End of West Coast Cruise

October 4

David took us out of San Francisco Bay and it was a little bumpy but nothing to worry about. We headed south going with the swells and enjoying the view.
Cruised in to Monterey after an almost leisurely 6 hour run.  I just love low winds and following seas.

Warning: Some readers may find some of the following images disturbing (Jessica Eder).

Stinging Nettles.  Only invade the Bay with cooler water temperatures.
 Stopped up the intake for the Monterey Aquarium.

They yelp all...... night ......long!

Glad she can sleep

One day before full.

October 5

We headed for our next stop, Morro Bay, another 100 NM run.  We again had following seas and low winds however the current was against us and the run was a little sportier than yesterday.
Morro Bay has one fuel dock and it was, by far, the worst one we have used on our trip.  It is a fixed dock and we arrived at low, low tide (full moon), which meant nasty, barnacle covered pilings.  David quickly rigged up fenders to protect the boat and, as (bad) luck would have it, the winds picked up to about 25 knots.  We were able to fuel up without damaging the boat and then traveled the .5 NM to the Morro Bay Yacht Club, complete with floating dock, and tied up for the night. Very nice facility.

Setting Morro Bay Harvest Moon

October 6

Next stop Santa Barbara, another 109 NM.

Whales & Oil Platforms

October 7

Santa Barbara to Marina del Rey, a quick run to end  the Anacortes to Los Angeles leg of our journey.

Along the way Songways,  Aspen C90-18,  owned by Nelson Schulman left port in Ventura to meet us out at sea.

Very recognizable hull coming our way.

Songways   Aspen C90-18

Upon our arrival in Marina del Rey we were contacted by Alita and Curt Rethmeyer, owners of Aspen C90 Catalita, went to dinner and had great conversations about Aspens, weather and other boating topics.
Alita has been a great help getting us situated in Marina del Rey and the Rethmeyers are keeping the tradition of "only great people own Aspen Power Catamarans" alive and well.

Alita

Summary of west coast cruise-

We departed Anacortes September 22 and arrived Marina del Rey 16 days later, with a one day layover in Crescent City and a 4 day weather delay in Sausalito and San Francisco.

The Knot Wafflen' added 1,250 NM to the 10,000 Mile tour.

David and I will be leaving the boat here and returning home for a bit. David is excited to meet his new granddaughter Lilly. The Aspen crew will be flying down to take over the Knot Wafflen' for some cruising and promotions and will leave the boat in San Diego where David and I will be joined by our nephew Ian Jenkins for our long trip to La Paz Mexico.

The plan is to leave November 1- we will be resuming the blog at that time.
I hope you are enjoying it and please feel free to share with friends and family.

Heading South- When the seas allow

September 27

We left Crescent City and made the short run to Eureka where we fueled up, tied up and got ready for the next run to Bodega Bay, approximately 190 NM .

September 28

We knew it was going to be a long day and left at 0630 in fairly thick fog.  Thank goodness for the Garmin Radar.  We made it over the bar and out to sea and by 0830 the fog was lifting and the seas were comfortable.

As we started around Cape Mendocino we started to notice Whale blows in the distance and occasionnaly sighted a tail, again at a distance.
There were more and more sightings until I quit counting at over 50!
None were as spectacular as the one in the picture, taken by David.

I estimate she was 20 yds from the boat.
A humbling experience.


We made it to Bodega Bay with a little daylight to spare and left the next morning @ 0815 headed for the Golden Gate.

September 29

We took a slip in Clipper Yacht Harbor in Sausalito after 60 NM and reaching 502 hours on the Volvo Penta.

The winds offshore (and in) kicked up just as forecast and we have been here waiting for the opportunity to safely continue our journey.

October 2

In the mean time, we were guests for a wonderful dinner at the Saint Francis Yacht Club, hosted by Russ and Kaersten Cooper, the owners of Bosa, Aspen C120 Hull #7 (I believe). The Coopers were also generous enough to hook us up with a slip at the Yacht Club for a couple of nights so we moved over to San Francisco.  After meeting the crew of the Bosa and the crew of the Zia, John and Terry, we are starting to believe that Aspen only sells boats to extremely wonderful people.

 As I write this the conditions  appear to be favorable to be able to get out of town tomorrow morning, with calming winds and waves.


A few shots from the neighborhood.

Two moons 

Its a bird, man, of Alcatraz.
Sorry

Till next time........