My plan is to day hop all the way to San Francisco where I may pick up crew for the last leg to the Pacific Northwest. Tom Wordell from the sloop Eagle has indicated his interest in crewing aboard Anna Marie from the Bay Area to Portland. So, in line with this hopping business, I spent 6.5 hours motorsailing from Oceanside to Newport Beach Harbor (about 37 nm) on Tuesday, July 10. I arrived at a postage sized anchorage within the busy, labyrinth like harbor off the east end of Lido Island at 1500. And managed to anchor in about 15 feet of water at the narrow east end of the anchorage during a kid's sailing dinghy race. What a crazy boat and people choked harbor! But I got anchored and settled down for the afternoon and evening (way too close to a Portland sailboat named Midnight Sun, but I decided to sit it out for the night and not re-anchor).

I departed Newport Beach Harbor at 0600 on the morning of Wednesday July 11 and entered the harbor at Redondo Beach (King Harbor) at about noon, 40 nm along my route to the NW. I purchased fuel at a small fuel dock in the harbor, and filled my tank with 12.7 gallons of $5 per gallon diesel. I had to phone in to get a mooring ball assignment ($24) as there ain't no more free anchoring here. My 10 year old Charlie's Charts cruising guide is getting out of date. It was a peaceful night as I was the only boat secured to a mooring ball (good thing since the space between the balls was several feet short of my boat's length), although a close by platform with a dozen or more sea lions on it did add to the noise level somewhat.

I was up and out of King Harbor by 0700 the next day (Thursday, July 12) and after another uneventful day of motorsailing, arrived at Channel Islands Harbor - Oxnard - at 1600. No anchorage here either so I had to land at the Harbor Patrol dock to get a slip assignment. This harbor charges a non-refundable fee for a key card so you can get on and off the dock and into the restrooms and showers of $27. In a moment of insanity, since I really felt I needed a shower, I paid the ransom. The transient docks are old, tucked way down at the end of the harbor next to several abandoned and boarded up buildings. Hardly worth the $1.30 per foot charge, not to mention the key card ripoff. But I paid, didn't I? I spent the evening in search of a cover for my broken iPhone. Found one that may protect the screen until I can get it replaced.

I was out of there by 0700 the next day, $27 key card in my pocket, arriving in Santa Barbara shortly after noon.