San Diego – Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

We made it to San Diego! We left Oceanside about 8:00 in the mist. Motor sailed 37 miles down the coast and into San Diego Bay. Our last U.S. harbor for a long time. On the way we saw pods of dolphins about every 5 miles. Some of them were close enough to take pictures.

As we entered San Diego Bay we saw a Coast Guard boat coming out with its lights flashing. We assumed they were after someone. We were very surprised when they turned around and came up beside us! They asked us to move to the far right of the channel. Then we saw the Submarine right ahead of us. There were a few guys on the topside. I don’t think I’d want to be riding in one of those, but it was great to watch it go by.



We’ll be staying in San Diego for 10 days, getting ready for the Baja Ha Ha to start on Oct. 25.

Med Tied at Oceanside Yacht Club

The sea lion won. We left his dock early this morning and moved over to the yacht club docks. The two boats at the end tie were med tied, (stern or back to the dock) so we backed in and tied off to Double Dharma. The other boat here is a catamaran named ‘Jane O’. They are going on the Ha Ha, also. All the boats are doing boat projects today. We will be leaving first thing in the morning to get to San Diego by early afternoon. Our last leg before the Ha Ha.

Oceanside

We made a decision to go to Oceanside. We left about 11 this morning. It was overcast, as usual. There were a lot of dolphins out there with us. We caught up to Dena and Dale on Double Dharma and we entered Oceanside together. They went to the yacht club and we went to a slip by the village center.  They walked over and we went to Joe’s Crab Shack for drinks.

We have a guest living on our dock. This sea lion is big and mean looking! Rick is trying to chase him off, but he keeps coming back. Tomorrow we will move over by Double Dharma. Hopefully there won’t be any sea lions on the docks.

Dana Point – Tuesday, October 12, 2010

We met another couple on the dock, Tom and Cary of Dragon's Toy, and ended up doing quite a bit of shopping together. Later we had lunch at the Jolly Roger, great fish tacos. Rick should be getting a used 9.9 dinghy motor later today. He bought it on Craigs List when we were in Santa Cruz. The owner has been waiting for us to arrive in Dana Point so he can deliver it to us. It will be nice to have a big engine again.

Cocktails on our boat tonight. Double Dharma just pulled in and Full Shell is here. Tom and Cary may come over to meet the gang. Sounds like a party.

 

Double Dharma in the sunset

Not sure where we are going next, Oceanside or Mission Bay, but we leave tomorrow morning.

Dana Point – Monday, October 11, 2010

Wouldn’t you know it, we wake up this morning for the trip to Dana Point and the weather is foggy, but we did see a dolphin in the harbor as we were leaving Newport. It stayed overcast all the way to Dana Point. At least we have a slip so we can wash the boat and do laundry. First time in 2 weeks. Yeah! And I can use my blow dryer!! We are also going to rent a car to run errands. This will be our first time driving in over 6 weeks.

A dolphin in the harbor

Leaving Newport Beach

Newport Beach Harbor – Friday, Oct. 8, 2010

On the way over to Newport Beach we made water and charged the batteries. The boat was ready to sit for a few days. Jim and Connie from Sound Effect helped us get on the mooring ball. It was a lot of work. Once we got on the mooring ball, we discovered we didn’t have any water. Rick had left a switch on that pumped all the water in the tank overboard. We had to wait until morning to go to the fuel dock and put water in the tank, then attempt to get back on the mooring ball, by ourselves. I’m sure the other boats around got a kick out of watching us!




They even have gondolas here.

 This harbor is so big and there are expensive houses and boats everywhere. We toured the entire harbor looking for a place to tie the dinghy, but there aren’t many places. We finally found a restaurant that had ‘dock n dine’ called’ 3Thirty3’. We had a great lunch and the owner had to let us back onto the dock. We told him how much we liked the place and he appreciated that. Later that night we were looking for someplace to have a cocktail that was close to the boat and went back to the 3Thirty3. We also had a great pizza. When we were ready to leave the owner asked us if we wanted dessert, he would have it made. We said sure and after a half hour he came back with 2 big bags of Bananas Foster and Strawberry shortcake to go. They were both awesome. If you are ever in Newport Beach, check out this place.



Hotel California on the mooring balls



Gizmo on the boom

We spent the week-end here and had great weather. Gizmo has found a new place to watch the sunset from. Monday we plan to take off for Dana Point.

