Puerto Balandra- Bahia San Gabriel Dec 5th, 2009

We left La Paz and off we went to Puerto Balandra. The wind was blowing from the north at about 10-13 knots, but there is little swell just chop as we made our way. We looked over the anchorage and decided it was to open to the north and we would have a very rolly night if we anchored. So we took pictures and made our way to Bahia San Gabriel on Isla Epiritu Santo. The bay here is a little more protected and so after three hours and 21 n. miles we anchored. I caught Sand Bass from the back of the boat so we had fresh fish for dinner. We took the dinghy and explored the shore and the lagoon where it seemed to be a Magnificent Frigate rookery. The night was noisy with the splash of the roll off the swim platform so we decided to head to our next location, Caleta Partida

Marina Palmira La Paz Mexico, Dec 2-4th, 2009

Well we cleaned up the boat since she had logged so many miles in salt water. Today we rode our bikes into town all the way on the Malecon. So what is a day in La Paz like? Ok, a day in La Paz. Wake up to sunshine, make bed, put on shorts, t-shirt sandals, oil the teak furniture, clean the chair covers, watch the fish, see a huge puffer fish, get on the bikes ride two miles to town for lunch, have a cerveza and grilled fish, ride four more miles to Walmart for DVDs. Alexus gets a flat tire, kids with bikes pump up the tire, we give them pesos for their help. It goes flat again. We walk by 4 men who speak no English, but convey that there is a bike shop 2 blocks up. (Bike Angels)The shop, a cement block building 10'square, fix the tire we and pay the $3.50. We ride the 6 or so miles home on the Malecon along the bay of La Paz and watch the sun set.. ah…..Well after a taxi ride to the CCC ( big grocery store like a Super Walmart) and back the boat is provisioned and we are ready to explore the Sea of Cortez. Tomorrow we will head to Puerto Balandra, which is the home of the famous Mushroom Rock. It is only about 12 miles away so a very short day. Yea!!!!

Marina Palmira La Paz, Nov.28- Dec 2nd, 2009

Well we are one crew member less as we move to Marina Palmira closer to La Paz. Rachel arrived safely in Seattle and Lori will be leaving tomorrow and then Loe leaves the next day. It was a grand adventure and I know they are both ready to be home with their girls and not in a moving boat or trying to sleep with the engines running. It was a kick as we pulled into our slip, two boats over were Larry and his wife Muggs who were our dock mates in Alameda. What a wonderful welcoming, it did feel like a homecoming to have people you know right next door. The world is very small.

Alexus and I spent a great deal of time on the boat while Lori did the tourist thing. Loe' and she went to the bus station to get their tickets for Cabo San Lucas as they fly out of Cabo to get home. It will take them about 3 hours by bus to get to the airport and about 2.5 hours by plane to get back to the bay area.

Well Lori left today and off she went and arrived safely at home. I know she was excited about the interior re-design Jude did on her boat. I am sure it is beautiful. We went into town and did more exploring, Loe stayed on the boat and got ready for her early departure tomorrow. Well, Loe left this morning and she arrived safely in SF that evening. We are on our own. The boat feels bigger, but we will miss our friends. It was a once in a life time adventure that we all shared. That evening Larry and Muggs came over for cocktail hour and we laughed the evening and night away with our shared adventures down the coast. Since October both boats have gone over 1425 nautical miles. Wow, when I think of that it is amazing!!

