Good Morning from Santa Barbara California
The second leg of our journey has finally started: from Santa Cruz we motor sailed to Monteray which is a mere 20 miles across the bay where we anchored for the night. The sealions are so profuse that we could barely stand it............they are so noisy we had a very sleepless night! We got up at 5am and left for San Simeon which is at Piedras Blanas Point. That was an 83 mile motorsail with about 20 knot winds and nice calm swell. The weather was pretty good but still cold. It was a long day as we anchored in the bay for the night at around 20:30 (7:30pm). The evening was so pleasant other than the crazy sealions again...........they are everywhere. ( They have reserves for them in California and they are quite a concern!!) As you can tell from the pictures they are messey as well as stinky and noisey.
We were lazy the next morning as our plan was to do a short day to San Luis Obispo leaving around 9 am. The weather was beautiful making us feel like this was what we had been looking for on this adventure. You . Not much wind but not much swell either so we motored and enjoyed the scenery of the California coast once the fog lifted. Tried to take a few photos but nothing was very outstanding! It is very dry and desolate looking for our liking but than we are true BC'ers and love green.
I was at the wheel alot that day as we were having fuel problems still; Claes spent alot of time in the engine room using the process of elimination and finally solved the problem but by this time it was 18:30 (6:30pm) for you land lubbers. We had monitored the weather for some days and knew that a a storm would start Monday so were excited that the weather was so fine that we decided to continue on through the night to get around Cape Conception. We had heard so many terrible stories about the possible weather in that area that we took this great gift from God and went for it.............the window was there and we did it.
By this time I was pretty tired and Claes took the wheel but he had worked all day too so we shared 10 nautical miles each...........it went fast. It was my real first time at the wheel for a long period of time in the dark!!!!! What a feeling that is! Using the GPS with the route mapped out , the paper charts, the compass and my faith in God I motor sailed all by myself for nearly three hours. It was incredible. At first I was pretty nervous but a few minutes into it and I was singing away to stay awake. The moon was shining brightly, only about half a moon I guess............lying on its' back but very bright. It disappeared very early in the night setting on the horizon. There were tons of stars and no traffic on the water to speak of so it was all mine to appreciate and enjoy. It was pretty cool!
Claes took over around midnight and after making him some supper and fresh coffee I went to bed around 1:00 am and slept till about 5:30 when I relieved him. He was pretty thrashed. My Claes is such an amazing man! I am so proud of him but then that is another story for another time! I do thank God for him everyday he is so gifted and wise!!!
No it was just me and the Santa Barbara Channel. As I took my fixes on the horizon of one very bright star and I realized that I had seen the sun set that night and the moon rise but the amazing thing was I saw the moon go to bed. I had never seen the moon set!!!!! It actually went down very early in the night and the sky was dark for along time before the sun rose. It was so beautiful watching the shoreline come alive with homes and lives. There are alot of oil rigs on the southern California coast; all lite up brightly --massive actaully. They do smell but make great land marks to sail by.
The last 18 miles went quickly and here we were at the entrance to the harbour. Most are well lite and the book "Charlies Charts" that we have lays everything out really well. The GPS is fantastic as well as Claes just lays out the plot for me and I just follow the "little red line". I guess I am making it sound easy but it is for the most part. The watching and keeping sure that all is working well is full time job.
Untill later..............don't get your rudder stuck in the mud and please check our picture gallery out for the latest and also the rest of the blog..............The Captains Corner...............our favourite links and see what book I am reading now............also check out our little section on "Thoughts" for some insite into our minds!!!! What is left of them. Click on this link and listen to some fine "old" music. Lue and Claes and Joey of course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoefwGXQ8zc
We were lazy the next morning as our plan was to do a short day to San Luis Obispo leaving around 9 am. The weather was beautiful making us feel like this was what we had been looking for on this adventure. You . Not much wind but not much swell either so we motored and enjoyed the scenery of the California coast once the fog lifted. Tried to take a few photos but nothing was very outstanding! It is very dry and desolate looking for our liking but than we are true BC'ers and love green.
I was at the wheel alot that day as we were having fuel problems still; Claes spent alot of time in the engine room using the process of elimination and finally solved the problem but by this time it was 18:30 (6:30pm) for you land lubbers. We had monitored the weather for some days and knew that a a storm would start Monday so were excited that the weather was so fine that we decided to continue on through the night to get around Cape Conception. We had heard so many terrible stories about the possible weather in that area that we took this great gift from God and went for it.............the window was there and we did it.
By this time I was pretty tired and Claes took the wheel but he had worked all day too so we shared 10 nautical miles each...........it went fast. It was my real first time at the wheel for a long period of time in the dark!!!!! What a feeling that is! Using the GPS with the route mapped out , the paper charts, the compass and my faith in God I motor sailed all by myself for nearly three hours. It was incredible. At first I was pretty nervous but a few minutes into it and I was singing away to stay awake. The moon was shining brightly, only about half a moon I guess............lying on its' back but very bright. It disappeared very early in the night setting on the horizon. There were tons of stars and no traffic on the water to speak of so it was all mine to appreciate and enjoy. It was pretty cool!
Claes took over around midnight and after making him some supper and fresh coffee I went to bed around 1:00 am and slept till about 5:30 when I relieved him. He was pretty thrashed. My Claes is such an amazing man! I am so proud of him but then that is another story for another time! I do thank God for him everyday he is so gifted and wise!!!
No it was just me and the Santa Barbara Channel. As I took my fixes on the horizon of one very bright star and I realized that I had seen the sun set that night and the moon rise but the amazing thing was I saw the moon go to bed. I had never seen the moon set!!!!! It actually went down very early in the night and the sky was dark for along time before the sun rose. It was so beautiful watching the shoreline come alive with homes and lives. There are alot of oil rigs on the southern California coast; all lite up brightly --massive actaully. They do smell but make great land marks to sail by.
The last 18 miles went quickly and here we were at the entrance to the harbour. Most are well lite and the book "Charlies Charts" that we have lays everything out really well. The GPS is fantastic as well as Claes just lays out the plot for me and I just follow the "little red line". I guess I am making it sound easy but it is for the most part. The watching and keeping sure that all is working well is full time job.
Untill later..............don't get your rudder stuck in the mud and please check our picture gallery out for the latest and also the rest of the blog..............The Captains Corner...............our favourite links and see what book I am reading now............also check out our little section on "Thoughts" for some insite into our minds!!!! What is left of them. Click on this link and listen to some fine "old" music. Lue and Claes and Joey of course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoefwGXQ8zc
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