We are having a great time! Doing lots of sailing during the days and watching movies and eating good food at night. Julie made us a bunch of meals so we are eating like kings. Roast beef, pork roast, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, cream corn, etc.

We got to do some heavy weather sailing with winds from 30 - 40 knots and seas from 10 - 15 feet high. From the bottom of the wave trough to the top would be about 20 feet. So when you go forward to work on the staysail or anchor, you go for a wild ride up and down. We had to double reef the main and go with just the staysail without the foresail which basically means it was blowing like hell. When heading into the wind we would drive the nose of the boat into the waves and flood the decks with water. It really felt like big time ocean sailing. At one point when rounding between Anacapa and Santa Cruz in confused seas we got hit by a large pyramid shaped wave that broke the stove off its mount and sent all our gear to the floor.

WE came back to the dock a couple of days earlier and are having great day sails up the coast and can sleep better at night. The 3 nights we spent on island anchorages were mostly like riding a mechanical bull all night long. You didn't want to relax your muscles or you might break your neck.

We also did some night lobster netting using the dingy under full moon, but we didn't catch anything except sea urchins, rock fish, and crabs. Mike also caught a stingray and something really big that he lost after 40 minutes just before we got to see what it was.

I got hit by the boom while we were reefing and now sport a good shiner. It gave me a cut about an inch deep and a scrape the size of a dime where my sunglasses dug into me. Bled pretty good. We have pictures of all of these good times. Despite how it might sound we were very safety conscious wearing life jackets and being tied into the boat with jack lines when things were wild.

One day on Santa Cruz we braved the surf and ran the dingy ashore. You have to be careful crossing the breakwater or you'll get swamped. We were lucky and made it in fine and only got a facefull of water on the way out. While on shore we did an epic hike that was around 6 hours to the top of the highest mountain and down the other side.

Saw several pods of dolphins, lots of sea lions, cranes, pelicans, etc. Also saw a bunch of people kite surfing.

Days in port have been tee shirt and shorts warm while out on these coastal sails its 62 degrees and you need to bundle up a bit.

Well, I should go hit the shops while Mike is showering so we can go sailing in a little while. Also might kayak up the keys today and hunt for lobsters tonight near the breakwater.

More later,