet coverage right here attached to the mooring buoy.

October 29, 2010: We moved a whopping 12 miles south to Avalon, a real incorporated city on the island. On our journey along the island, we saw Girl Scout and YMCA camps plus numerous other small resorts. Avalon is quite impressive ... it's like a Friday Harbor on steroids; picturesque, quaint but very Californian. A huge casino was built out on the harbor point with row after row of condos lining the hillside. Once again we are tied to a mooring buoy but it is very comfortable with little swell. Great rate too: pay for 2 nights and get 5 nights free for $70. So we are staying for a week.

An update on Bob and our agenda: We finally got to speak with Bob's cardiologist about this latest hospital stay. In a nutshell, the doctor is worried that his blood pressure is running too high now, so he recommends contacting a doctor in San Diego. (We have been taking daily readings after the hospital discharge.) We have lined up a cardiologist with UCSD Medical Center with an appointment on Nov 12th. The goal is to have him review the meds Bob is taking and adjust as necessary. Additionally, as a follow-up to his hospital stay, some blood draws are required to test his liver and kidney function. As we have found out, uncontrolled blood pressure can cause undue hardship on your kidneys & liver.

That said, we are staying in Avalon until 11/4. From 11/5 to 11/8 we are visiting with family at Dana Point, then moving on to San Diego arriving about 11/10/10 and staying at Marina Cortez. Thanks to Karen & Larry's cousin Kirk, he arranged moorage for us in the same marina he moors his boat. We will stay in SD at least two weeks.

Any decisions to continue south hinges on this doctor visit. Unfortunately, over the past 15 years we have gone thru several medicine changes because they lose their effectiveness or create other side effects. We just have to wait and see what our options will be.

All for now ...

Comments [3]

Sherry
10/22/2010, Oxnard, CA

California or Bust - Missive 6

October 16, 2010: It felt good to pull away from the dock with my honey onboard. We were moving on to Ventura at short 24 miles away. On a whim I hailed Panta Rhei on the VHF and sure enough got a reply. Larry & Karen were also on their way to Ventura from Cojo anchorage and only a couple of hours behind us.

The marina was kind enough and placed them on the same dock only a boat away from us. We then met up with Paul & Judy Meaney on Grace for a dinner out trading stories and adventures. It sure felt good to see familiar faces and good friends.

October 17, 2010: This marina is expensive - $1.50/ft but at least they had good clean facilities. The laundry got a workout by all three boats and then I made a trip to the grocery store. The closest one was about 2 miles away ... not very convenient so a taxi ride was in order.

October 18, 2010: Panta Rhei was joining us for a trip to Santa Cruz Island. After checking with locals and the National Park Service we got tips on good anchorages and what to see. Our first destination was Pelican Cove. The trip over to the island was a mixed bag of sailing, motor sailing & motoring. I was hoping for a nice quiet calm no swell anchorage and for the most part my wishes came true. Both boats got tucked in around a point reducing the swell (which wasn't much) and settled in for the evening ... dinner was on Ponderosa.

This anchorage was touted as quite beautiful ... all four of us are trying to figure out where the beauty lies. We should all be thankful for the incredible northwest woods, coves and mountains in WA, BC & AK ... I really miss 'em.

October 19, 2010: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Barbara and surrounding waters out 6 miles are part of the Channel Islands National Park. These islands are home to over 2000 species of animals and plants - 145 are found nowhere else on earth. This is a sanctuary for brown pelicans; back in 1970 they were on the endangered species list due to contamination of DDT. It was only in 2009 they were removed the list thanks to their remarkable recovery; on West Anacapa Island around 6,000 nesting pairs of parents raise their chicks.

One of the attractions on Santa Cruz Island is the Painted Cave, the largest sea cave in North America. It is about 600 feet long and the entrance about 150 ft tall. A tour of this cave was today's fun filled adventure. Hazard's Anchorage was the closest place to deploy the dinghies for a 1.9 mile ride to the cave. It was living up to its name and I was not comfortable leaving the boats at anchor in the larger swells (we were now at the NW corner of the island). I pitched a fit and wouldn't leave the boat. So Larry & Karen took their dinghy first to the caves while Bob & watched the boats. We kept in touch by radio as a good safety measure.

