Getting ready to leave Morro Bay... heading into a night of wind.

As I type this, we are getting the boat ready to head down to the Channel Islands. High winds and rough seas are predicted and I am steeling myself for a night of discomfort. I've got my scope patch on... We've had such a great time here in Morro Bay. Such a nice little town and I'd come again to see it. There is a sand spit across the channel and, as I write this, Marcus has taken Ben and Samey on the dinghy there one last time. They so love the beach and there is almost nothing better than watching them play freely, unconstrained together in the sand. Max is attempting to get caught up on schoolwork while we have great internet service. Marcus is providing guidance now and things seem to be better on track than they were before. We were joined late last night by our Seattle friends on Sand Dollar for a brief interlude. They have already shoved off early this afternoon and are heading in the same direction but on a different schedule. We hope to meet up with them again tomorrow in the Channel Islands if weather permits and if not then at the latest in San Diego. Ben loved spending time with Easton as they are fast friends. So cute watching them carry the shopping bag together back from Albertson's with our provisions and sharing a tray of sushi (Easton's first). Kaley and Nate seem to be holding up well and enjoying their adventure and Shauna and JC are very organized and deliberate in everything they do. And meeting their skipper, Al, was interesting, too. Not sure when we'll have internet again if we are able to anchor in the Channel Islands. I'll keep you posted, as they say!

Sun-shiny Morro Bay

We decided to do an overnighter so as to travel at night from Monterey Bay to Morro Bay. It seemed like a good idea to do it when the little kids would be asleep. And Marcus loves that kind of sailing. Despite weather warnings from other boats we have connected with along the way and who are waiting in Monterey Bay, we decided to rely on Marcus' read on the weather predictions and leave last night.

A boat in Monterey with a great name!!

Once again, the seas were so benign and the tides and winds helpful. We ate some chicken stir-fry while underway and watched Surf's Up which is one of Marcus' favorite movies. Samey watched the whole thing and loved it, too. She says she wants to surf! Afterwards, I went below with Samey and we basically slept the majority of the ride which took us 17 hours (109 nautical miles). It was rocky-rolly but really not bad at all. Ben was with us awhile and then up top (tethered, of course, as were Max and Marcus) with the big boys. It was a long but relatively easy trip. We arrived around 1 pm. Morro Bay is guarded by an immense rock structure and it is incredibly lovely here. Really feels like we are getting closer to southern living and away from the Pacific Northwest. We are at the dock at the Morro Bay Yacht Club and the view is spectacular. Marcus had only slept 2 hours or so we left him to shower and the three kids and I took the scooter and the skut bike and went to explore the little town for awhile. They have a very sweet little aquarium here and the kids liked feeding the sea lions they have there. And Max loved seeing his favorite animal up close: octopus.

We're just sitting on this lovely deck overlooking the "rock" and the marine traffic passing us by. Not sure how long we'll stay here (weather-dependent as usual!) but it feels nice here so I am glad to stay awhile if need be. If it weren't for the dang flies again! EVERYWHERE! Yuck.

Monterey Bay, Cannery Row, Seals and Otters

We've now been two nights in Monterey Bay at the Municipal Marina. All day and all night the harbor seals (some of whom are HUGE) are barking.  BARKING. Hundreds of them. I went to do laundry the night we arrived and almost stepped on an otter who was lounging on the dock! Scared the bejebus out of me. And at the far end of the dock a huge bull was barking away. Kind of amazing how much they "own" the harbor. We did an excursion yesterday and walked down Cannery Row. Samey picked all these flowers for me.

We spent some wonderful hours at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My favorite part by far was the jellyfish exhibit.

Ben loved the Deep Sea Tank that had three Hammerhead Sharks and two huge sea turtles as well as some amazingly large tuna fish. Samey liked the gifts shops with all the stuffies but somehow we managed to get out of all of them without having to make a purchase!!! We stopped at a little beach, San Carlos Beach, on our way back to the boat.

Today, Max, Ben and I did schoolwork in the morning while Marcus and Sam did a scooter/bike adventure. We walked into town to Starbucks to get internet and next we'll go to Trader Joe's to get some more provisions. I am loving the time together as a family. Tonight, we'll do an overnight as our plan is to get to Morro Bay (17 hours away).

Half Moon Bay, Calfornia

We were able to leave Alameda today, early this morning in a cold, heavy fog. It never quite left us as we made the 35 nautical mile trip to Half Moon Bay. We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge but could barely see it at all! The sea, once we hit the Pacific waters, was as benign as it could possibly be. I had my Scope patch on and my wrist bracelets (all for sea sickness). Max, too. Ben got a little sick but mostly we all just turned the boat over to Marcus (who never gets sea sick!), put on our foul weather gear and hunkered down. Mercifully, Samey slept below for the entire 6 hour trip which meant that I was able to stay above, eyes closed, and even slept for most of it, too! In this way, I avoided feeling sick much at all and the time passed quickly. I find if I keep my eyes closed, I really do better. And being above deck is key! The fog shrouded the harbor at Half Moon Bay still as we approached. The stench of the fish factory and hundreds of pelicans and seagulls along the sea wall was quite overpowering, as were the thousands of black flies that stuck to us as we grabbed a mooring ball and got settled. We took the dingy over to the marina and went for a walk to get away from them! Unfortunately, the cute little town of Half Moon Bay is 4 miles away so we just explored the shops and restaurants near the marina. And, did I mention?, were able to get away from the horrible flies. Max found some flip flops (not easy to walk into a store that sells men's size 14 shoes!!) and this surfing store even had choices for him! And we decided to eat at a restaurant near the marina as eating covered with flies was so unappealing to us all. The food was excellent!! I had a ceviche salad that was incredible. We all decided we did not want to stay very long here. The flies were gone by the time we returned from our excursion. Cold here. And foggy. The eery fog horn blows every 30 seconds. I tire of the lonely sound. Tomorrow, we head to Santa Cruz.

