Coldish and noisy upon waking - 56 F in the cabin and we forgot that Oceanside Harbor is VERY close to the commuter train tracks and freeway. Departed 8:30 a.m. for approx. 40 miles to San Diego. For those who have been following, that vertical ice maker is getting quite the workout - Marty is making and using ice daily and we have a gallon ziplock full! Nice in the water, and also today made sun tea - throw teabag in water bottle and place under dodger....

Marty made breakfast feast of instant grits w/ egg cheese bacon scramble YUM. At 11:30 we saw whales - a ways away, couldn't see enough to tell what kind, probably blues or fins, 5 blows and several backs. Then about half an hour later another two blows - CLOSER - 50 yards! GOD they are big. Momma and youngster. The two groups were about 1/2 mile apart, about 4 miles off La Jolla. A short while after that we encountered a huge minefield of floating wads of kelp. This kelp made our Santa Monica Bay kelp look wimpy....luckily we got through it only having to back down once to remove caught strands when the wheel got sluggish.

Since about 10 we'd seen a big fogbank growing behind us...getting closer and closer - became clear we weren't going to outrun it and at 12:30 we lost sight of land. Visibility varied for the rest of the trip between 500 yards and about a mile. This is when the radar and AIS pay for themselves. It's very disorienting - you know what you SHOULD be seeing (Point Loma) but you can't see it. We started hearing jets overhead (couldn't see them) and knew we were getting close. Luckily we stayed far enough out that we didn't hit the well-known monster kelp beds off Point Loma. Right before we closed in on our waypoint we were passed by a warship doing about 18 knots. Came right out of the fog about a mile away. TOO CLOSE. A mile doesn't look like much when it's something that big. He never hailed us, and they'd been hailing people all day when they got close, so we figure (HOPE) he saw us!

We found the SD white/red buoy and adjusted course to the channel markers - really, nothing like a low-visibility, instrument approach dodging an ENORMOUS sea-bound submarine with Coast Guard and Homeland Security escorts. And of course more kelp wads "TURN for kelp, BUT don't point the boat at the submarine!!!"

THEN - just as we entered the narrow part of the channel and the navigation part is over - the fog disappears behind us.

Got to Silver Gate YC about 3:30, the slip we had been assigned had another boat in it so I called on the cell and we got a place to tie up along a walkway, but without electricity or water. We've met loads of nice people and have had several offers to string people's hoses together so we can wash down and fill the tanks. We had dinner with people who were at a table for four and there were no other tables so they invited us - turned out they lived 20 years in Redondo! They know a number of people we know, so that was fun. Everyone on the docks who has ever cruised stops to ask questions and tell stories!

Tomorrow we have our San Diego list to accomplish, including fueling, final provisions, etc. Ed & Cindy came right down with their spare car so we have wheels with which to accomplish these tasks...THANK YOU!

That's all, we are BEAT!