Hello San Diego... Hello Mexican Border!

Sound Discovery (and our Walker Bay) in Oxnard, Channel Islands Marina

It's finally here: the Mexican border is just a short hop and a skip away!

Clif and I arrived into San Diego on Saturday afternoon, bombarded by an overwhelming amount of sail boats just playing around in the bay. There were large, beautiful sailboats racing around buoys, yachts out of a cocktail pleasure crusie, smaller cruisers (like us) making their way into a marina, tiny dinghies tacking back and forth in between boats, and even a huge tanker, slowly inching its way through the chaos-- all sailboats moving out of the shipping lane for the monster to pass by.

San Diego has a great number of marinas, varying in price, size and amenities. We spent a large part of Saturday calling marinas, while under sail, and asking about availability. We finally found a decently priced small marina near the airport, Point Loma Marina, which also happened to have a small "tavern" located at the top of the ramp... how convenient.

Clif and I said goodbye to both his parents and our friend Andy in Oxnard on Wednesday evening. We took off, out of the Channel Islands Marina early before dawn on Thursday morning. We motored and sailed a long 60-mile day to Catalina Island, mooring up in Avalon Beach. Unfortunately, since we got there at night, we were less than exciting about putting the Walker Bay dinghy in the water and going ashore. Dinner and sleep was much more alluring. We took our time in the morning, leaving after it got light, and began motoring towards Oceanside (directly across from Catalina on the mainland, south of LA). The weather had picked up through out the day, which was anticipated. The wind waves and swell were a little too big to be fun. The wind was great for sailing, but out starboard spreader (supporting the shrouds and the mast) was sagging, and we wanted to avoid any more "sag," so we stuck to motoring. After motoring through the slop, tossing around all day, we got into Oceanside before dark.

In Oceanside, I helped hoist Clif up the mast to adjust the spreader, which was an easy fix. I made him hang out there for a bit to do a photo shoot, for your viewing pleasure...

Climbing monkey up the mast...

Thankfully on Saturday the wind and waves calmed down a bit and we were able to sail and motor our way down to San Diego. My Dad flew into San Diego later that evening, meeting us at the Marina! We are not only excited about our long-awaited entrance into Mexico, but also the fact that my dad gets to join us on the whole voyage down the Baja. No doubt we have tons a marine life viewing in store, some good fishing and a little more sunshine.

We spent yesterday running errands and crossing items off of my long Mexico to-do list, including purchasing Mexican fishing licenses, replacing some navigation lights, stocking up on dry goods and sunscreen, and testing out some fun inflatable SUP (Stand-up paddle) boards. No purchases of boards have been made, but we definitely had fun testing them out in the marina.

Xtra-tuffs drying out on the dock in Oxnard.

As far as our schedule goes, we will be leaving this afternoon to exit San Diego and cruise the 65 miles down to Ensenada through the night, arriving there tomorrow morning to do our "yachtistas" border crossing. We will most likely spend a full day in Ensenada making sure we have all of our paper work in order and we are good to go. After there, there's not a whole lot until Cabo, besides some beautiful coastline and small fishing villages. We'd like to enjoy the experience as much as possible, without rushing, but we will be arriving in Cabo San Lucas between Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving) and Dec. 1st. We will keep the tracker going, leaving points every couple of hours and continuing our trend of sending "We're OK!" messages in the early evening (if you're on the email list).

Our Mexican flag is ready to hoist, we're stocked up on rice and beans, and I bought some cheap beach towels... I think we're about ready!

Oxnard, The Lakers and Some Sun and Surf!

We're just finishing up our visit in Oxnard, a magical 3 days in the Southern California sunshine! We planned on spending a little time here to hang out with our good friend Andy, who hails from Thousand Oaks. I was also able to visit one of my best college buddies, Michael, who works in Malibu. We had two surfing afternoons on Silver Strand Beach, just 5 minutes from where our boat is moored (Channel Islands Marina), and celebrated my 26th birthday on Tuesday.

