Venice

Venice

Procession into Marina Del Rey

We arrived at the Marina Del Rey harbour on Sunday, October 23.  There were many sailboats out that afternoon for a day sail and as we arrived many of them were going back to their slips for the night.  We joined what could only be called a procession and made our way to the transient dock.   

Tamsen

On our way back from the Queen Charlotte Islands this summer we were passed by a large sleek sailing ketch named ‘Tamsen’ just south of Bella Bella.  Tamsen was also anchored in the Santa Barbara anchorage the morning we left for Ventura.  And here was Tamsen again in a slip at Marina Del Rey beside what could be her larger (56m vs. 52m) sister. 

Our missions in Venice were to arrange marine insurance past San Quintin, just south of Enseñada, which was as far as our current coverage extended, and figure out why our autopilot compass was way off.  Mark arranged to meet an insurance agent in San Diego and I contacted Philbrook’s Boatyard in Sidney regarding the compass.  It seems that having a large bag of ferromagnetic tools near your autopilot compass causes problems. If only all problems were that easily fixed.

Lighthouse with palm trees

 I like taking pictures of lighthouses and here’s  one with a new twist, palm trees. 

Venice Beach

 Here’s Venice Beach where Arnold got his start. 

 

Dockyard at Los Angeles

We left Marina Del Rey on Wednesday, October 26^th to do an overnight trip to Mission Bay, just a few miles north of San Diego.  We had to pass through the shipping lanes leading into and out of the port of Los Angeles.  Our experience in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest came in useful. 

 

There was a beautiful sunset that evening as well as a pretty sunrise the next morning.

Sunset on our way to Mission Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ventura

Ventura

Pelican, pelicans and more pelicans

We left Santa Barbara at around noon on October 15^th and arrived in Ventura at around 4:30 pm. where we met new friends Heather and Jim.  Heather works at the marina and found a slip for us and her husband, Jim, would be looking at our freezer.  They live aboard their 49 foot catamaran ‘Meerkat’ and have cruised extensively in Mexico.  We had a nice potluck dinner together and saw some of the beautiful pictures they took on their travels.  As well, Jim is an avid fisherman and he gave me lots of good advice and some fishing gadgets to add to my arsenal.  The freezer now cycles on and off and the cooling fan works (it had never run before).

The jetty protecting Ventura harbour is home to hundreds of pelicans.  This is another photo that would encompass the whole experience more completely with the addition of smell.  

Marina in Ventura

 

Ventura was to be the start of our long-term provisioning.  There are some things that are hard to get in Mexico so we planned to stock up beforehand.  Among them are hard cheeses like cheddar, nuts, tea, good chocolate, decent wine and peanut butter.  Basically, the four food groups; sugar, fat, caffeine and alcohol.  

New dingy wheels

 

We also wanted to get wheels for our dingy so that we would be able to do beach landings in surf.  Jim and Heather told us about the absolute best dingy wheels and lent us a car so that we could pick them up in nearby Oxnard. 


The installation was not as straight forward as advertized but that was due to the construction of our dingy, not the construction of the wheels.  And only two days after starting this simple project they were installed!  Aren’t they gorgeous?

The installer

We left Ventura on Thursday, October 20^th in the afternoon and headed over to Santa Cruz Island where Jim and Heather were planning to meet us for the weekend.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make it so we checked out Yellowbanks anchorage on Santa Cruz Island and East Fish Camp anchorage on nearby Anacapa Island before leaving for Marina Del Rey on Sunday, October 23^rd. 

Yellowbanks anchorage on Santa Cruz Island

                                        

The hills at Yellowbanks anchorage look like they could have been imported from Drumheller.  There was a rattlesnake exhibit at the Ty Warner Sea Center in Santa Barbara and, although I don’t know if rattlesnakes live on the island, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see one.  We chose to stay at East Fish Camp anchorage on Anacapa Island because it would enable us to reach Marina Del Rey at Venice without doing an overnight trip.  Anacapa Island is composed of steep sea cliffs.  It was quite foggy while we were there.    

The rocky cliffs of East Fish Camp anchorage

  

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

I think Santa Barbara was my favourite stop along the way.  The city has definite Spanish influence to its architecture.  It’s a very pretty city without skyscrapers but with plenty of parks, easily accessible shopping and lots of palm trees.

A bicycle/walking path runs along the beach through immense palms.  You really start to feel like you’re in the sub-tropics.  This little cupola was in a park near the harbour.  The main shopping street, State Street, has numerous restaurants of all possible types, clothing stores, even a Saks and Macy’s.  

