"Caregivers Sailathon" or "Let's See Who Can Come Closest to the Committee Boat Without Hitting It ~ Oops, Sorry Hit The Committee Boat"

This was supposed to be a Sailathon.
Do laps around a triangle, which consisted of a yellow racing mark and two boats.
A yellow triangle mark with a witch's hat tied to the top.
Andy & Tina's boat, "Carlina".
And our boat, "Meerkat".
This was not a race.
Let me repeat:
THIS WAS NOT A RACE!
This was see how many times you can sail around the triangle and have your sponsers pay you per lap.
All for a good cause.
Ventura Caregivers.
Ok, so one more time everyone:
This was not a race!
Had some wind.
Then it died.
Boats were going backwards at the start.Boats were coming really close to the committee boat... our boat.
We requested a few boats turn their engines on to GET THE HELL AWAY from the committee boat... our boat.
Or just fend off.
Whatever.
Please, oh please see how close you can come to my home!
Really, we like it!


We tried to be the fun boat.Halloween decorations and all.Mojitos.
It was fun for awhile.
Until I had to yell, "Don't hit my boat!"And it didn't work.
Bang.
Ouch.Holes.
Scratches.
Crack.

And until "Sunspot" got dismasted.
First, looking good.Then un oh.Jim helped them get their headsail out of the water and their anchor down.


Ok, back to racing sailing laps.













































































All good.
Except the breakages...
And the holes.And now we have to haul out.
It looks bigger than it is, but hey, any sympathy??

Money was raised.
Pierpont Bay Yacht Club was inundated.
Kenneth Crawford wines were tasted.
71 Palm mac & cheese was devoured.
Raffle prizes were won.
Awards for racing most laps were given.
War Stories were told.
Anchors Way's employees were exhausted.
Desserts from Savory Cafe disappeared.
Again, money was raised!

Scottish Highland Games aka The First Half of One Hell of a Busy Weekend

The cold that caught me earlier in the week caught Jim.
And put him down.
So Stan was my date for the day!
Stan, Mike, Bibiana and I hopped on our bikes and rode from the harbor to the fairgrounds.
Through The Keys, down the beach bike path, down the promenade ~ a super easy, flat, mellow ride!
Free parking right in front of the gate.
The only way to go!

We had a beer to cool off after the ride.
And listened and sort of watched the opening bagpipe bands.
This was my view.
The backs of the guards.One being quite the flirt.

We were introduced to a new clan.
Clan Batman.Saw the typical sick Scottish sense of humor.Saw that they continue to start 'em young with weapons.Saw the same drunk Scots want-to-be's cool t-shirts that I so want to buy one for Jim.And spent the majority of the time watching The Wicked Tinkers!

And why not?
Bagpipes.
Big drums.

One local guy.
And one that ends up on your picnic table.

They play the ever so popular "We Want Whisky" song.
Apparently it works...Except for the guy who mis-understood and handed them a flask with tequila in it.
Really, tequila at the Highland Games?
That's a first.
Saw new up & coming musicians.Who got to go up on stage and play with the big boys.Watched Celtic Spring ~ awesome young musicians and dancers!
Also local.
They were playing indoors ~ no pics as I like to avoid the whole flash in the eyes of performers when possible.

And had some Scotch.Then rode home.

Today!

We will see men people in kilts.Listen to bagpipes.
Drink beer.
Wonder who wears underwear.
Buy a new Scottish flag.
Listen to The Wicked Tinkers.
Look at more men people in kilts.
Drink Scotch.
Watch men throw big long longs the size of Chevy Suburbans.
Eat haggis.
Listen to more bagpipes.

Pretending to Be in The Tropics

I can't say I miss being in La Paz during the summer.
Well... there were a couple of things I liked.
I liked not working.
I liked the book exchange in the marina.
I didn't like the relentless heat.
I didn't like the broken air conditioners.
I didn't like the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes.
I do like thunderstorms, but lightning and tall metal poles sticking out of the top of your home just don't mix.
So being back in SoCal where we rarely get thunderheads, rarely hear the boom of the nearby thunder and rarely see the brilliant shock of white lightning, I did enjoy a few days of this.
Mainly because I knew it wasn't going to blow 97 knots or we would have lightning striking withing spitting distance.
Being a wimp safe is good.
So with a little imagination, with an afternoon cocktail and too many clothes on to make us hot squinted eyes to make the local recognizable horizon a blur, we were back in tropical weather.





All good except the view of the underside of that last cloud...

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.