We are realizing more and more that our time on land is precious: taking walks and jogs morning and night, seizing any chance for athletic activity to jar our relaxed cruiser bodies. It's very easy to see how folks in Southern CA stay so fit and beautiful: The weather is beautiful. This week alone we've done several long walks, two long surfing sessions, and I managed to get a sunrise jog in before we left Santa Barbara. I have no doubt that we will continue to grow more active and desire to work on our beach body physiques as we go farther south.

Rob spent his last night in Sound Discovery on Sunday. He made his way back up to the Bay Area on Monday with Clif's mom, Barbara. It worked out really well, and we even got to host both of them on the boat Sunday night before they made the drive north. We were so thankful to have Rob with us for the long 48 hour chunk from Monterey to Santa Barbara, but especially glad that he got to spend one splendid day sailing over to Oxnard: perfect wind, sunny warm weather and lots of humpback whale sightings!

My dad will be joining us in San Diego on Saturday night. In the next three days, Clif and I will make our way down there, stopping only on Catalina Island.

Mexico is right around the corner, so Clif and I have been trying to brush up on our basics. Clif and Andy spoke in Spanglish for almost my entire birthday evening (after drinking a few beers)... Which was both entertaining and informative. Driving is the LA area also means an increase in Spanish radio stations, whig we've been trying to listen to for the sake of waking up the Spanish part of our brains.

Another highlight of our Oxnard visit was driving into LA for a Lakers game! It was a lot of fun (basketball is WAY more fun to watch in person, and easier to follow). We just happen to sit by a young Swiss couple up in the nose bleed seats, and enjoyed chatting with them about our own Swiss-German travel experience.

All in all, our So-Cal experience was very stereotypical... And we loved every minute of it! Taking off tomorrow morning for Catalina-- tracker will be on.

What's cooler than dolphins? Glow-in-the-dark dolphins!!

Big Sur, Night Sky, and Spinner Dolphins Day and Night...

Written in Santa Barbara, CA, and the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. (Because my writing is always more fun to read with a couple of tasty, unfiltered wheat beers in me.)

Sitting now with Rob and Clif at the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company in Santa Barbara, in a busy beer garden, chatting with folks about our travels at a long picnic table. We walked into town from the Santa Barbara Harbor, a definitely luxury to stay at among some beautiful sailboats, exploring the beachfront and made our way, through the hot So Cal sun, to a brewery.

We just completed a 48 hour run down from Monterey, stopping only in Avila Beach for an hour, and then deciding that it wasn't worth staying a night. Not much there in Avila Beach... except RVs, and some dry landscape. Despite making it down to Southern California, the nights have still been chilly on the water, but there was a definite weather change when we came around Point Conception, making our way towards the Los Angeles. The night air had been ever so warmer. We were able to sail about a third of the passage down, sailing downwind at 4-5 knots, sometimes even hitting 6.5 knots above water. The other two-thirds of the trip we motored, because there was very little wind. The "little wind" was an intentional plan around Point Conception, which has some reputation for the weather getting serious at the drop of a hat. Our experience around Point Conception was ethereal.

The morning getting into Avila Beach (San Luis Obispo) we sighted a huge school of Spinner Dolphins a few hundred yards away from the boat. They made there way, as the do, to the bow of the boat, surrounding Sound Discovery with a epic sighting of jumps, spins and the sound of breathing blow holes. There were so many dolphins. Almost 20 surrounded the bow. You could actually see multiple levels of dolphins through the clear, flat water. I grabbed my camera, flung it around my neck, and began snapping photos at rapid-fire while kneeling in the pulpit of the boat, leaning over the bow. It was a sight to see. The Spinner Dolphins were slightly smaller and less interactive than the White-sided Dolphins we saw outside of Campbell River, BC. But still, they were fantastic to watch surf next to our boat, if only for a couple minutes.