"Take Off For Landing" (aka Finally Leaving Encinal and Alternator Dies and then Coming Right Back)

Well, after a fun week of homeschooling and friends and relatives and the pool, we WERE heading out for Half Moon Bay early this morning... But it was not in the cards. Poor Marcus. The alternator blew (or something... he is down there right now problem-solving with other brilliant minds like Chris Carden). We are back at the pool, doing our schoolwork here today since the boat is torn apart. Again. It does give me a chance to get caught up on my blog! Some photos from the week:

A view of Appa at dusk at EYC, Alameda

 

I guess this is why people love California.

It's been quite a week. LOTS of time with Pete and Rachelle which has been wonderful. We sure will miss them. And we had a fabulous lunch in Berkeley (for Rachelle, Samey and I) with Ginny near the Berkeley Yacht club on Fourth Street at Zut! including drinks with absinthe! WHOA. Samey learned to swim this week and now puts her head and face in the water and, wearing her little swim life jacket, she can swim all around the pool unassisted! Amazing! And Ben does front and back flips off the side of the pool incessantly. Max spent hours learning to splice and whip lines with Pete - quite a gift for him to learn these skills from someone with so much knowledge. I love the family time together and seeing the kids together. Yesterday, I got to spend some time with my old friend from graduate school (Thunderbird), Josephine Sabolboro, and her sweet 7 year old daughter Ava. Samey and I met them at Jack London Square in Oakland in a restaurant called The Forge. We haven't seen each other for 16 years or something crazy like that but it was like time stopped. She is just as beautiful, smart and fun as ever! They came back to EYC afterwards to meet the rest of the family and to see the boat. Fun!

Samey and Ava

Me and Josephine

 Here are some photos from this morning as we made our attempt to leave...

Pete, Rachelle, Max and Holm... And Appa!

Pete prepares to cut the lines.

So. We missed the tides today.We'll try again tomorrow. I guess, a usual these days, it was a computer user error... We should be fine tomorrow!!

Labor Day, No Labor (except the labor of Homeschooling)

Another day at the pool. AFTER my first eye-opening experience with Homeschooling. OMG. Talk about overwhelming. Two full tubs of books and materials, 16 pages of parental instructions for "Day One". I see the slavery ahead. May I just say for the record that there is not one cell of my body that has EVER wanted to Homeschool. Not ONE. I have total respect for it but have absolutely have NO desire to do it. But we want this trip for each other and we want to take the kids and so, we just have to do it. Its going to take awhile to get into the routine and figure out what we really need to do or not. Today, we did Science, Spelling, Composition and Phonics. We did not even get to Reading, Social Studies or Math and I was wiped out!!! (Not to mention my high-fallutin intentions of also doing piano practice, cursive writing, Spanish or reading a book!!!) I am trying to be patient and trust that we can figure out a method to get the schooling in but can I say one more time: OMG! I will keep you posted but I find myself feeling thankful for schools and teachers! On a more fun note, my beloved cousins, Martha and Richard Gurley, and their son Lukas visited us at the pool today for a fun, late lunch by the pool.

Ben and Lukas swam for hours while I got to visit with Richard and Martha. Holm showed up a little while later and took Max out for dinner to celebrate his 51st birthday (Holm's).

Marcus and Pete worked more on the rigging and Pete is teaching Max to splice lines. So funny and so nice to step out of "The Routine". I don't check email or my phone half as much (I am ashamed to say) as I had become accustomed. A very, very good thing. A little unsettling but reassuring all the same. Holm (Happy Birthday today to him, Alexandra del Tufo and Kristopher Reichert!) asked me if I had "left Seattle" and my answer was a solid "yes". Don't get me wrong: I miss everyone, for sure. But we're on an adventure. A BIG one. That is such an amazing gift - for me, for us, for the kids.

Redwoods to Encinal Yacht Club, Alameda, California!

If you've been following this religiously then you'll notice I took a couple of days off from reporting. Blame it on exhaustion. On Friday, Ben and Samey and I left Crescent City at 10:15 am after one last swim in the pool (nobody was eager to get back in the car), and headed south.

Goal? Make it it Marcus and Max by nighttime. And what an incredibly spectacular drive. 101 South in California is just so beautiful.

The redwoods took my breath away. Avenue of the Giants was incredible. If you've never seen them, you just can't imagine their magnitude and their magnificence.

A fallen giant almost as big as Ben!

Two mighty beings

We had to make several stops throughout the day (where's my pink crayon, I gotta go pee, I want ice cream, I can't find my headphones, I'm hungry, I gotta go pee again...) which set us back a bit but every stop was worth it. I also loved Mendocino County, Sonoma County - the vineyards, the rolling hills - driving through just as dusk set in. It was a very long but rewarding drive. And then, thanks to my beloved cousins Richard and Martha, I learned that the Bay Bridge was closed for the weekend and, with their help, we had to do a long detour in stop-and-go traffic and by the time we rolled into the Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda at 9 pm, I was spent. But we were SO glad to see not only Marcus and Max but also Pete and Rachelle there waiting to welcome us.

Oh, those silly bowls never get old!

We spent Saturday and most of today unpacking the car, packing up the boat, deciding what stays and what will go back in the Highlander with Holm when he drives it back up to Seattle. Ginny James came today for lunch at the Yacht Club and sat with us in the sun for a few hours while the kids swam and swam.

The Magnificent Ginny James

Pete and Marcus have been working on fixing some rigging problems and I decided it was time to update the blog. Lazy days here. Feels fine.