We finally did it. We cut the dock lines September 3rd and cast off to begin the new chapter in our life. We left early in the morning to get to the first stop on our travels which was Half Moon Bay. That is where a lot of boaters from the Bay area have a rendezvous for the traditional Labor Day weekend. That gave us one more "going away" party with so many friends that we have made in Alameda where we have lived on our boat for the past three years. It was also time for one last dip in the cold water of the north before getting to the wonderful warm water south.

There are three boats that are heading south for the annual Baja Ha-Ha race that goes from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas in Baja. Our "sailing buddies" are Di's Dream and Hotel California. We also had company for the initial legs with two other boats Mimya and kat den rei. Both were with us to Half Moon Bay and then kat den rei went on with us to Monterey. Mimya had to go back to work (now a nasty word) but hope to see them next year when they can join us.

There was not very much wind so we had to motor from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay. For a sailor, that is not what it is about. We left Half Moon Bay on September 6th and headed for Santa Cruz. Again we had to motor. We stayed there for a couple of days to start looking at the weather for the next legs of our travels. Since we have all the time in the world we do not have to fight bad weather. Yesterday, the 8th, we left and sailed to Monterey. Finally we had a fantastic ride. The wind was blowing 15 to 20 knots and we were cruising at 8+ knots, a beautiful ride. We are now sitting in Monterey. It is a little overcast but is still beautiful as we are cruising.