After a quiet night at sea the sun rose with us off of Point Piedras Blancas. We had little to no wind over night and motor sailed at 6-7 knots. On Jeff's watch we ran across an area that lit up our wake with bioluminescence. A dull green glow followed Swingin' on a Star's hulls with the occasional bright green flash from some unknown creature. Combine that with the lower limb of the new moon rippling tracks across the waves, and wow.

Once the moon set and the bioluminescence passed it was more or less just cold. The ambient temperature was 55ish with the added boat speed wind chill factor making it a chore to be on watch. We all have warm cloths but it's no fun sailing at night in frigid waters. This is one of the main reasons I am moving my boat out of San Francisco. The other main reason is lack of high quality yacht services, but constant cold and windy conditions make sailing (for me) no fun. Perhaps my sailing in the tropics spoiled me, but if you can't jump off the back of the boat in the anchorage and enjoy the water, something is wrong.

TH took the dog watch and Jeff took over at 7AM just after sunrise. We motor sailed in light wind most of today until we were coming up on Point Estero. The wind was veering to the NW and strengthening as the sun heated things up. We set the jib and killed the diesels and rode a deep port reach that built and built throughout the afternoon.

At Point Buchon we had to make a call. Try to make it around Point Conception or anchor at Avila Beach. Given the true wind was already 30 knots and Point Conception is famous for worse than gradient weather, we decided to put in at Avilia.

The seas were up and we were hitting 12 knots boat speed with a reef in the main at close to a run. It was a struggle to avoid jibbing and yet lay a clear path into the bay. The wind waves were steep and constantly tried to broach us as we ran. We had to steer by hand the whole way in because the autopilot would have just thrown in the towel. We came tearing into the bay at 10 knots and though the seas subsided, the wind was still howling.

Thomas got the jib rolled up with a mighty effort and then we dropped the main and motored into the central anchorage. The obvious anchorage is a big mooring field at the north end of the harbor and due to a cut in the opposing hills, it is pretty breezy (15+ knots while we were there). We found a hole in the mooring field and set our anchor, but as we were laying back the harbor master came by and told us to anchor off the beach.

The main mooring field is between the first two piers (working N to S) and the beach is between the second and third piers. There was no one anchored at the beach, which is why we did not consider it as an option. Also the cruising guide we were referencing called out the first spot and the area between the breakwater and the first pier as the place to go.

At the behest of the harbor master, we moved further south and dropped the hook off the beach. What a spot. Not only were we alone but the scenery was much nicer (beach versus public-pier/mooring-field). The wind seemed lighter here too, though it could have been just the day winding down. Sea otters surrounded the boat as we ate dinner in the cockpit. I think we made the right call.