Costa Baja –La Paz Outskirts Nov. 25-27

Yea we made it! It was a choppy ride, just like an afternoon on the bay, but 6 hours long. This is the final destination point for FUBAR and we are all happy to have completed the FUBAR adventure. We have traveled 970 nautical miles or 1055 land miles at 7.5 knots at 8.6 miles per hour, which translates into 123 hours on the ocean. We have seen some magical things. The stars brilliantly bright on dark night with no moon light, shooting stars too many to count, fish Dorado and Tuna both beautiful and tasty and dolphins and whales, the true owners of the ocean. We have met some wonderful people, the folks Tim, Pat, Jerry and Mike on Bodacious, Margit and her husband Bill on Dauntless, Irv and LaVon on “Da Fever”, John and Jan on Dos Abogados, Bob and Darcy on Enterprise who we run into everywhere, Bill and his wife on Inamorata, Brian on Furthur, Abodoulay and Peter on Kumba Bang, Bill and Debbie on Moana Hale, Val and Stan on Pax Nautica, Neil and Tim and their wives on Sanjero, Tom and Anita on Valkyrie, Bill and Linda who we met before on Wayward Wind, and all the others that with such a large fleet we did not get to spend a great deal of time with. Congrats to all of us. Costa Baja is a resort and the crew is making use of the showers, pool, beach and restaurants. Tonight is the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pie Thanksgiving dinner. It is appropriate as we give thanks for a safe trip and good company. Rachel will head out in a couple of days, bound for Seattle and MK and then on to Denver and their new home.

San Jose del Cabo Nov 23-24, 2009

We all relaxed and spent time exploring the town of San Jose del Cabo. It really is a pretty little town and since I was out of perfume, we made a purchase.
We fueled at the dock and just spent time around the dock today. Tomorrow we move to our final anchorage, Bahia De Los Muertos and we have about a 6 hour cruise to get there. We will round the point and will be officially in the Sea of Cortez. Who knows, maybe the fishing will be good!

Man of war Cove to Cabo San Jose Nov. 22, 2009

We are up again at first light. Today the seas have settled 2-4 foot swells and the wind is only about 3 to 4 knots. We are on our 185 nm leg which will take us about 26 hours. We dropped three lines in the water as we were leaving Magdalena Bay. As we left the mouth of the bay you could see fish jumping out of the water, then all of a sudden, “zzzzzzz”, all three lines hit and Loe, Rachel and I are reeling in fish. They look like bonita, not the best eating, but I grab our fish book and they have spots on their belly and are Mexican Bonita which are good eating. We bring all three fish aboard and it is calm enough for us go to the front deck, clean, fillet the fish and hose the deck using the deck wash. The fillets are in zip lock bags in the fridge. Yea! We caught fish. The lines go back in the water. In the next 4 hours we caught approximately 8 Dorado, of which we kept one that was 36 inches long. Dorado are really beautiful fish, emerald green, speckled with dark blue and fins that are yellow. Dorado are almost to pretty to eat…well almost.

We all caught fish except Lori, she did not want to, and since we had more than enough we were releasing all the small Dorado. I was showing Alexus how to play out the lure and set the reel for a strike when boom, she had a fish on. It was a Dorado and she decided to release it so we did. As she went through playing out the lure and setting the reel, just she was placing the rod in the holder, boom another strike and another Dorado. Fishing was really hot in that area. Since the seas were still calm, we had a fantastic lunch of fried perch and bass, Bonita Sushi and sautéed Mahi Mahi- (Dorado) in olive oil and garlic and dill with mashed potatoes and a caprese salad. Lunch is the only time we are all awake so it was a good meal. Loe now had the fishing fever though, any time there was a slight “zzzzzz” sound on the boat her eyes would light up.

The rest of our last overnight trip was also uneventful, thank you sea goddess! We were rounding Cabo San Lucas around 5:30am, not quite light enough to see much of Cabo San Lucas as we made our way to Cabo San Jose. We are all excited to be in port in a slip and not moving or anchored for the next two nights. Everyone is looking forward to a good nights rest. We arrive in San Jose at the Marina Puerto Los Cabos around 1:30pm we are all happy to be in a slip, take showers, plan a walk the town and enjoy being ashore. Tonight there is a spectacular dinner planned and we need to take on fuel here.

