Brady arrived in San Luis Obispo to start his freshman year at Cal Poly a day after we arrived in Port San Luis. A 20 min. taxi ride from the harbor took us to his temporary house where he is staying until the dorm opens next week (he came down early to begin diving practice). We only had a few hours since he had a swim team meeting, so we walked around campus then went out for lunch. He’s excited to start school and is studying computer science. He plans to join us next summer somewhere in the south pacific.
Cal Poly campusBrady and JacinthaTemporary housing with other swim team members
We departed Santa Cruz at 3pm and had a nice 5 hour sail to Monterey and tied up to transient moorage at the city dock.
Since it’s a long way to the next harbor, we departed Monterey at 4am and motored into a light southerly wind. The swell and chop were a little bit uncomfortable down below (see Jacintha’s post below) until we cleared a point and headed south-east along the Big Sur coast towards San Simeon. Since landfall was predicted to be around 10pm, we decided to keep going so we could reach Port San Luis at about 4am. The night-time run was comfortable with 5′ rollers hitting us from astern every 6 seconds. About every 5 minutes we’d get a few larger rollers that would boost our speed from 6 knots to 8 knots. Very peaceful but dark with no stars or moon. Karen and I took 3 hour shifts at the helm–she listened to Aretha Franklin and I had Jack Johnson on the cockpit speakers. The buoys and lights guided us into Port San Luis and we grabbed a mooring buoy at 4am. Jacintha woke us up 8am so we got up and called the harbor patrol and found out we were on a private buoy, so we moved to the anchorage area. We planned this extended 3-day stop because my son Brady is arriving into San Luis Obispo Friday evening to begin his freshman year at Cal Poly.
Our anchorage is right off Avila Beach and a free water taxi provides rides to either the marina or the pier off Avila Beach every 2 hours. We spent Thursday ashore near the marina (hot showers!) and Friday at Avila Beach. Brady just arrived via plane to SF, then bus to SLO Friday evening so we will see him on Saturday.
We began “boat-schooling” Jacintha a few days ago. She works on math problems from the Everyday Math workbook provided by Villa Academy, reads a lot (Ivy and Bean), and is keeping a journal. Here are her latest 2 entries in her journal, complete with illustrations:
San Francisco (by Jacintha)–we were at the boat on a dock, then daddy paddle boarded me to a shallow part near the beach, then I jumped into the water. It was cold but I stayed in the water, then I swam toward the beach until my tippy toes could touch sand, then I walked to the beach. Once the water was up to my shin, I bent down to pick up some yucky icky wet sand then I let it slowly drip to my other hand. This was fun because the sand was soooo drippy.
California (by Jacintha)–Bleah! I threw up on my sofa, then I went to the other side of the couch and slept. Zzzzzz. Then I woke up. I wasn’t comfy so I went to my room to change. After that I stood and threw up right on the floor outside my bedroom. At last daddy came inside and looked at me and then came closer to get a better look and stepped in my throwup with bare feet. Yep this was the weirdest day ever. (Jim’s comments–true story, and when I realized what I stepped in, she laughed at me!)
Recent Pictures:
Avila Beach BoardwalkAvila BeachSanta Cruz BoardwalkSanta Cruz Boardwalk (cowboy bottle is a stowaway that travels with us and will show up in various pics)Leaving San FranciscoFlying Penn State flag in Sausalito after victory over UCFFriends visiting us from SacramentoSunset in the PacificCollecting sand crabs on Avila Beach
Standup Paddle Boarding at Schoonmaker Point Marina
We decided to spend another day in Sausalito since Karen and Jancintha flew in yesterday. We had friends visit from Sacramento yesterday (I ran the World’s Toughest Mudder with him in NJ a few years ago), met Doug from Port Townsend who is sailing on a Spray replica (Joshua Slocum), and Ted who was in the movie Jerry McGuire and was telling me about the movie he’s staring in that is being filmed now. Karen’s relative Uncle Vernon visited us today and took us out for coffee and ice cream then some grocery shopping, then we came back and relaxed at the beach before preparing the boat for an early morning departure bound for Santa Cruz.
Flew the 8′ Penn State flag after the game on Saturday where we beat UCF with a last second field goal. The game was played at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland. We are…
This is Apropos’ home for the next 4 days. The Seattle crew flew home today and my new crew (Karen and Jacintha) arrive tomorrow. The Sausalito Art’s Festival is going on this weekend and is a 5 minute walk from Schoonmaker Marina, so it’s the perfect place to be. There’s even a sandy beach right near the boat.
