Currently we’re 60 miles off the Pacific coast of Baja. It’s 7:30AM and in the mid 70’s! We’re approaching the 72 hour mark of departing Ensenada which is now 450 miles NW of us.
Pacific Ocean
We’ve been sailing since we left Ensenada and we’re making great progress south. We’re about 100 miles from Turtle Bay, which we’ll skip so we can take advantage of the wind while we have it.
The forecast calls for good NW breeze over the next few days so we’re taking advantage of it to get further south. Heading out of Bahia Todos Santos this morning we saw our speed top 9 knots on a beam reach in 18 knots of breeze!
Hola! We’ve made it to Mexico!
We’re at a marina in Ensenada waiting to check-in tomorrow morning. Then we’re heading further south, either to Turtle Bay or somewhere along the way.
It’s a beautiful sunny day here in San Diego. The temp is in the 70’s and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. For the past 4 nights we’ve enjoyed the hospitality of the San Diego Yacht Club located on Shelter Island.
We’re anchored in Mission Bay, five miles north of San Diego, waiting out a gale that blew in yesterday. It was supposed to have passed by now, but the anemometer is still pegged at 23 knots with gusts in the 30s.
It’s 6:30 PM and the sun has just about disappeared behind the horizon. Erin’s cooking a Pizza for dinner and Mishka is fast asleep on the aft cabin bed, after napping most of the day on the pass-through berth that has become her daily spot of choice.
Catalina Island is known as a divers and hikers paradise (which is why it’s such a popular destination!) The water is warmer than the other Channel Islands and the visibility can exceed 50 feet on good days.
We left Albert’s Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island at 10:30PM last night. With a large swell crashing into the cliffs surrounding us we pulled up both the bow and stern anchors and headed to deeper water.
It has been interesting to see my home state, California, from a new perspective over the past few weeks. The Southern California that I grew up in was known for its high standard of backyard living, with BBQs and pool parties every other weekend. It might be crowded, hot and sprawling, but it’s also sophisticated and relatively sheltered from harm (as long as you didn’t mind the occasional earthquake).
Tonight is our third night in Ventura Isle Marina. We hadn’t planned on stopping here but we’re finding that there’s a fine line between plans and what actually transpires while cruising. Ventura is about 30 miles east of Santa Cruz Island where we spent the last 4 nights.
We made it safely to our first stop on Santa Cruz Island yesterday morning. We’re currently the only boat in Fry’s Harbor and enjoying the peace and solitude.
We’re just a few minutes away from rounding Pt. Conception. Our ETA for rounding is 1:20 AM. This is a notorious point along the California coast dubbed by numerous sailors as “The Cape Horn of the Pacific”.
Before Brian and I embarked on this trip, we used to dream about what the cruising life might entail — we pictured long, restful days of lounging in the sun and doing whatever we pleased. I thought it might be similar to retired life… Only with later mornings, later nights, and no golf.
After a busy week in Monterey getting our PADI dive certifications we decided it was time to head further South. Our next stop was Pebble Beach about 25 miles down the coast. Since the trip was short we left after a leisure morning and lunch.
The morning that we arrived in Monterey Bay, the sky opened up. The stars and moon appeared to be just feet above the mast — I was tempted to throw a rope around the dazzling crescent and pull it onto the boat.
We woke up yesterday morning to clear skies and no fog! The forecast wasn’t ideal- light and variable winds out of the South (direction of our travel) but we decided it was time to say goodbye to Half Moon Bay and head further south to Monterey which is around 70 miles away.
We’re anchored in the flat, calm waters of Half Moon Bay, about 20 miles south of San Francisco bay. We’d planned to spend only one night here — last night — but the thought of navigating the foggy coastline for miles is less than enticing.