Santa Maria Bay to Magdalena Bay, Man of War Cove Nov. 21, 2009

Well we are all glad it was a shorter day to Man O' War Cove in Magdalena Bay, only 32 nautical miles and 4or 5 hours. The seas were more active, swells were probably 5-8 feet from the NW and the winds was a constant 10 -15 knots from the north. The ride was a little rougher and we did not fish much on the way into Mag Bay. We anchored and has another panga ride adventure into Mag Bay and Man of War Cove. It was another taco night, SURPRIZE! But the small village had a grocery store, ok it had a small 10 X 10 foot building for simple provisions. Since we needed bread again, we got bread and cookies and of course chocolate chips cookies…see we are spoiled. At the party we won an award as the fish we caught previously was a perch and we won third prize for the smallest fish. Lori now has a 12 inch working rod and real. It might be able to bring in a fingering and that would be a good fight. We still had not landed any decent fish, tuna, Dorado-(Mahi Mahi) or otherwise. Back in the panga and back to the boat. Another early night, we have our last overnight, 185 nautical miles another 25 hour day for us.

Turtle Bay to Santa Maria Bay Nov. 19th & 20th 2009

First light is between 5:45am and 6:30am so everyone is up by 5:15am we have 228 nautical miles to go from Turtle Bay to Santa Maria Bay. Not many of us are excited about another overnight, not because of fear, mostly the lack of good sleep and confinement on the boat for that many hours. I must note that NuMoon is running well and just purring along. Although noisy, all her engine temps are consistent. Alexus and I are extremely pleased as NuMoon has never run this many hours continuously. Seas are a little bigger today 5-8 foot swells and the wind is sill out of the north at about 10-15 knots. There are parts of the ride where we have some “quartering” and it makes the boat roll more than our last run. We are running about 2000 rpm to reduce fuel burn. We plan to average 7.5 knots and it looks like we will.

Through out the day we mostly snack and eat simply, peanut butter and toast, cereal, and sandwiches for lunch. With everyone taking on their shift it makes meal planning a challenge, but no one is starving. Tonight is not as dark or as clear. We seem to have a little marine layer and the moon is a small sliver that will be around until 10:45pm. The seas calm down later at night and the hours seem long and boring, which is what we like. Watching the radar for fishing boats, pangas and other fleet members is the only pastime when on watch. Sometime around 2:30am a cruise ship seemed to be moving in close to the fleet. We were only about 10miles from the coast and the fleet that was out 15 miles had to manage around the cruise ship. The communications officer on the ship was extremely unprofessional and claimed that the fleet was under the influence of alcohol, and the cruise ship would not provide a bearing or intention of how they would pass the fleet. I noted the MMSI number, hailing identification, date, time, and the lat. and long. All 43 vessels agreed to file a complaint with Princess Cruises regarding the response from the Sapphire Princess. Other than that, the time passed and we arrived at Santa Maria Bay around 3:30pm and dropped anchor.

It was another panga adventure and another taco night. I think we are all tired of tacos. Lori stayed aboard and had hot dogs, actually a good choice. The panga here will take us in as running to shore is a challenge with the surf are skilled boat handlers and they make their way up the channel were the lagoon runs out into Santa Maria Bay. The panga drivers are local fishermen and they are very skilled and we are able to disembark from the panga off the side on a raised sand bank. Lori was right, tacos again, oh boy! The village is very small and mostly made up of fish camps. After a short period we head back to the pangas and head for the boat. Speaking of fish, we have been trolling and not caught a thing. Lori has been giving me a hard time as I promised we would catch fish. Oh well maybe next leg of the trip. Tomorrow is a short day from Santa Maria Bay to Magdalena Bay and Man of War Cove, only 30 nautical miles, the crew is happy about the shorter run tomorrow.

Ensenada to Turtle Bay Mexico Nov 16-17th, 2009

November 16, 17, 18th, 2009

We left at midnight of November 16^th for our first overnight run. It was approximately 282 miles from Ensenada to Turtle Bay and we would run continuously for about 36 hours to arrive in Turtle Bay by 4pm on the 17^th so we could anchor in the day light.

