I departed Port San Luis around 0700 on Friday, July 20. It took me about 7 hours to travel the 40 nautical miles up the coast to the anchorage off San Simeon. The wind and sea were light and manageable. A pair of humpback whales passed close off the starboard beam. I anchored Anna Marie in 25 feet of water with about 100 feet of chain out. A quiet anchorage with little wind. I could just see the renown Hearst Castle up in the hills over some tall trees lining the shore.

In a thick fog on the very dark morning of Saturday, July 21, I departed the San Simeon anchorage very slowly at about a quarter past midnight. With zero visibility, using radar and my entry track on the chart plotter, I was able to leave the shoreline and thick kelp patches behind without tangling the prop.

For the first time since leaving Cabo San Lucas, I left the mains'l furled as there was but a breath of wind off the stern, not enough to help, not enough to prevent sail flogging with the boat's motion. Unfortunately, the seas were confused for most of the day and the sail, with some slight wind, would have steadied the ride.

Sighted more whales, lots of seals and dolphins, and sea otters as I approached Monterey. Also slowed down so a pair of grey whales could pass forward of Anna Marie. They sounded, however, figuring I was a danger to them.

I arrived at my assigned slip in the Monterey marina, A-60, at 1430. It took over 14 hours to travel the 87 nautical miles from San Simeon to the Monterey harbor. This time included a stop at the Monterey fuel dock to refuel. I added 24.3 gallons of diesel to the tank, which calculates to using 0.616 gallons per hour since my last refueling in Santa Barbara.

As of today, Monday July 30, I have been here for 10 days. I have spent that time reprovisioning, installing the new chartplotter, exploring historical Monterey, rebuilding the head, and performing many small and not-so-small tasks aboard Anna Marie.

My plan is to leave for Santa Cruz in the morning, then on to Half Moon Bay on Wednesday where I will pick up my friend Tom Wordell (sv Eagle) who will crew for me up the coast as far as Portland.