S/V Mandolin Santa Cruz to Morro Bay

Santa Cruz to Morro Bay, CA (Triumph)

Todd: While it might appear that we have fallen off the end of the earth we are actually still alive. After a wonderful summer at Tahoe working, sailing Sticky fingers and catching up with family we are finally voyaging again. We are currently aboard the Mariner 50 "Triumph" with our close friends Hollis and Paula. They are sailing to Mexico this year and things worked out so that we can help them sail their boat while we get a fun ride back to La Paz, Mexico, where Mandolin is patiently waiting for us.

0400 December 7th, 1999

We leave the Santa Cruz Harbor in pitch dark. Ellen is our official bow spotter as she stands on the bow with a spot light and a radio to let the driver know where the breakwater and buoys are. Once safely outside the breakwater we start down the coast. The waves are pretty large, but manageable. One of the nice things about a boat this large is that it generally goes about twice as fast as Mandolin. So a trip to San Simeon that took us three day trips, we were able to do in one long day. During this time we saw several pods of dolphins and again the Big Sur coast was clear and beautiful. As we neared San Simeon the wind and waves had increased to a point that the autopilot was not able to keep a steady course so Ellen and I trade off hand steering. The thought of hand steering all the way around Pt. Conception and possibly to Santa Barbara was not very appealing. The bay of San Simeon was our bailout point so we ducked into this protected area to spent the night. Once we arrived I took the kayak and Maggie, the ship dog, to the beach for a walk.

December 8th, 1999

The surf in the bay isn't too bad, so we attempt to go to the beach again. This time we use the inflatable. All four of us and the dog pile in and we are off. Things went pretty well, but Ellen and Paula got pretty wet as we misjudged the depth of the water when they jumped out to pull the dingy up on the beach. Now we know to try to touch the bottom with a foot before jumping out of the dingy. A brisk walk to the point was in order. We improved our technique for driving the dingy back out through the surf and returned to the boat without any problems.

We have plans to go around Pt. Conception during the night and arrive in Santa Barbara the next morning, but as we get out of the bay we realize that the waves are still pretty large and the wind hasn't let up very much. The Morro Bay Harbor Patrol let us know the bar (channel crossing) had only 4 foot swells with no breaking waves. So we decided to wait out the weather in Morro Bay. A tense but successful harbor entrance at night, with Ellen again as the bow spotter, found us tied up at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. The people here are very friendly.

December 9th, 1999

The storm is here and it is raining. So we spend the morning searching out the Internet cafe to check email. After taking a nap out friend Bob Kile stopped by the boat to say Hi. Ellen and I went to school at UCSC with his daughter. It was good catching up with him. During out conversation we were discussing how to protect electronics during a lightning strike. He had heard of an idea to keep a GPS and handheld radio inside a metal box. Since we already have a spare GPS and radio aboard Mandolin, he gave us his ammunition box to use. We meet such wonderful people out cruising. He also decided that Ellen needed a thermos to keep beverages warm so he sent us home with one of those too. We finished the day with a Mexican dinner and a movie on the VCR (Aren't big boats great).

December 10th, 1999

The day dawns sunny; Ellen and I take a walk out the "Rock" of Morro bay. It was fun watching the surf, but we realize we may be here for a few more days waiting for things to calm down again. That's OK though since we like the town of Morro Bay. I help Hollis with securing the starting battery in a box and cleaning out the sea strainer for the engine.

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