So the expedition to head for Mexico with the expectation to be in San Diego by Oct 20th and across the Mexican border by Nov 30th will not be realized. Expectations need to be very loosely made. The Sept/Oct cruising season down the west coast has been very unsettled to say the least. With major storms wreaking havoc, long periods of no wind or southerly's has slowed the Southern progress. Maybe that's a good thing. It has forced me to slow down and just take things as they come. It is good in another way as well. The slower push south has given me extra days layed up in snug little harbours otherwise blasted by on a faster route.
Sausalito was a great stop. San Francisco skyline at night is a treat, floating on the lumpy Anchorage. What was originally going to be a 3 day stop over to reprovision turned into over 2 weeks with impending storms which brang 40 knots at times in Sausalito but also spawned a tornado on the Oregon coast. This came at the same time as the East coast was blasted by Hurricane Matthew.
Finally able to head south, I made the 24 hour jump to Monterey Bay, making landfall by 7:30 am. A day and a half there was more than enough to explore cannery row and take in the aquarium. Beautiful little city but somehow left me wanting more.
I was eager to leave monterey to catch the 15 hour weather window which would get me almost to my next destination of Morro Bay. This small town is a must stop for cruisers. Although the bar can be dangerous on an ebb tide and high weather, it is easily transitted on slack or flood in low and medium conditions. The flat calm protected Anchorage is home to many different breeds of sea birds, sea lions and pacific sea otters. These otters are so accustomed to humans that they don't make a move as you paddle right up to them to discover that most of the proud mama's have babies laying on their stomachs. The crystal blue water and the massive Morro rock make an idealic stop over. The main street caters to tourists with many coffee shops pubs and restaurants . The temperature in late October is easy t shirt weather. Paddle boards and dinghies are an excellent was to explore the dunes and watch rays fly along the bottom, disturbed by the floating craft above....
Duke and I will be stuck here for maybe a week as a calm period passes through leading to strong southerlies. I'm ok with that. I plan on snorkeling the delta, chase some rays and enjoy my morning coffee as sleeping sea otters with their heads buried in their paws drift lazily by the Golden Hind.
Cabrillo bay, Newport Beach and San Diego will just have to wait. I'm fully in the cruising mode along with my friends made along the way and enjoying what I never had before... Time.