Thursday, October 07, 2010 – White Cove, Catalina

We left Avalon on Thursday morning and moved to White Cove, about 5 miles away. We are on another mooring ball, but there aren’t many boats here. This feels like a tropical island. We saw 2 bald eagles up on the rocks above the boat. I got a picture, but it isn’t very close. We plan to stay until Friday, then head over to Newport Beach.

$1 Tacos $2 Beers- Almost Mexico

Tuesday afternoon we walked up the hill to the Sandtrap with a lot of other cruisers. We had great $1 tacos, $2 beers and $4 margaritas. From there we headed to the Marlin Club for more cocktails and to play pool. It was a late night, but we all made it back to our boats. Yeah!



 

Tom and Lori of Camelot

Marilyn and Eric of Full Shell

Crit of Jasdip, Dena and Dale of Double Dharma



 



Mooring Balls in Catalina

I’m not sure about these moorings. You grab a stick attached to the front ball and line, tie that to your bow. Then follow the line back to the back anchor and tie this line to your stern. This way, boats don’t swing and they can put more boats in the anchorage.  We were on ball 59 when we first arrived, but had to move to 58 because the owner of 59 was due in. We changed balls, they showed up and everything was fine for a couple of days. When we returned to the boat on Sunday afternoon, the people on the powerboat next to us said our boats were touching. The anchor on our back rail was hitting their boat. He had called the harbor patrol who retied their boat and we both put out fenders. We were still close but not touching. During the night we were rubbing fenders. Since they were leaving in the morning we didn’t worry about it. These balls seem to move around. Some of them are only a few feet apart. When the anchorage gets full, a lot of boats end up touching.

Hotel California close to the powerboat we rubbed against all night

Mooring Balls

Cloudy days in Avalon - Monday Sept. 4, 2010

Our company has left and took the sunshine with them. We are here with overcast skies and winds. The weather should get better in a few days.  But friends on other boats have shown up here in Avalon. Camelot, Jasdip and Double Dharma arrived Sunday. They joined Full Shell, Di’s Dream, Sound Effect and us. El Tiburon left Saturday. The harbor is full of Ha-Ha boats.

Sunday in Avalon

What a beautiful island. We rented 2 golf carts and toured the above the town. We drove around the huge houses and the small ones. Took some great shots looking down into the harbor.  Of course we tried to find our boat among all the other boats moored. We did find it, but it wasn’t easy.

Sherry and Kellie left on the ferry today and Michael and Patty will leave first thing in the morning. It was nice visiting with family and friends.

More Jazz and Wine

Michael let me have one of his tickets to the afternoon Jazz concert in the Casino. Thank you Michael!  Patty and I enjoyed seeing Sax guy Phillip “Doc” Martin and Keyboardist Alex Bugnon. What a great show. The next night they gave their tickets to Sherry and Kellie so they could see the show and the Casino. They enjoyed Eugh Groove. It was so nice of them! Thanks again guys. Michael and Patty and Kellie and Sherry brought us bottles of wine. We love it! Here are a few.

Alex Bugnon

Wine

Riding in the Dinghy and on Buffalo

I am learning to drive the dinghy, finally. Patty and I set out to pick up Sherry and Kellie from the ferry dock. It was a long trip over, but Patty did a great job instructing me and we made it. Later, Kellie and I took Patty and Micheal back to the dock. On the way back we got the engine tangled in kelp. It took us a while but we lifted the engine and got the kelp out of the prop. A girls got to do what she can.

Dinghy Work

The next night in town Sherry and Kellie decide they needed to ride the buffalo. Here they are…



Friends in Catalina





Michael and Patty are here for a long week-end. It sure is nice to see them. There are staying on the island at our favorite hotel, the Villa Portofino. It has a great veranda overlooking  the harbor. We love spending the afternoons up there drinking wine with friends. What a life! My sisters, Sherry and Kellie came over on the ferry and are staying on the boat with us. It is great to see family after a month.  I think they love Catalina as much as I do.

Michael and Rick in Avalon

Michael, Patty, Rick and Pam

Sherry and Kellie joined us in Avalon

Wine on the veranda at the Villa Portofino

Pam, Kellie, Patty, Sherry and Marilyn

Jazz in Santa Catalina

The bus ride up the mountain to the concert was so much fun. We stopped at the Catalina Airport in the Sky for drinks and snacks, then on to the ranch for dinner and the show. Craig Chaquico was great, as usual. The bus ride back down the mountain at dark with the lights twinkling on the mainland was beautiful, but a little scary. These buses were built in 1952! Here are a few pictures from the trip up and the show.

Catalina Airport in the Sky

Wrigley Ranch ready for the concert

Craig Chaquico