We all had trepidation about traveling overnight and besides that it was a new moon so it would be as Alexus said “ as dark as the inside of a cow”. Not sure how she knows how dark an inside of a cow is. Nevertheless, we created overlapping shifts of 4 hours on and four off. Loe, Rachael and Lori took four hours and Alexus and I took 4 hours overlapping their shifts. In this way we always had two people on watch and either Alexus or I with each of them as we were more familiar with the boat.

Well here is what I know. I would cruise overnight anytime over cruising in fog! The seas were calm, 3-4 foot swells and winds less than 10 knots. The sky was completely dark and the stars twinkled off the ocean as there was no moon. We all saw numerous shooting stars and there was one that looked like it was done by Disney. It went straight across the horizon with a long sparkling tail and everything!!!. The dolphins that play in the boats bow wake during the day, at night created phosphorus jet trails as a mark of their presence. And it was comforting to see the distant running lights of the fleet spread out over 10 to 15 miles and on the radar screen for those within 3-6 miles. My shifts were from 6pm to 10pm and 2am to 6am, so I had plenty of company for the first few hours and saw sunset and sunrise for two days running. Was it difficult? The motion and noise of the engines running made for difficult sleeping for all. However, we all were good cruisers and managed our shifts and 2 hour engine room checks with as much attention and good humor as fits of sleep allow. The confinement to the boat for 36 hours straight is also a challenge, but we all adjusted to it the best we could.

We arrived in Turtle Bay and gratefully dropped anchor. Our next adventure would be a Panga ride to shore for the first taco dinner of the event. Panga’s are small fishing skiffs and are working boats, so we shared space with fish guts and whole tuna. Bravely, we all went ashore amid the chaos of about 180 people swarming a small fishing village. The next day, Nov. 18^th we waited all day for fuel. How did we get fuel? Well a bigger panga comes out with a large 1000 gallon tank, ties up next to your boat and fuels you up. Over all, the fuel in Turtle Bay was about $2.79 per gallon and appeared to be clean. Now we are set for our next run of 228 miles or about 32 hours of straight running as we head to Santa Maria Bay. While we were waiting to fuel, Loe and Rachael took the dinghy and represented NuMoon in the dinghy poker run. Rachel taught the boaters a new knot, a Falconry Knot. Lori spent her time exploring the village and looking for “pan”, bread.. We seem to eat a lot of bread, sandwiches, toast you name it. Early night for all again, as we will leave at first light, which is about 6:00am.

Ensenada Mexico Nov. 14-15, 2009

It is a 9 to 10 hour ride for us to Ensenada, so we were up at first light. We left the police dock in San Diego and were out of the harbor early. All was good as we made our way south and east to Ensenada. Not much excitement, we had lures in the water all day, but did not get a bite. We saw a few dolphins and that was about it. The seas were good, 5-8 foot swells and a northwest wind from 10 to 15 knots and clear skies. We arrived in Ensenada at about 3:30pm and spent a good hour at the Cruise Port Marina looking for a slip that had power. Alexus went and grabbed her tester, and we tried a number of slips, the harbor master came down and helped, but we ended up moving from A dock to B dock for the night. Lori did some exploring of the town, but all in all it was an early night.

November 15, 2009

Well today was our turn to fuel. We needed about 200 gallons to top off the tanks. Cruise Port does not really have a fuel dock. They use a long side tie dock and then a truck comes to the other side of the tie. They pass the capped hose from the truck, through the water, and up on to the side tie dock. Luckily we were not the first ones to get fuel. While we were waiting Alexus had sent Ken and Robin an e-mail hoping they might be on line. What a wonderfully pleasant sight it was to see Ken and Robin walking down the dock towards the boat. We had lunch at a place they recommended and then got a chance to see their sail boat Pioniero. What a beautiful sailboat and lots of space in the salon and galley, great job of décor by Robin and lots of hard work by both of them along with Baja Naval and she is ready for sailing. We left Ken and Robin and headed back to NuMoon for an early departure.

