Redondo Beach King Harbor to Long Beach Marina

We left King Harbor around 10:30am on a sunny day. Not quite as warm as the day before, about 64 degrees with calms seas again in the 1-3 foot at 12 to 15 seconds and a small breeze from the west around 9 knots.

We were headed for Long Beach Harbor and the Shoreline Yacht Club. We cruised for about 4 hours and arrived in the Harbor at about 2:00pm. Alexus had called the Yacht Club and Bob was the Port Captain. He did not have a space for us that day, but would the next day. So we decided to anchor out just behind the man-made Island White in the general anchorage area. It was still well protected, being behind the breakwater.. There were three other boats anchored in the area, in about 45 feet with good holding. It was mud and shells when we brought up the anchor. We spent a very peaceful evening and night with the only rolling occurring when the Harbor Tour Ferries went by. The fog rolled in that night and we could not see the boats anchored only 100 yards away. The fog was very thick and the air had become cold as the wind was out of the west.

The next day, New Years Eve, we had a spot that belonged to Bob, the Yacht Club Port Captain, Slip Z - 103. So around 1:30 we headed for his slip and to the Harbor Master to register for the guest dock for New Years day and possibly spend Thursday, Friday depending on the weather before heading to Catalina Island.

We pulled into Bob’s slip, Z-103 and tied up for the afternoon and that night. There was a Borders Books nearby, and Alexus wanted Season Two of Dexter, so we went off for a walk. We passed a number of restaurants and the “Laugh Factory” a comedy club. After buying season two of Dexter and a calendar, we checked to see if there were tickets available at the comedy club and there was. So we bought tickets for the 8pm show and decided to find a place for dinner. We ended up at “Gladstones” where they had a great deal on a lobster dinner for $19.95 or Alaskan Crab legs for $29.95.

The 8 pm show at the comedy club was fun and after the show we walked around Shoreline Village and headed back to the boat. The weather had become cold and damp with a slight breeze off the water. There was to be a huge fireworks display at midnight. While we could hear the booms, but with the fog we could not see even a flash of light, we could barely see the next dock over. So we watched Dick Clark and the replay of the New York countdown at midnight, Happy New Year!!! Then after two sessions of season two of Dexter we went off to bed around 1:30pm. The next day we would need to move to Q dock from Z dock before noon when Bob returned to his slip from his overnight trip.

Marina Del Rey to King Harbor Redondo Beach

We left Marina Del Rey at about 1:00pm on a warm 70 degree sunny day, and headed towards Redondo Beach and King Harbor. Seas were 1 foot at 12 seconds and the wind was less than 5 knots out of the east. We hoped to stay at the King Harbor Yacht Club when we arrived. After traveling at 7 knots for about an hour and a half, we arrived at King Harbor. There was room at the Yacht Club dock and even a few hands there to catch lines. The dock is about 80 feet long and you side tie. There is water and power at the dock.

After meeting the Rear Commodore and a few members, we registered with Dina and were set for the night. We walked around the marina to the Blue Water Grill and had an early dinner.

We returned to the yacht club and met more members, April, Hutch and Smitty. We had a great time and found out that April was a Kansas Jayhawk Alumni, so she and Alexus compared notes from their college days. Smitty has cruised extensively in Mexico and he shared a great deal of helpful information. Holly also introduced us to a wonderful drink called an oatmeal cookie.... well we had one too many of those and we returned to the boat at 9:30 to watch TV and relax before turning in.

Holidays in So. California

Well,

Wanted to give just a quick update. We are still in Marina Del Rey. Alexus' family came in from out of state and her mom and dad stayed with us on the boat and we had a big family Thanksgiving at her nieces house.

Erika is staying with us until Dec 19th when she leaves for Denver. Then we have our good friends Lori and Jude coming for Christmas eve and Christmas day will be with my family in Glendora.

So we will be in the LA, Long Beach area until after Christmas, then we will head further south hitting habors and marinas that will be all new for us. I will upate the blog when we start moving south again. Right now we are safely and well cared for docked here at the beautiful California Yacht Club, thanks to our good friends Neal and Eva.

Once we start off, we will keep going as we see fit to San Diego and then possibly on to Mexico.

Ventura Harbor to Marina Del Rey – California Yacht Club Nov. 18th 2008

This morning we were at the fuel dock, took on about 180 gallons, and off we went. As we left the harbor, the fog became very dense, so we again needed to use our radar. When crossing the entrance to the Channel Island Harbor we could tell there were about 5 to 6 boats about ½ to ¼ mile away, but other than on the radar, we never actually saw them. The seas were again amazingly calm and with no wind, however we would not be treated to clear skies for most of this leg of our trip. We did not get clear skies until just outside of Malibu and perhaps the last two hours of our five hour trip.

As we approached the harbor, we telephoned our good friends Neal and Eva who we had first met in Anacortes, Washington. As members of the California Yacht Club, Neal had arranged for us to stay at their docks in a slip. It was great, as we pulled in, to see Neal and Eva there at the docks waving us to the right area. It is always nice to have someone give you a hand, but it is even better when it is good friends that you have not seen in three months. After out warm welcome Neal and Eva gave us all the necessary information on their club and told us about the local restaurants, stores, and anything else we might need. We visited with them for a short time and agreed to meet them Thursday for lunch.They also offered us their car. Fortunately Alexus' daughter, Erika had already offered us the use of her car as she is still out of town working on a cruise ship. So we'll have wheels while we're in town. Hooray!

We will spend about a month here in Marina Del Rey allowing us to get together with Alexus’ family and mine for the Thanksgiving Holiday and pre-Christmas holidays. We don’t have plans after that, but once we do….

In the meantime, we will keep the blog updated, as I am hopeful Kathy, Mary, Loe, Kelli, Lori and Jude may join us in the upcoming month.