I didn't think that anything could make me happier than the close-encounters with these dolphins, until last night. My night watch started at 9pm. Around 10 I started to seeing some green streaks appear next to the boat. The familiar, repetitive sound of the dolphins breathing made me realize we were in for a treat. I woke up Clif, who was dozing off next to me in the cock pit. About eight to twelves Spinner Dolphins had arrived back at our boat, but this time, in complete darkness, outlined in a vibrant phosphorescent green. Clif and I took turns going forward to the bow of the boat, watching the green shapes swim fluidly, directly under the bow. "It's surreal," Clif spoke back to me at in the cockpit.

We woke Rob up just in time to see the dolphins illuminated before they were chased away by another, slightly bigger, mysterious mammal. I was standing on the bow, mesmerized by the clear green glow of the dolphins bodies, when the dolphins immediately diverted and disappeared. A larger marine mammal, with a similar dolphin fluke and dorsal fin, but with a rounded face, almost giving it to look of a Risso's Dolphins (which we sighted in Monterey Bay for the first time). No matter what it was, it definitely scared off all the Spinners. It remained under the bow of the boat for quite some time, leaving a slow, swirly green trail behind him. Clif and Rob stood on the bow, watching him undulate slowly, as if our 6 knot motoring speed was as easy as the flick of a wrist. What a night-watch. I was very much awake and excited for the rest of my shift.

Now in Santa Barbara, we're planning our our next week in So Cal, which includes my 26th birthday Tuesday (hoorah!) and meeting up with my own Dad in San Diego on the 16th. We are planning a visit with Andy Hall in Oxnard and a day exploring Catalina Island before heading farther south.

Until then, we are going to enjoying the sunny beaches of Santa Barbara, welcoming us to the Southern California culture, which I'm pleasantly embracing

Father and son shot.

Spinner Dolphins school around the bow.

Spinner Dolphins under the bow.

Wine break!

New Crew Member Aboard!

We have another crew member joining us for the next chunk of our journey! Clif's Dad, Rob, will be helping us get down the Big Sur Coast and into Southern California. Weather looks good through the weekend. We will be stopping in San Luis Obispo for a day and then making our way down to Santa Barbara by Sunday. These will both be a couple of long stretches on the open water (over 24 hours), so we are thankful to have a third crew member to help us out. A nice long blog post to come from Santa Barbara!

Leaving Monterey Marina this morning, watch the tracker for our movement down the coastline.

Never a dull moment at the Farallones...

Bodega Bay to Half Moon Bay, Pillar Point Marina, California

Snap, Crackle, Pop? No worries... it's just the shrimp.

 

The Southeast Farallon Island

Just us chickens out here on the boat again. We're currently anchored up in Pillar Point Marina, inside Half Moon Bay, home of the Maverick's surf competition. We are hauled up here for a couple days because of the gale wind warnings throughout the west coast. There is a large storm system near Puget Sound (that we are far away form, woo-hoo) that is causing all this wind and fresh swell. On the plus side, we get some quality time to play with our new Walker Bay performance sailing dinghy! We put the sailing kit together this morning, anchored several hundred yards offshore, within a protected breakwater, and sailed into shore for a test run! It was a lot of fun sailing such a small little boat (9 ft. length, about 4.5 ft wide). This is the same dinghy we picked up at AML in Seattle from Father Thomas up in Petersburg, given to us as a voyage gift. After our test run, we went back to the boat, dressed up for going ashore and brought the boat back to a little secluded beach, hidden slightly. Our current plan is to hang out here until at least Tuesday morning. The swell from this low pressure system is supposed to be high today and tomorrow, letting up a little Tuesday, for us to make it down to Monterrey.