Once Larry & Karen were back, Larry insisted we see the cave and they would watch our boat. Now deploying a dinghy and mounting the motor on it in 3-4 ft swells is challenging ... actually it was a pain in the ass. But we managed and sloughed our way to the cave promptly getting wet in the rain and salt water spray. (all this I thought to see a stupid cave) I had one heck of time even getting into the dinghy from the boat trying to time the swells.

The cave was huge and the water calmed as we ventured further inside. The sea lions barking echoed throughout the chambers ... it was spooky, getting darker and the swell kept pushing us inward. And you could eyes reflecting off the flashlights ... I had enough - I yelled at Bob to get me out!

On the way back to the boats, a sea lion popped out of the water just ahead of the dinghy surprising the heck out of me. He looked at me and I at him ... we both screamed and Mr. Sea Lion dove quickly with one big tail slap soaking both Bob & I even more. Gezzzzzz ..

I survived the misadventure, we got the dinghy motor back safely on the boat (barely) and started off for Scorpion Cove on the southeast corner of the island. The weather was not cooperating starting with periodic rain showers and fickle winds but we got some sailing in. Just as we anchored the heavens opened up with thunder, lightning and pelting rain. I thought I was back in Ketchikan ... we had quite the nasty weather.

October 20, 2010: A land excursion was our planned activity for the day. We launched our dinghy, picked up the Nelsons and cruised along the shoreline gawking at the pelicans, sea caves, sea lions and cormorants. Scorpion ranch, a once working ranch, was now a visitor center on Santa Cruz Island. Numerous campsites and walking trails surround the old ranch. We arrived shortly after a tour boat unloaded 60 - 5th graders and their chaperones for a 3 day field trip/camp. Can you imagine the patience and endurance the adults must have to corral these little cherubs? I got some great pictures of the kids pulling their suitcases/sleeping bags, etc thru the mud ... darn few had backpacks. It was about a ¼ mile from the beach to the campsite so the little critters did have to work but they were having fun and that is what counts.

Us big kids enjoyed walking the canyon trail to stretch our legs and enjoy the views. One would never guess the amount of rainfall we had last night by looking at the dry ground. Later we sat on the park picnic tables and just enjoyed the waterfront view especially the pelicans.

October 21, 2010:
Our grand plan was to travel 65 miles to Santa Catalina Island and spend a couple of days. It was rise and shine with anchors up by 7:00 am to arrive at Catalina during daylight. However, the morning didn't start out very good for Panta Rhei. Leaking engine hoses and high engine temps set the tone for the day. Check out Larry & Karen's website for details: www.sailblogs.com/member/Pantarhei. The bottom line is we ended up in the Channel Islands Marina in Oxnard a mere 19 miles away taking 7 hours to arrive ... Panta Rhei had no engine and come in under sail. We hovered close by ready to tow them if necessary.

The harbormaster had a temporary dock Panta Rhei could tie up to and we were allowed to tie up to the fuel dock for a couple of hours. Bob & Larry got to work troubleshooting all the issues. By the time it was all said and done ... it was a combination of problems - a leaking hose (which got replaced & provided a temporary fix) and a closed sea cock. Once resolved ... we proceeded to our assigned guest moorage and dinner out. We all were very pooped!

October 22, 2010: A well needed day of rest ...

Comments [2]

Sherry
10/15/2010, Santa Barbara, CA

October 10 & 11, 2010: We decided to spend a couple more days in here in Santa Barbara for further tourist exploration and a day to putz around the boat. It definitely has been hot these past few days but much better than clouds and rain.

While in San Francisco we obtained a current boat survey and had a few minor items to correct ... such as inspecting our fire extinguishers, adding smoke detector & CO2 alarm and replacing an intake hose on the generator. So replacing the hose was Bob's project of the day which meant a walking trip to West Marine.