San Diego Nov 11-13th , 2009

We picked Lori up at the airport and returned to the boat. As she got settled we checked out the boat to see what provisioning we would need for the next two weeks. We heard that we could not take beef or fresh vegetables into Mexico, so we decided to bring everything else and we could pick up beef and veggies in Ensenada. After we provisioned the boat, we still wanted some minor boat things, numbers for dinghy, and a few odds and ends so off we went to West Marine, Marine Exchange and Walgreens!

Alexus had Captain meetings at the San Diego Yacht Club to work on immigration, passports, visas and other administrative items. She will have another Captain’s meeting tomorrow concerning route, communications, and other critical planning issues. Rachel arrived at 2:30pm that day and it was wonderful to have a car and be able to pick her up at the airport. We were all smiles when we saw her. It had been a year and a half since we had last been in Washington and got to spend time with her and MK. So off we went back to the boat so Rachel could stow her things and meet Lori and renew her acquaintance with Loe. Tonight is the big send off dinner. Mexican food of course. After a few hours we returned to the boat. Tomorrow Friday was the last day to get all odds and ends done before we leave. It was a fairly early night for all of us.

Well Friday the 13^th was not our lucky day. Lori and Alexus woke up with a touch of food poisoning or a 24 hour bug. So the crew had a lazy off day, which was a good thing. It would be bad to start with a couple of sick folks. As the day progressed they both seemed to improve and by evening seemed to be better and well enough to start out tomorrow.

San Diego November 9th - 10th 2009

We arrived in San Diego and stayed one night at the San Diego Yacht Club. Alexus and I took off on our bikes to go to Ace Hardware store and after we left we spilt up to maximizes our shopping trips. In the parking lot my bike experienced a catastrophic failure. The derailleur bracket broke, the chain caught and bent links, the derailleur went in to the spokes and broke two spokes. I was going slow uphill slow, so no injury, but I walked my bike 4 miles to the nearest bike shop in hope they could fix it before we left for Ensenada.

We decided to rent a car since we had folks coming and going and needed to provision the boat. We took Bruce to the airport in the morning as he was headed back to Boulder Colorado. We had a great time with Bruce and enjoyed his company, humor and singing! We, Loe, Alexus and I took a day to be tourists. We went to Old Town San Diego and had Mexican food, found fudge and candy, but most importantly, Loe found serving ware that matched the pattern and style she collects. It was an early night as the next day Lori would arrive.

Catalina to Mission Bay

On November 3 we left Catalina headed to Mission Bay and were about 30 miles out to sea so we were able to discharge the holding tank and use the Purisan while underway. After a long day of about 8 hours we arrived in Mission Bay. The weather and seas were still great with winds NW 5-10 knots and seas at 2-3 feet at 11 seconds and air temperature about 68 to 70 degrees.

However....when we were about an hour from the breakwater the fog set in thick as pea soup. We could hear the Navy warships report visibility of a 100 to 700 yards. We had visibility of about 75 yards. All eyes were forward as we got closer to the breakwater. It was rather challenging as there were small craft, jet skis, small fishing skiffs, paddle boarders, sailboats and a barge and crane all at the entrance and along the channel. At that time visibility got down to about 50 yards. We made it into the marina and pulled up at the Mission Bay Yacht Club dock around 4pm it was cool, foggy and we were all ready to be safely tied up at the dock. We will stay here for two days and we will head to San Diego Yacht Club on Thursday, 11/5. The weather has been warm during the day around 68 , but drops quickly after the sunsets and the fog comes in.

Down the Coast and Catalina October 2009

We have had great cruising since we left Alameda on Oct. 15th. Bruce, Alexus and I left for Half Moon Bay and had great weather. We left there and went to Monterey where Loe' joined the trip. Off we went the next day to San Simeon and the next on to Port San Luis. While rounding Pt Sur, we had some following seas that pushed the stern around, but nothing dangerous. From Port San Luis, we awoke at 4:30am to make our way around Point Conception before the afternoon winds kicked up. And as planned, by leaving in the dark we had a great cruise around the Point.