Our day out of Bodega was beautiful. Sunny skies, just enough wind to sail downwind, directly at the Farallones, where we planned to stop, even if just for several hours. We knew of the heavy winds picking up Saturday afternoon, so we planned to get into Half Moon Bay around noon. We sailed at a smooth 4.5 knots all the way to the dark, ominous islands. The Farallon Islands are well known for their barren rocky landscape and the abundance of great white sharks. We approached the main southeast island around sunset, about 6:00pm, about 30 miles offshore of the Golden Gate Bridge. They were as spooky as predicted. Sharp, jagged rocks pierced the water's surface. Birds of various size circled above the peaks, and the sound of seal lions barking rang out for over a mile. We knew of a mooring buoy in a slightly sheltered bight on the eastern side of the island. As we pulled in through the choppy swell, we knew that this wasn't going to be a quiet calm evening. There was so much life and too much swell for sleeping. The mooring buoy we had seen on the chart was an enormous, rusted metal buoy, almost as tall as our bow. 

The buoy was just the beginning. I stood on the bow of the boat with the boat hook in hand, ready to reach out a grab the buoy so we could run a line through, attaching ourselves to this massive piece of metal. The buoy itself scared me. We bounced up an down in the swell, barely keeping our bow away from the hazard. With the boat in neutral and both Clif and I upfront, we managed to run a line through the buoy and give ourselves enough space to be comfortable (no prospect of running into it during the evening). However, in the process, we did get some surface scratches and a couple hits in, almost inevitable in the swell.

When we went inside the cabin, we froze. That sound, that horrible sound. We heard the sound of running water. Where was it coming form? The bow? Had the buoy done more damage than we anticipated? Clif jumped to attention, silently, listening for the source. We tore apart the v-berth, checking every place we could possibly look. I watched the bilge, checking for any water increase: nothing. With flashlights in hand we continued to tear apart the boat: nothing. What in the world could be making that sound. At least we knew there wasn't a significant amount water coming into the hull, if any. And if there was a tiny leak, we had an automatic bilge that would carry us safely back to the coast.

I  sat down on the floor, next to the bilge cover and collapsed in overwhelming emotion and exhaustion. I couldn't handle another crisis. In my mind I was running through every harrowing possibility... even the thought of rowing ashore with all of our important possessions, spending the night with the seal lions crossed my mind. It was then I remember Father Thomas (the same Thomas that gave us the Walker Bay) asking me about the crackling shrimp. He relayed to me a story of listened to shrimp cleaning the bottom of the hull and creating that craziest popping and crackling sounds, keeping him awake at night. At the time I hadn't experience anything like what he described.

Now, as we calmed down, the "running water" sound actually sounded more like rain on the cabin of the boat, it was a popping noise that traveled around the hull, never coming from one source. The snapping and crackling would fade and increase. It had to have been the shrimp. They were feasting on the algae growing on the bottom of our boat. It was shrimp. Damn shrimp. I couldn't believe I had gotten so worked up over the sound. I cursed the shrimp, laid down and cried.

After we calmed down, we went outside to check on the buoy (to monitor its distance from our boat). To our surprise, we had visitors. A handful of seals had come to check out the boat, in curiosity of their night visitor. We had a flash light on that made their eyes glow around the boat. When Clif turned off the flashlight and our eyes adjusted, we had the most miraculous experience. We could see the sea lions is clear view, under the water, lit up in bright green in bio-luminescence! They spun through the water, flipping and spinning around, leaving trails of lime green phosphorescence behind them as the inspected out hull. We could see the full shape of their little seal bodies swimming away and towards the boat. I have seen brilliant phosphorescence, but nothing like this. We watched for 5 minutes or so. 

"Well, that was pleasant,"  Clif said. It definitely was pleasant. I was thankful for the pleasant end to our eventful evening. We both were finally ready for bed. I couldn't sleep most of the night, being our first night back on the boat: my ears were extremely attune with any possible sound. Not to mention the barking sea lions, who continued to bark until we left that spot at 4am in the dense fog... and, of course, the snapping, crackling, popping of the cleaning shrimp.

It was an uneventful crossing from the Farallones to Half Moon Bay. We managed to motor and sail half and half back to the coastline. Here, anchored up within the breakwater, we have no popping sounds, no running water sounds, just the happy sound of waves lapping up against the hull. Much nicer evening. I slept over 10 hours, consecutively, and that's not counting the nap I took in the afternoon after we arrived. Happy crew, happy boat, hopefully a cleaner boat after our night in the Farallones.

