Hello All!! I am back home, in Lake Stevens…a short 10 day trip back is turning into a month away from my boat in warmer, drier San Diego…here is what happened.

Firstly, I had an amazing day of the “Champagne Sailing” I was dreaming about the day I left Avalon. It was sunny & warm, full suit of sails flying in sexy conditions..rolling along at 5-6 knots for about 5 hours, then wind shifted, let up to 8 knots so the dreaded diesel came back to life…my pristine world with sounds of water rushing my the hull, birds & waves…transcended to the drone of 1650 RPM of engine noise. Trading glorious sailing for “just wanting to get there” is a price all us mariners have to pay from time to time.

I was however slowing down the boat speed as I did not want to arrive at the entrance to San Diego Bay in the morning darkness….alas, it was barely daybreak when I had Point Loma in my sights…and thank god as there were lobster pots EVERYWHERE of which I could have never run that gauntlet in the dark without inheriting a pot or two in my prop…no bueno!

My AIS was going berserk with targets. Fishing boats, pleasure craft, navy boats and the like…there were warnings of Navy traffic which just increased my anxiety of what the rules of the road were in this case. SO, because I do not have mic fright…I just pick up the trusty VHF and call the damn ships! OH…and a massive mega cruise ship was coming in same as me…yes, I yielded…of course :)
It went something like this: “Navy warship 54, this is sailing vessel Wades Aweigh 1-6?”. They come back, “ Wades Aweigh go to 7-3. then the conversation was brief and all professional…they versed me of distance to stay back…and forced me outside of the channel markers to give way…ok, who am I to argue with that kind of firepower? Scary shit man, I’d never want to be fired upon by one of those massive guns!

I then enter a turn around area, never heard the “Pan Pan” call out and walked right into an aircraft carrier being turned around in the channel….OOPS! I wasn’t any less than a mile away from it when two all black go fast RIB’s with lights a blaring came straight for me….good thing I had on my depends….they came up one on each side of my vessel and schooled me on etiquette of not being a dumbass and staying clear of their maneuver…then the dudes became super cool and joked around a bit once they realized I was only partially a dumbass and didn’t hear the call out…

Finally found my marina and slip…(about 3” to spare on each side of the dock) snaked her into safety, tied up and had a stiff Pendleton on the rocks! Only took a few minutes for 3 of my neighboring boats to come over and introduce themselves; already felt like home!

Nothing is close here but one place to get fish & chips within walking distance…which I needed to stretch my legs…the following week consisted of daily long walks to get my bearings.

Why am I home?..well I was always planning of flying back to get my car so I had wheels for the 6 weeks I was planning on being in SD. The plot took a serious turn when i clamped down on a gold crown while eating that had come off…tooth fractured….and I immediately booked the first flight home. So here I am, one root canal has been re done, and two more appointments for fractured tooth and 2 new crowns….such an in-fun thing to spend money on, but beats the infection (which I didn’t even know I had) getting worse while offshore…silver linings.

I will be heading back south around 11/18 with a full car of stuff to pretend I know where it’s gonna go onboard, and head south to Mexico hopefully 12/12 if the moons align. Hoping I have some more interesting stuff to write about then!

Speaking of Pendleton…..its time! Thank you all so much for reading and following my adventure!!

Capt Frady Cat!