What started as a simple project got suspended with a trip to the ER ... Bob had to keep stopping to rest - any kinds of exertion totally wipe him out. We pulled out the blood pressure machine and started taking readings. The pressure was extremely low and so was his heart rate at 35-40 beats a minute. He has been on meds to control his irregular heartbeat and has learned to pace himself for the past 15 years but this episode was very unusual. We called a taxi and got ourselves to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital ER.

It didn't take long to get escorted to a bed, an EKG taken, blood work drawn and a saline IV started. And then you wait and wait and wait. The blood pressure machine alarm kept sounding an alarm since Bob's pulse rate would drop under 40. Finally after several hours, the docs (we had a team of 'em) determined Bob's kidneys were only functioning at 50% and his meds were not getting flushed out of his system as normal thus dropping his blood pressure and pulse too low ... most likely due to dehydration!

No question Bob was now in the system and a hospital stay was in order; we just didn't know how long and if there was any damage to his organs. I went by taxi back to the boat at 1 am in the dark, the fog and all by my lonesome ... not fun. Fortunately we had chatted with our neighbors and felt I could count on their help if necessary.

October 12, 2010: Since our plans to move onto Ventura today got dashed last night it was now Plan B. We were both sure that Bob would roll the dice and get a ticket out of the hospital jail after a night of fluids and being monitored. He went thru a series of tests this morning to check out the kidneys, liver and heart. So far so good but they wanted one more test ... a stress test by using a nuclear dye. But it was ordered after Bob had breakfast and coffee ... a no go for the test. So it's another day in the hospital. Besides both his blood pressure and pulse were still wacky - now it was too high.

October 13, 2010: You know spending time in the hospital whether a patient or family is not pleasant but we have been totally impressed with care. The doctors, nurses, aides, kitchen staff & volunteers went out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable. Everyone we spoke to was fascinated about our trip down here and our future travel plans. They even had their own stories to share with us. You could tell everyone enjoyed their job and shared in the patient care no matter what their job skill.

Bob's vitals were still out of line so another night in the hospital was planned. The yellow cab drivers were getting to know me & even inquired about Bob's progress.

October 14, 2010: After pneumonia shot, flu shot and doctor consult, we finally got sprung from the hospital with only a slight change in dosage on one med. We were lucky in some ways as the docs were alluding to installing a pacemaker ... not good for a sailing life style.

Once we got home, dinner and an early bedtime was in order as we were both bushed from this ordeal. Bob's blood pressure and heart rate are back to his "normal".

October 15, 2010: We are using the day to get ready to leave and rest a bit from the last 3 days. Now we need to evaluate our future plans. Managing Bob's health care was one of 3 things I feared the most about this adventure ... leaving U.S. healthcare for the unknown in Mexico. All the "what ifs" are terrorizing me. For now we will continue towards San Diego and try to figure out what is best for us.

Stay tuned for the next chapter ...

Comments [7]

Sherry
10/09/2010, Santa Barbara

California or Bust - Missive 5

October 2, 2010: Our exit from Monterey harbor early in the morning was uneventful with no fog but it rained! You would think we were still in Washington. The seas were unruly until we rounded the point and were going with the waves and swells. Later in the morning, however, the fog settled in missing the views of Big Sur and the coastline for the majority of our passage but the waters calmed into a milk toast passage.

We anchored in San Simeon Bay and spent a most uncomfortable night rocking and rolling; didn't need this especially after a long day. I could barely get dinner warmed up and eaten while being tossed around the cabin ... bedtime came early and even then it was hard to sleep. I couldn't wait until morning to leave!

October 3, 2010: Yuck what a night! The swells, although not large, rocked the boat unmercifully. At least the morning was clear and we made an easy 24 mile trip to Morro Bay. The bar crossing was a piece of cake with Morro Rock guiding our entry. What an awesome geological formation - it is the 7th in a chain of volcanic peaks called the "Seven Sisters" that follows alongside Hwy 1. The rock is home to 250 species of birds.