We had just rounded Point Conception when the fishing reel made that "ZZZZZZZ" sound meaning fish on. Yep, the little pink feathered lure had got another small skip jack tuna. Otherwise, after a 12 hour cruise we arrived in Santa Barbara....tired and hungry. So some of us ate the freshly-caught tuna as sashimi and others had theirs seared for dinner that night.We stayed in Santa Barbara for two days as we had traveled every day since leaving Alameda so a brief rest was well-deserved.

From Santa Barbara we went to Oxnard and the Channel Island harbor. We stayed at the Pacific Corinthian Yacht club and enjoyed their restaurant, pool and hot tub. We left the next day for Marina Del Rey Yacht Club where we spent four days and time with Nikki and Erika.

After fours day in Marina Del Rey we headed for Los Angeles harbor and fueled up at Jankovich and Sons fuel dock, then on to the Long Beach Yacht Club in Alamitos Bay. There we did have to wait out a gale for three days, as the winds were forecast to kick up to 35 to 40 knots. So we stayed there for three days before heading to Catalina.

Erika joined us at the Long Beach YC and cruised with us over to Catalina. On the way over Loe' had the lines in the water and sure enough, the little pink lure did its thing again. We caught another small skip jack who was on the lunch menu when we got to Catalina. We stayed in Catalina from Thursday until Sunday. Fortunately, since Loe' and Erika had never been to Catalina before, we had great weather, fishing and the only concern was the volume five people could create for the holding tank. Waste disposal is a little tougher in no-discharge harbors. Even with the Coast Guard approved Purasan we still had to watch the volume. We made it through the four days by following the old water conservation trick of "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down. (yes I know, too much information) On Sunday afternoon, Erika took the high-speed ferry back to Marina Del Rey...an hour cruise as compared to our NuMoon 3.5 hour ride.

Anchors Aweigh -Heading South for FUBAR Day 1

Thursday 10/15 - we are finally underway and headed south at 11:43 am, destination Half Moon Bay. We hope to arrive there around 5pm today. For all the cruisers and sailors... The seas at SF Buoy are 7.9 at 13 seconds from the WNW, winds are 7.8 knots out of the south. The seas at Half Moon Bay are 9.8 feet at 13 seconds with winds at 8 knots out of the south Weather partly cloudy visibility is around 5 miles.

Except for the typical fog under the GG bridge, the trip was uneventful and we actually arrived a little early. So we re-fueled, had a happy hour drink on the aft deck and then went to Ketch Joanne's for dinner. Bruce seemed to enjoy his first day at sea on the Pacific.