Schoonmaker Point Marina
Yesterday I replaced the port-side deck-to-tank hose that was preventing me from filling the port tank. The old one was not rated for diesel and turned spongey at the bend where it connected to the tank. This is probably the source of our fuel problems a few days ago. West Marine was nearby and had the correct hose.
Bad fuel hose (sliced open to show inside)
Today I gave the cabin a good cleaning. The brass pole is a barometer of how clean the boat is since I cleaned it last–so the boat is CLEAN!
We had a 3-day, 2-night passage from Crescent City to San Francisco. It was almost all motoring into a light southerly wind. Since we were down to a crew of 3 (Mike had to leave from Crescent City), we took 4 hour watches during the day and 3 hour during night. We rounded Cape Mendacino around midnight in lumpy seas with 7 second rollers from the NW (not bad since this cape can sometimes get very rough). The next day brought sunshine and light southerlies as we continued motoring south 5-10 miles off the coast. The final morning we rounded Pt. Reyes for the approach into San Francisco with a flood tide. After 980 nautical miles over 12 days since leaving Seattle, we motored under the Golden Gate Bridge in sunshine (and no fog)—definitely a memorable moment! The winds picked up in the bay so we couldn’t pass on the urge to raise the sails and sail around for a few hours. Went into San Francisco Municipal marina to dock, shower, relax, and celebrate the trip at The Monk’s Kettle with good beer and food.
Approaching the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate BridgeApropos passing under…In San Francisco BayCelebratory toast at The Monk’s Kettle in Haight Ashbury
We all earned our heavy weather sailing merit badges yesterday. Winds to 40 knots and seas in excess of 10 feet. Apropos surfed down steep waves at 9 knots. We sailed through the night in these conditions and pulled into Crescent City at 5:30am in thick fog. Exhausted but well pleased with Apropos in these conditions. Oh, and we saw whales!
A self-steering windvane is a mechanical device that steers the boat on a course with respect to the wind. Our windvane is an older Fleming model so we named him Ian (James Bond)! We haven’t engaged Ian lately, maybe we will try later today if the wind picks up.
When the tuna hit, I pulled in the handline, Risto netted it, and Mike clubbed it on the head a few times, then Risto finished it off and Scott retrieved the fishing gear. Was difficult bringing it aboard with a short-handled net. With all the clubbing just outside the cockpit in the gunwale, blood splattered on cockpit cushion, dodger, me, and Risto. We got the washdown pump going and cleaned it all up. The cleaning tray came in handy for filleting the fish on a rocking boat.
Sailing update–After motoring all day yesterday, we raised the mizzen and genoa at around dark and used them most of the night sailing at 5 knots. Just as my watch started at 4am the wind dipped to 5 knts so we are now motoring. Yesterday the engine started revving down so I looked at the Racor filters and one was very clogged. So I changed it and cleaned out the bowl. There was also about 3 oz of water in it. I may have taken on bad fuel at Neah Bay, or the tank still had some junk in it even after they were cleaned before leaving Seattle. Anyhow, I’m keeping an eye on the filter.
Current position is about 50 miles off of Newport, OR. At least 2 other boats that are part of the Coho Ho Ho rally are pulling into Newport today. We see lots of fishing boats out here and an occasional freighter. We contacted one on VHF around 1am and they responded right away saying they saw us. The closest we generally come to another boat is 5nm.
This is a test mail to see if I can update the blog via SSB radio.
Our trip from Anacortes to Port Angeles went well. After motoring a few hours, the wind picked up and we crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca under sail. Apropos was well balanced with the Genoa, Main, and Mizzen out. We tried out the windvane (mechanical autopilot)with much success! It’s an older Fleming model but very well built. We decided to name him Ian (Ian Fleming–bond 007). So Ian steered us on course for a few hours close-hauled in 10 knt winds. Pulled into Port Angeles after dark around 10pm after motoring the final 2 hours into a headwind–very bouncy. Decided not to take a chance on snagging a log with anchoring and pulled into the dock. Up today at 4am and left by 4:20am to catch a nice ebb tide and currently 11nm west of PA motoring at 6knt with a beautiful sunrise. Should reach Neah Bay mid afternoon.