 The marina was full so we anchored east of Stern’s Wharf.  A local tourist attraction, Stern’s Wharf was built in 1872 and extends half a mile into the Pacific.  It also has restaurants, gift shops etc. and is home to the Ty Warner Sea Center which has aquariums, a touch tank and an area called the ‘wet deck’ where they bring samples up from the sea bed.  I can walk past a shoe store easier than I can walk past one of these places and I spent a nice afternoon there while Mark went to play at the hardware store. 

Stern's Wharf

Pelicans on Stern's Wharf

Pelicans are everywhere and porpoises regularly cruise through the anchorage.

Full moon on the anchorage

 Ty Warner Sea Centre 

Ty Warner Sea Center on Stern's Wharf

Nudibranch?

Sea Star

Jelly Fish

Spaghetti worm

This was in one of the samples they pulled up from the sea bed.  The young volunteer told me it was called a spaghetti worm.  It's about six inches long and that lump in the belly moves up and down the body like something out of 'Alien'.  It was truly one of the most repulsive things I've ever seen.

This was also in the sea bed sample.  It had been attached to something but had become detached.  The volunteer squeezed it gently and a small stream of water spurted out like a squirt gun.  The whole thing is about four inches long.

Moray Eel

Octopus

                                                    Octopus at Ty Warner Sea Center

The weather was pleasant and we weren’t in a hurry so we stayed through October 15^th.  We were actually planning to spend another two days there when I realized that our freezer was not working.  Mark made some phone calls and found someone who could look at it at Ventura which would have been our next stop.   

Morro Bay to Cojo Anchorage

 Morro Bay

Morro Rock

We arrived in Morro Bay on Monday, October 3^rd and anchored in the harbour.  Morro Bay is home to the unique Morro Rock which lies at the entrance to the harbour.  You have to wonder where it came from because there are no other rocks like it around. 

Morro Bay Waterfront

Morro Bay is a quaint little town off the main highway and was another spot where we waited for some bad weather to go by.  There are lots of coffee shops, gift shops, restaurants, fishing charters and other touristy attractions along the waterfront.  We made the usual trips up the hill for groceries, laundry and internet at the library.  We seem to pick up another loyalty card at each major grocery chain we shop at on our travels: Albertsons, Fred Myers, Ralph’s etc. 

On the night the main storm was to pass through, Mark woke in the night and said we were dragging anchor.  It was raining like crazy and windy so we got on our rain gear and went out to have a look.  We didn’t seem to be where we thought we should be so decided to reset the anchor but at least we hadn’t hit anything. We reset the anchor and it seemed to be holding ok so we went back to bed.  In the morning everything still seemed ok but that night I woke to the gentle thunk as we hit something.  There was a mad scramble out of bed only to find ourselves gently up alongside a big fishing charter boat.  Thankfully there was no one on board to yell at us.    There was a big trimaran that had been anchored near us that was now at a 20 degree angle up on the sand dunes.  I could see him out, too, with his flashlight.   We pushed off the fishing boat and decided that we should take a mooring ball so that we could stop wondering where we might find ourselves next.  

Misty morning

  

In the morning there was a light fog and the trimaran was back in the water.  He had re-anchored in the spot we had abandoned and I wished him luck with that.  Once we were on the mooring ball it was easier to see how vicious the current was at tide change and how quickly it could shift the sand under your anchor.  There was a reason that virtually the whole basin had been filled with mooring balls.  We spent the next two days on the mooring and left on Thursday, October 6^th. 

Sunset at Morro Bay

Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

We arrived in Port San Luis that afternoon and anchored in the middle of the mooring field.  It was a long dingy ride to the marina and the surf was pounding the shore so we stayed on the boat.  I didn’t even take a picture.  Along the way we went past the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant, the only nuclear plant in California.  

Production platform off of California coast

We left early the next morning heading for the Cojo anchorage just around the corner from Point Conception.  Just before reaching Point Conception we came upon the first of several offshore production platforms along the California coast.  We saw about a dozen of these on our trip.  Almost directly across from it was the Vandenberg Air Force Missile Base complete with missile gantries; things we Canadians aren’t used to seeing.  

Vandenberg Air Force Base

As we rounded the point, the wind came up and we had a brisk sail into Cojo anchorage.  It doesn’t look like there’s anything at the Cojo anchorage because.....  there’s nothing there.  It’s just a place to stop for the night.  We headed out in the morning and motored to Santa Barbara.

 

   

Point Arguello Lighthouse

Cojo Anchorage