Port San Luis to Morro Bay to San Simeon April 9 to April 17th 2009

We knew the extended weather forecast was for high winds; and since we wanted a short day to beat the winds, we cruised 3 hours from Port San Luis to Morro Bay. Again we had seas in the 4-5 foot range and 8 -9 seconds with winds in the 5 to 10 knots. We pulled into Morro Bay and tied up at the Morro Bay Yacht Club dock. It was a pleasant surprise as one of the folks there to assist us tie up was Jeff, of the boat Sierra Madre. We had met Jeff in Petaluma and run into him again at Grand Marina in Alameda. The folks at the club were welcoming and we shared Easter dinner pot luck with them. We also spent the next 9 days in Morro bay as the winds had increased to 40 to 50 knots with gusts to 60. There were actually 2-3 foot wind waves running through the harbor. Securely side tied up at the dock with two stern lines, two mid cleats and a bow line, NuMoon still bounced as if in open water. Yet we were thankful to be in port and not at sea with the wind gusting 60 knots and seas at 20 feet at 8 seconds. We got to know the town of Morro Bay very well and we also made new friends, Josh and Scott, who were sailing from Ventura to Half Moon Bay and were also waiting out the weather in Morro Bay. The winds were so strong that it had picked up Josh’s dinghy tied up off the back of his boat, and overturned it, motor and all. He spent the next day clearing water from the outboard engine. We spent a good deal of time with them, thoroughly enjoying their company and building a friendship as we all waited out the weather. Finally the weather broke enough for us to have a fair ride so we left early the morning of Apr. 17^th. Josh and Scott had left the evening before and were prepared to anchor out at Wrecked Beach cove if necessary. The swells were about 11 seconds apart, but the wind created a chop of about 4-6 feet at 6 seconds, not dangerous, but a rough ride. Well that rough ride caused the gunk in the fuel tank to rise to the top and sure enough we recognized the first symptoms of fuel starvation and we did not want to lose an engine along the Big Sur coast, so back to Morro Bay we went. It was only 11am and we found a mechanic to change out all the filters, had lunch and decided to head to San Simeon and anchor out. Our windlass had stopped working in Port San Luis and we had to lower and haul it manually. We had tried to have someone look it over and if possible, fix the windlass in Morro Bay, but services and supplies are very limited. We knew it is not deep in San Simeon and we could lower and haul the anchor manually and we were anxious to leave Morro Bay and get home soon. So we left Morro Bay at about 1pm and cruised about 6 hours to San Simeon. On the way the winds gusted to 30 knots and the seas were choppy. But the engines ran great. Once we pulled into San Simeon it is so protected from north wind and north swells it was simply lovely, peaceful and calm. Yet we had just spent 11 engine hours of cruising to go 20 miles. We made a decision right then to add dual Racor filters once we were back in Alameda. Being able to turn a switch/lever and continue underway would have been a wonderful time saver and an additional safety feature.

Part of Catch up Time April 1-8 2009

Ok, today is June 7th and two whole months have gone by and you probably wonder where the heck we are. Well, the trip to Oxnard and the Channel Island Yacht club was a smooth 6.5 hours of cruising. The folks at the Channel Island Yacht club were wonderful and we spent a night celebrating life with them. We also got great tips on the best anchorages in the islands. We first stayed at Santa Cruz Island, Smugglers Cove which was a rocking and rolling location, and did not have a good beach for taking the dinghy ashore. In fact we watched a couple go bow over stern in their dinghy, which dumped them, the fuel tank and all their items in the surf. Smugglers Cove was pleasant, but not somewhere I would return to for a longer stay. The next day we motored 2.5 hours and stayed in Coches Prieto, which was beautiful, smaller and more protected anchorage. We decided to use a stern anchor to keep us pointed into the swells and that worked well. The challenge came the next day in trying to free our stern anchor. We released the bow anchor, turned the boat around and walked the stern anchor line to the windlass and used it to free and raise the anchor. That worked, but next time we will simply use the davit winch off the stern of NuMoon. We knew the weather was beginning to change, so we motored 5.5 hours headed for Santa Barbara. We did not want to cross the channel in bad weather. We spent two days in Santa Barbara and rode our bikes around town. We got caught in a rain shower, so we stopped in a restaurant where we met Isis and her boyfriend. We had a great time talking with her and sharing traveling stories. After many happy hours drinks, the rain finally stopped, we said our good byes, Isis walked to their hotel and we rode our bikes back to the marina. The next day April 8th we started our 11 hour cruise from Santa Barbara to Port San Luis rounding Point Conception. Waiting for decent weather has allowed us to round Point Conception two times and experience wonderful seas and scenery.

We anchored in our usual spot at Port San Luis, and watched the abundance of marine wildlife circle the port.