Morro Bay was a hopping place with a harbor festival in progress. It's a crazy little harbor with a huge anchorage area with mooring balls down the entire west side of the harbor. We snagged a Morro Bay Yacht Club mooring ball ... it will be our safe haven for the next few days as we wait out high winds.

October 4, 2010: We explored the harbor waterfront and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast but we both felt lethargic ... well I did. Anyway the winds were picking up as predicted so we made our way back to the boat and lounged around the rest of the day. The weather predictors were correct; we saw 30 knot gusts thru the anchorage.

October 5, 2010: The winds finally settled down so we proceeded to take care of chores - the usual stuff of grocery shopping and laundry. Later we took a dinghy ride to the estuary and were entertained by gray pelicans diving for tasty morsels. The white colored pelicans were significantly larger than the grays and fed differently by swimming along and dunking their large beaks down into the water. We notice large dead trees along the waterway and wondered about their demise; turns out bird guano killed them.

We barely got back to the boat and it started raining and didn't bother to stop most of the night. I was beginning to get confused on our location.

October 6, 2010: Our mission was to visit the Hearst Castle. The bus ride was quite enjoyable providing an overview of the area. We missed seeing the Castle since they sold out all the tour tickets. Couldn't believe it ... 3 hours earlier I checked the status of tours on-line and 43 tickets were available. I was bummed but at least we took in the IMAX movie about his life and building the castle, then toured the visitor center with its exhibits. It wasn't a total bust.

October 7, 2010: Time to go; the winds and seas are calm, the sun is shining ... no fog! We will be passing by Pt Arguello and Pt Conception, the last of the major problem areas for rough water. Life was good to us. We anchored at the Cojo Anchorage just around the corner from Pt Conception. Swells are not my friend but we got thru dinner and hit the sack early.

October 8, 2010: It's a lovely day in the neighborhood! We finally have crossed the magical line to Southern California and cruised on down to Santa Barbara in flat water and sunshine; Bob even wore shorts, sandals and t-shirt.

Oil rigs dotted the horizon and were quite an intimidating sight. All of them were named on the chart - Irene, Hildago, Hondo, Holly, etc. and they continue down the coast. Thru the morning haze we saw the Channel Islands to the west; hopefully we will have time to visit them. Pacific white-side dolphins came and played with the boat several times in our trip. They were so much fun to watch ... I swear they were smiling at us.

The harbor in Santa Barbara was crazy with activity and they have some crazy rules. First we had to stop at the "accommodations dock" to show proof of registration and have a dye tablet dropped into our toilet. Guess they have had problems with boats discharging waste overboard. Once we were blessed for entry the harbormaster assigned us a slip. It's bad enough to dock once in an unknown harbor but twice? By the way we had less than 5 knots of wind the entire day until coming in the marina to dock ... then it kicked up to 20 knots!

October 9, 2010: It was Harbor & Seafood Festival in Santa Barbara today so the marina was a buzz of activity and flood of interesting characters. We strolled by the food and arts/crafts booths then moved on to the maritime museum and eventually to Stearns wharf for lunch and ice cream. We jumped the trolley and rode it up and down State Street, the main thoroughfare; what an incredible clean, beautiful downtown. It didn't look like an economic downturn in this community.

Our biggest decision now is where to next! I suspect a few days at the Channel Islands will be in order.

Comments [1]

Sherry
10/01/2010, Monterey

California or Bust - Missive 4

September 27, 2010: We ventured off to the sandy beaches of Santa Cruz meandering along the marina waterfront, out to the lighthouse and eventually to the boardwalk. Good thing it was Monday and the weekend crowds had dispersed. The temperature soared to a whopping 103 degrees ... it was soooo hot! I didn't even get a chance to work up to this heat. I did get to try out my cockpit shades and the solar panels were happy just perking along with all the sun.

