14 October 2012

Recap: Monterey to Santa Barbara (w/ pics/vids!)

About 30 miles out from both Santa Cruz Island and Santa Barbara, we changed our minds about anchoring in serene solitude on an island, and headed for the Santa Barbara marina instead. We were welcomed by the 11th annual Santa Barbara Harbour and Seafood Festival, which happened to be going on as we docked at the marina, and we were conveniently able to get fish tacos after having sailed 200 miles to get past Point Conception from Monterey Bay.




We have been thoroughly enjoying FINALLY having good weather and went to the beach for a swim in the Pacific Ocean this morning, followed by Indian buffet lunch (clearly we are roughing it!).




We left Monterey about 2PM on Thursday, after a lengthy visit at the fuel dock waiting for two fishing boats to fill up. It was our first fuel stop since Neah Bay, and we've used 28.5 gallons of diesel since our Everett departure. Since there was no wind, we motored until Friday morning when some light northwest wind picked up. We broad reached under full main and genoa for a few hours before setting just the C-0 sail. We sailed a moonless night under beautiful stars. When the wind died down Saturday morning, we changed our minds and headed into Santa Barbara.

Friday afternoon we had our first whale sighting and managed to get a pretty good video of the experience. The whale was huge and surfaced right next to the boat - we had heard distant plumes for a while before we actually saw it.




Warm(er) weather sailing seems to feel different than coming down the Washington/Oregon/Northern California coasts. Somehow, not being cold all the time made our bodies adjust to the seasickness differently. Rachel had a pretty uncomfortable run, consuming more ginger than the entire run down to San Francisco. Light downwind and motoring pushes the exhaust into the cockpit, which helps contribute to the overall queasiness. Hopefully the run down the Baja will feel better than that!

Monterey to Santa Barbara Album


2 comments:

  1. awesome guys! Kristen and I had a nice day at the beach north of santa cruz. I launched my kite, and after getting past the surf break pointed directly west on a tight reach and for a second considered seeing how far I could kite. Maybe, if I were patient and strong, I could catch you guys:) But I jibed and played around in the waves instead... saving the trip to hawaii for when I have more than a kiteboard strapped to my feet.

    Oh, and you'd be happy to know that yesterday I took the door of the green machine apart and fixed the window. It had come out of its tracks. Some water damage, but it's all good!

    See you in Mexico. K^2

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  2. Ah, sunshine, fish tacos, swimming at the beach and whale watching...you have definitely hit all the Santa Barbara highlights!

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