After heading out of Santa Barbara on Tuesday, we had a nice
upwind sail to Fry’s Harbor on Santa Cruz Island, where we anchored for the
evening in a small cove with another catamaran and small fish boat.
Wednesday morning we motored out to the Painted Cave, which
is the largest sea cave in North America. We got in reasonably close to the
shore with AEOLI, but couldn’t get a very good look in order not to put her on the rocks – though we did get some
nice pictures.
Afterwards, while motoring east along the coast of Santa
Cruz Island headed for Anacapa Island, we had our first dolphin encounter!
Since the wind was so calm, the water was smooth and we were able to see 10-15
dolphins swimming alongside the boat with us. They really enjoyed racing in a
pack with the bow. We were able to get a pretty good video and lots of pictures
of the incredible experience:
At sunset we arrived at Frenchy’s Harbor on Anacapa Island
to anchor for the evening. Anacapa had a much more interesting natural
landscape than Santa Cruz Island and the anchorage was pretty and isolated
(though not particularly protected).
Thursday morning, we woke to some strong, unexpected east
winds and headed out of Anacapa Island for Marina del Rey. As we passed the
easternmost tip of the island trying to get a nice shot of Arch Rock,
we got
some kelp wrapped around the propeller.
Since there were a few mechanical sounding noises, we weren’t sure if
we’d damaged anything (or if we had sheared another shaft key…), so we decided to
head for the closest marina on the mainland: Channel Islands Harbor.
Fortunately the east winds were kicking and allowed us to sail all the way into the harbor, and we were able to deal with the propeller at the marina (Matt dove to
check out the propeller, but we had managed to expel the debris after working
the motor in the marina channel).
Thanks to Matt and Sara Ferguson for the
sweet rigging knife (/kelp remover…and the board shorts (circa 2003)…haha!).
Our unexpected pit-stop at the Channel Islands Harbor in
Oxnard wasn’t all bad. We finally found a decent cheap seafood place
(Fisherman’s Catch) which grilled up all kinds of fresh fish. We also walked
through the suburbs of the town which is connected by canals, and everyone has
a private dock behind their house - an interesting housing development concept
that we haven’t seen before.
Friday we had a long, gentle downwind sail to Marina del Rey, also captured in a video.
We arrived in Marina del Rey around 7PM, and went to dinner with some new boat friends, Tim and Kathy, from S/V Rhythm - very interesting to meet people on a similar trajectory.
Those photos/videos from the Channel Islands are spectacular! Makes Dion want to move back to Santa Barbara :).
ReplyDeleteHello Matt and Rachel,
ReplyDeleteBack from Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula last night. Lousy weather (only 1 sunny day), but the grouse hunting was good; 15 birds; fishing not so good. Saw several of the cousins and showed them recent pictures of you two. Everyone says how good looking you both are and sends best wishes for your wedding and great adventure! Have just finished viewing your recent posts and videos. How awesome the whale and dolphin shots are. Up close and personal!! That shot of your toes and the dolphin blowing at the same time was spectacular! Mercy, am glad to hear you didn't shear your shaft pin! We need to talk; Hacienda has responded to me today with some proposed menus and asked whether we want private or semi-private arrangements for Thursday night's dinner in Cabo. We miss you and love you!! Great reading your posts and seeing your photos and videos! Keep them coming.
Dad
YES! Love that the rigging knife got some good use, and I totally forgot about those board shorts, that is awesome...I can't believe you still have those. Have been following along and am glad to hear/see that the adventure is going well! Going to be hitched in a month!
ReplyDeletePS - the ninjutsu pose is by far the best picture you can or will ever post on this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is insane! Dolphins! AHH! I can't wait to catch up with you both. I've had a bit of a revelation recently, and your adventures have definitely provided inspiration. See you soon!
ReplyDeleteAlso...FINALLY, it's letting me post! Guess I had to create my own blog ;)
ReplyDeleteIt was an honor to have you at our first dinner. We admire your sense of adventure and the determination to follow your dream. We expect you for dinner when the winds bring you back to LA.
ReplyDeleteTable Three
Joy/Gerry/Sheldon