Nice ten day voyage with guest crew Carl P from Missoula, MT from San Francisco Bay to Dana Point via Channel Islands.

Had intended to go easy on ourselves and set the hook in Half Moon Bay Oct 13, first night out of the SF Bay. Best laid plans… we had great breeze which was forecast to taper off sometime the next day so we rigged the boat for night sailing (tethers, preventers, headlamps and hot water in the vacuum pot) and sailed right on by in 20kts and following seas.

As forecast, the breeze tapered off to nothing by mid-morning on the 14th and we motor sailed into San Simeon Bay, a good stopover about 150 nm south of the Golden Gate.

Next stop was San Louis Obispo for a visit with Brenda and Steven, Amy’s college friends. A great meal on board and lots of catching up.

Early departure in the fog with building breeze put us on the fast track around PT Conception with the kite flying in a husky 25kts. Hitting down-wave speeds over 10 was exhilarating in a 25 ton boat. We called an audible mid-jibe to snuff the kite as the puffs flirted with 30. We carried on under main and genoa for a nice broad reach sleigh ride to San Miguel Island and dropped the hook in 6 fathoms, sand, with sea lions belching greetings. We enjoyed a blustery nite on board with hot tea all around.
We declared the following day a day of rest…so we strapped on our hiking boots for a dizzying climb to the campgrounds and ranger station on the plateau above the anchorage. We capped off the hike with a bone chilling swim in 60 degree water that felt like 50.
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Our neighboring boat, a Taswell 49, didn’t have their dinghy inflated so we made a few extra taxi trips with ours. Nice folks. Assume we will see them again.>

Daybreak brought breeze so we headed out of the anchorage and turned right for an easy ride down to Santa Cruz Island where we anchored in Prisoner’s Cove and went for a swim in the 70 degree water that felt like 60. Next morning we dinghied ashore via oars when the outboard failed to run more than 2 seconds at a time. Another uphill hike (always the case when starting from the ocean…) to an overlook where we met some hikers who had taken a few days out of their busy lives to hike across the island. We invited them to hang out on our boat with us until their ferry arrived.

Once we determined that the issue with the outboard was fuel related we took the tank apart and low and behold, no pick up tube was attached. A little fishing exercise in the tank and a zip tie and we were back in business. On the way in to pick up the hikers from the beach we were hailed by the Jenny Lane in a call of desperation that they were without coffee. Would we be willing to trade beer for some ground up beans? As Billy C would say, does the pope wear a funny hat? Why yes we would gladly barter a few paltry beans for some high quality local brew. Capt Johnny rowed over with a selection of Topa Topa Brewery’s finest, which it turns out is owned by the boat owner and we talked boats, sailing and surfing. Seems we have officially arrived in California.

We motor sailed around the corner to Smuggler’s Cove which isn’t very cove like and spent a rolly night on the hook. Next morning we made sail for Catalina Island and arrived in Two Harbors (aka Two expensive - per Matt R and we agree). Went on a walkabout in search of the famed bison, none to be found. A leisurely run to Avalon in the morning put us in the midst of the playground of the rich and famous where we took the usual golf cart tour of the hills around the town and had a perfectly wonderful dinner at the Bluewater restaurant - thanks Carl! Coffee and yummy treats at Catalina Coffee Co in the morning and we dropped our mooring tether to make way for the mainland, arriving in Dana Point late afternoon.

We will hang on the hook here for a few days while we do boat chores and provision for the next leg of the saga, the Baja and beyond! Stay tuned!