Marina Del Rey-Santa Barbara- Channel Islands Apr 1-8 2009

The trip to Oxnard and the Channel Island Yacht club was a smooth 6.5 hours of cruising. The folks at the Channel Island Yacht club were wonderful and we spent a night celebrating life with them. We also got great tips on the best anchorages in the islands. We first stayed at Santa Cruz Island, Smugglers Cove which was a rocking and rolling location, and did not have a good beach for taking the dinghy ashore. In fact we watched a couple go bow over stern in their dinghy, which dumped them, the fuel tank and all their items in the surf. Smugglers Cove was pleasant, but not somewhere I would return to for a longer stay. The next day we motored 2.5 hours and stayed in Coches Prieto, which was beautiful, smaller and more protected anchorage. We decided to use a stern anchor to keep us pointed into the swells and that worked well. The challenge came the next day in trying to free our stern anchor. We released the bow anchor, turned the boat around and walked the stern anchor line to the windlass and used it to free and raise the anchor. That worked, but next time we will simply use the davit winch off the stern of NuMoon. We knew the weather was beginning to change, so we motored 5.5 hours headed for Santa Barbara. We did not want to cross the channel in bad weather. We spent two days in Santa Barbara and rode our bikes around town. We got caught in a rain shower, so we stopped in a restaurant where we met Isis and her boyfriend. We had a great time talking with her and sharing traveling stories. After many happy hours drinks, the rain finally stopped, we said our good byes, Isis walked to their hotel and we rode our bikes back to the marina. The next day April 8th we started our 11 hour cruise from Santa Barbara to Port San Luis rounding Point Conception. Waiting for decent weather has allowed us to round Point Conception two times and experience wonderful seas and scenery.

We anchored in our usual spot at Port San Luis, and watched the abundance of marine wildlife circle the port.

Marina Del Rey March 20 to March 31

We left Catalina and had heard from folks there, that the fuel price at Los Angeles Harbor was the cheapest price around. We called the fuel dock and they were $1.79 plus 8% tax. This was the best fuel price we had encountered for over a year. We made our way there and took on about 275 gallons. After fueling we continued to Marina Del Rey and were tied up at the dock before sunset.

We spent from March 20^th to the 31^st having a great time in Marina Del Rey. Nikki and Erika were in town and simply ran us ragged. We had a busy and wonderful time, but either those two are too young, or we are too old for that pace. We saw the final run of the shows Erika will dance in for Holland America Cruise line and both Nikki and Erika with their busy schedules were able to spend a night or two on the boat.

We also got to spend some time with our good friends Neal and Eva. It was lovely to see them again, enjoy time together and catch up on what was new with them. Neal, we are thinking of you and wish you the best. Eva, I know you will take good care of Neal and he will be causing his normal trouble again quickly I am sure.

There was to be a break in the weather and we would head out for the Channel Island Yacht Club and if lucky have good weather for exploring the Channel Islands of off Ventura and Oxnard.

Santa Catalina Island So. California

We spent from March 12th to March19th exploring the Island of Santa Catalina. The weather was decent for this early in the year. Seas were calm, there was little to no wind and the temperature was in the high 60"s to low 70's with full sunshine. We moored out first in Avalon, which is simply beautiful. While we were walking the beach walk, we heard someone calling Alexus' name. We ran into Darcy and Bob who were there on their beautiful 55 Nordhavn "Enterprise". We had a great time with them visiting both boats for “Happy Hour”. We walked all over the island and took a couple of the tours of the local area and one up to the airport on Catalina. While we were there, I caught Mackerel, Whitefish and a small halibut we had to release.

After spending about five days in Avalon, we made our way to the Isthmus Cove. We were one of about four boats in a cove that can handle 100+ boats. We took the dinghy to shore and walked about ¾ of a mile over to Cat Harbor on the ocean facing side. It was a little blustery on the ocean side. We spent two days at Isthmus Cove and then moved to Emerald Cove.

In Emerald Cove we were the only boat. The water was unbelievably clear. From the boat I saw the orange Garibaldi, full size Halibut, a huge Eagle Ray, a couple of Sting Rays and a few Sand Bass. Because the water was so clear and the weather decent, Alexus put on her wet suit and did some snorkeling in and around the kelp forest. I followed her in the dinghy just to make me feel better and not worry about her. She was more than fine as she is a Master Scuba Diver and Divemaster.

We knew the weather was going to turn for the worse and we did not want to be stuck on Catalina, so we left on March 20^th to head for Marina Del Rey and the California Yacht Club. We had stayed with the Club on our way south and wanted to stay with them again on our way back north.