The arcade had quite a history dating back to the early 1900's - I would have guessed it was a 1960's vintage facility that never grew up; which is exactly what some of the characters we have seen imitate. We are definitely close to Southern Cal ... bikinis, long stringy hair and leathery skin tanned by the sun. Bob managed to enjoy some lovely eye candy strolling on the beach but the cutest fellow I found was only 2 years old; at least he had cool britches and eye shades!

September 28, 2010: No fog this morning ... yeah! We had wonderful sail to Monterey, a short 24 miles. Getting into the marina and our slip was a whole other story. I have yet gotten use to the close quarters in the marinas let along having finger piers on both sides of the boat vs. a U-shaped slip where you share it with another boat with wiggle room between boats.

The marina ... it has a very narrow entrance with an incredible current flowing past the breakwater cement wall. We were assigned to A-15 ... the 2nd row of slips behind the wall ... the first row was labeled "H" (I don't get it) but I couldn't see whether the numbers were odd or even to figure out where to turn down the fairway. It didn't really matter as the current was so strong I got swept past my turn so now I had to flip around. Oh this was just great; but there was small turning basin sandwiched between the slips and the wharf and I got turned around.

Okay this was only half the battle. Now we are pulling into our slip and Ponderosa was like a ping pong ball bouncing off the sides ... there was only 6" clearance on each side of the boat. Our fenders are squashed to half their size keeping us off the dock, our bow hangs over the walkway in front, the stern out into the fairway. We are now securely captured with no damage ... just dodged a bullet and will live to see another day until we witnessed the 70 ft fishing boat pulling into the slip behind us. As he pulled into his slip (and bouncing off the finger piers) there was 12 inches to spare between his stern and ours. We stared in absolute disbelief; here we have traveled all over SE Alaska, BC and down the coast this far and our most trouble is in a marina! This is far too much adventure.

September 29, 2010: Time to be tourist as we visited Cannery Row and the Monterey Aquarium. The history here dates back to about 1546 starting with the Spanish explorers but in more recent decades the fishing and cannery business were the foundation of this community.
Cannery Row, situated along the waterfront, in its previous life housed canneries for the sardine fishing industry which was big time business in the 30's & 40's. Now days you have restaurants and boutiques lining both sides of the street.

The Monterey Aquarium is most excellent, geared especially well to the kids with play areas and exhibits right at the perfect height for the short visitors. I enjoyed the kids area too! The exhibits for the sea horses and jelly fish were very special and my favorite.

September 30, 2010: I spent most of the day upgrading our computer from Vista to Windows 7. It should have been slam dunk but we had the Vista Home Premium version which forced us to treat it like an upgrade from XP to 7. Oh well, it's back running.

For an afternoon break, we wandered to downtown Monterey. What a lovely area with businesses housed in historic buildings, a walking plaza with benches, flowers & trees and restaurants galore. You can tell that California has been hit hard these last two poor economic years; business life was pretty quiet.

October 1, 2010: The bus system is quite extensive around this area which provided us the opportunity to visit Carmel about a 20 minute bus ride from Monterey. In 1771, a Franciscan friar located the Mission San Carlos de Borromeo de Carmelo at the mouth of what is now Carmel Valley. By 1835 the mission and its holdings were divided among several large ranchos, pieces which ultimately formed Carmel-by-the-Sea. In 1931, a development company promoted ownership of lots in this seaside village.

The character of the community remains strong. The streets are narrow, winding and lined with trees and benches. High end businesses are located in traditional Spanish style town squares and court yards. The police department is discreetly hidden, the town is dog friendly and they claim to have a city ordinance banning high heeled shoes. And the official visitor guides states there are no street addresses. Locations are described as north or south of Ocean Avenue and on the east or west side of the street.

We sat and admired Carmel Beach while gazing over towards Pebble Beach Golf course. You could see where golf would be challenging to play with the winds from the sea.

Tomorrow we are off to San Simeon about a 12 hour passage.

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