Slog 1
07/06/15

We had a pretty smooth voyage, with the wind coming and going from different directions. As we passed the inactive San Onofre Nuclear plant in the early morning hours, we were met by an escort of dolphins who surfed our bow wave, pointing us towards our destination. Although it is once again gloomy and overcast, the weather report promises afternoon sun. Boy, I hope they are right this time. We dropped anchor in Dana Point Harbor around 08:30am next to my friend John Skorstad's boat. He dinghied over for some conversation and ended up leaving us his dinghy to use while he took care of other business. We also had a visit from one of our old work friends, Phil Garcia. Shorty and Phil brought us some awesome burritos from a place on shore, while we all caught up on sleep. I awoke from my nap to find the food waiting, and the anchorage getting crowded, with the arrival of two more sailboats and lots more small sailing craft and paddleboarders. Throughout the afternoon the sun would make a brief appearance before hiding once again behind the clouds.
Another friend, Brad, who was on Odyssey a few short weeks ago, arrived by dinghy to visit. Later, John returned with his daughter Sammy in tow, with his girlfriend Jane arriving later bearing Thai food. We had a big dinner with eight people in Odyssey's cockpit. All the visitors left and we quickly readied ourselves to make the final push for home. We weighed anchor by 10:00pm and headed out of the Marina. Within 5-10 minutes things got interesting. We noticed the motor temperature was high and when I looked at the motor I saw that the water pump belt had come off. So I climbed down into the hot engine compartment while Shorty passed me tools and Billie and Mark wrestled with the sails and steered the boat. I had to remove one other belt before being able to fit a new water pump belt back on the motor. With Shorty's help it went smoothly, and we were soon back on our way into the moonless night. This time I took the first watch with Billie, letting Mark and Shorty get some much needed rest.