Old window (left) , New window (right)

Sailing wing-on-wing to the islands

Farallones in the distance under the jib..

Clif working with the enormous metal mooring buoy

Half Moon Bay anchorage: prepping the Walker Bay for going ashore!

 

There will always be something to fix...

Bodega Bay, CA

Two new windows, re-attached rub rail (this time with sheet metal screws), clean decks, no moldy carpet, DRY pillows and mattresses, sticky mats for all the galley surfaces, new charge controller installed for the solar panels, a couple new oatmeal bowls from Goodwill (to replace the ceramic ones that broke off Cape Mendocino), a full water tank and, last but not least, a replenished beer cooler.
Ready to take off!

We are taking off tomorrow, out of Bodega Bay. The Sonoma coast has treated us well... possibly a little too well. Between wine tasting, cheese shopping (I love boutique cheeses), drives in the convertible Mini Cooper through the vineyards (Thank you Rob), walks among the old redwoods, even an all-organic facial, we have been spoiled with land-lubberness of the best kind. I told Clif, when we motored into Bodega Bay three weeks ago that it was going to take me some time before I would be raring to hop back onto the boat. Now, I am positively boat-sick, and can't wait to be out again on the water and anchoring up in new places. The most unique part of this journey is that we are taking out home with us. It is our traveling apartment. When we stay away, I am homesick.

We have been staying with Clif's parents in both Reno and Occidental, so today I returned all of our possessions to the boat. We've actually been more nomadic than usual, believe it or not. Before loading our things onto the boat, we dwindled down our belongings once again (It is a long, ongoing process). I can honestly say now, even with some nice dresses in storage in Juneau, that I own the least amount of clothes I have ever owned in my life, and it is liberating.

The boat is also much cleaner and organized, thanks to some much need plastic storage containers we bought in Santa Rosa. A small living space can be remarkably peaceful and stress-free if it is simple and clean, but can become disastrous when an extra couple "things" laying around don't have a home. I swear I'm not obsessive, I just live in a 8 sq. foot space.

The biggest change to Sound Discovery during this rest/work period, are two new cabin windows, which we installed ourselves. We contacted Mark Plastics down in San Diego and purchased two brand new acrylic windows to replace the two that had been damaged during our passage down from Newport. I documented the process with my iphone, but the photos are buggering up the blog post, so I'll upload them later directly from my phone.

We only installed two of the cabin windows because of the expense, but have plans to replace the other two windows at some point in the future... when we magically have some money burning holes in our pockets. Or, if the visibility difference becomes an annoyance. Never the less, WE LOVE our new windows. Glad we purchased them. They are much sturdier and higher quality than the originals.

'Nough said! Time to go to bed. We will have our tracker on periodically tomorrow to plot our course. Making our way down to Southern California this week and next. We will be having Clif's dad, Rob, join up with is Monterrey on the night of the 6th.

More soon...

Reno, NV until Sunday

Just a heads up! I just updated the schedule page of our blog, you can check it out up at the tool bar. We will not be updating that until we get down to Loreto, Mexico, unless there is some major change. All date are very loose and depend of weather and our own desires to stay in one place longer than another. We also have two new crew members that will be joining us at separate times down the coast..... Our dads!! Rob, Clif's Dad will be joining us out of Bodega and exiting somewhere in the LA or San Diego area, and my Dad, Rich, is planning on hopping on in San Diego.

We will be in Reno until Sunday, and the driving back to Occidental, CA.

We have two new windows coming in to replace in the main cabin (storm related injuries) and that will happen before we leave on Friday, Nov. 1st.

Also... My cell phone took an unfortunate swim yesterday in a High Sierra lake and is now spending some time in a bag of rice, attempting to dry out. I'll try turning it on tomorrow, but if it does not come back to life, we will be phone-less for a couple more days.

Cheer from the sunny, very dry state of Nevada!
Giselle