The Rest of The Kelp Fly Epic Trip!

After a bottle of vino on la playa, we headed back to the boat.
I think we had some chili dogs or some such crap for dinner.
Something easy after motoring all day.
And after that strenuous hora feliz beach launch in the 2" surf!
One Southbound cruising boat and two small fishing boats were in the anchorage that night.
And in the morning?
We were the only ones left!Ahhhh... the place to ourselves.

Which meant fishing in the dinghy first.
And catching a big halibut!
Then our own private beach!








No one around.
No boats.
No humans.
Just the locals.Some who snored.We meandered all over the beach.
Up the dunes to the foot of the canyon trail.Uh... but not up the trail.
Not in 85 degrees anyway.Left our mark.As all good meerkats do.

Next day two other sets of people who make us jealous Southbound boats came in.
And the big boys, "Conception" and "Island Packers" with 110 hikers.
Thanks for the warning Cherryl!

So a dinghy ride out to the point to say adios to the other locals.And the juvenile sea lion gang that so wanted us to play!















And then headed down the front side of Santa Rosa to meet up with singlehanding Stan on "Ebb Tide" and Dave & Cherryl on "Shining Star"!Did a "drive-through" in Bechers to make an attempt at waking up "Sneaky Pete" and "Veda L", but like all good fishermen were asleep...

Anchored for about a half an our by Skunk Point until the slop started coming in, then headed up the backside of Rosa to Eagle Rock and anchored in the calm kelp fly infested anchorage!

Leftover halibut on "Meerkat" with Daveyboy and Cherryl Wilene Holien joining us.
I think Stan was out for the count...

Uh, what next?
To Johnson's Lee, another kelp filled and kelp fly filled spot, but still lovely and calm.
Except for the offshore 85 degree HOT down canyon winds we had!
Loved it!

Afternoon dessert wine somewhere.And realized the Scottish Games were a couple weeks away, when we looked at our flag.Where is Stan when I need him for the Stan & Heather's Museum Quality Flag Restoration projects, anyway?

Next drive-by was through Forneys on the West end of Santa Cruz Island.
A little lumpy, so headed down the backside.
Stan had gone ahead to Yellowbanks to shorten his singlehand trip home.
We checked out Malva Real, but there was only 2" of kelp free sand to anchor in.
Our anchor is bigger than 2", so down to Willows.

Watched a feeding frenzy between the two boats that consisted of sea lions, dolphins and a gazillion birds.
And kelp flies.

BBQ or something or other on "Meerkat" in the sweltering out of the canyon dry wind.
91 degrees at 8:30 at night?At the islands?

Then the fun night...
East winds at 1:30 am.
East winds at 4:30 am.
Us on a lee shore.
With rocks behind.
And kelp.
Ick.

So when the sun finally came up, and we were 1000% sick of swatting kelp flies only to have the rest of their relatives show up in mourning 15 seconds later, we left.

But first we had to get our anchor out from underneath "Shinola" "Shining Star".And stay out of the kelp.
I didn't do so great on the kelp avoidance thing.
Ended up sucking up kelp on both sail drives.
A little smoke.
A little bit of panicking.
A little bit of throttle.
And a lot of running on one engine.

East winds in the channel on the way home for an hour or so.
Enough to have our headsail out on our port side, which was weird as can be.
Then no wind.
Total calm.
Kelp flies joining us for the ride home.
Turned on the second engine for the parking job.
Glass of wine for me, beer for Jim and our dockboy, Stan.
Dinner, all good.
Except for the 732 kelp flies that came home with us.

That One Particular Harbor in SoCal

Ahhhhhhhhh!
We made it.
Cuyler Harbor.
San Miguel Island.

Attempting Plan A Manana...

The weather report is finally calling for a break.
About time.
Really!
So off we go.With all of the provisions from last week.
A little stale bread.
Brown lettuce.
Smushy nectarines.
Bruised apples.
Moldy cheese.
Not really!
Hopefully we can make it to San Miguel...It's about time.
Really!

Other Parts of Plan B

Included eating.
And realizing it was a table full of geezers when we noticed the number of pairs of glasses on the table...And this was just on the girl's end of the table!

Included walking around Encinitas and looking at old signs.








I'd walk around any town to look at old signs...











And making Bergie drive us to the boat houses.Ahhhhh ~ perfect for the liveaboard who gets seasick!

Walking to the stairs overlooking the beach.












What would be the perfect boogie boarding beach if the water was 20 degrees warmer!Wetsuited surfers seemed to enjoy it just fine.Me?
I still need 80 degrees...

BBQ'ing.
Watching Julianne do what she thought was hot yoga.Walking the neighborhood and finding beautiful homes, doors, windows and flowers.


















Finding heaven on earth for Jim.
A bazillion bottled beer brands.And purchasing one of the brands of bazillion bottled beers.Going to Stone Brewing Company for beer and lunch.And me being given free reign with the refrigerator magnets.

Part of Plan B

Included a Woody car show with cousins, Julianne, Carolyn and Bergie.
The girl cousins asked for a synonym for "woody"...Not sure why, but our conversations always turn to the gutter (or poop).

Way cool cars.







Incredible restorations.
Lots of shine.
Lots of money.
And funny car show clothes.





And a dog.



Did I mention lots of money?And my dream car.Only not in these colors.

Weather Reports Just Think They Outweigh Fortunes

Well, with 35+ knots predicted where we wanted to go, we went to Plan B instead.
Skip the islands for now.
Wait for better weather.
Drive to San Diego and spend a few days with my cousins who are here from Illinois.
We had Jim's adventure (going to Stone Brewing Company).
And we both had three days of awesome vacation.

Fortunes Outweigh Weather Reports

At least that is what we are hoping for...
These are our fortunes from last night:And fortunes are never wrong.
Correct?
Weather is predicting some wind (more wind than we want) in the outer islands (where we want to go) and South Swell.
Swell...
A mix of prevailing wind, which will mean prevailing seas with swells from an opposing direction.
Ah well.
Maybe we will go up the coast...

Willows ~ Labor Day, 2010

Yay!
A three day weekend!
So off to the islands we went.
On a Friday afternoon.
Dummies.
I didn't mind the fog, but I did mind the 25 knots we got just past the rigs.
Broken eggs all down the stairs
Huge, loud BANG!
Uh oh......
What this time?
We blew out our first reef line, which took out a few of the lazyjack lines that were attached to our sailbag.
Crap.
And the main did not want to come down.
Crap!
So Jim had to go up on the cabintop and pull it down, with me driving into the wind and the jib hitting him in the back.
CRAP!
We were doing about 10 knots too, so it was a bummer to lose some of our speed.
But it was GREAT when we got into the lee of the island.
Warm!
SUNNY!
Calm!
Ahhh... the smell of the island.
Two hours from entrance to the point!

Hora feliz with Mike & Wendy from "Bodi".
Spent one night anchored in the calm of Yellowbanks, then headed up the backside towards Willows with "Shining Star" following and "Sweet Lorraine" leaving Albert's to follow.

Dinghy cruise.
Friends.
Dave & Kellie.
Secluded beaches.
Jim & Jean.
Hikes.
Dave & Cherryl.
Drinks.
Two Jims.
Food.
Two Daves.
Bocci ball on the beach!

Rolly nights.
"Shining Star" moved into the inner anchorage.
"Sweet Lorraine" came over for happy hours.
Dinner on "Shining Star".
Dinner on "Meerkat.
Sunshine!

A driveby of "Carlina".
Dolphins on the way home.
Calm, just amazingly calm on Monday.

Next?
A nine day trip ~ hopefully making it to San Miguel and Santa Rosa!