Adventures in Paraclete
Pacific Coastal Cruise
San Francisco Bay to San Diego Bay
Summer 2011
Days 4-8, July 1-5
Weather has mostly been sunny and pleasant, so we’ve occupied ourselves with urban hikes, finding
numerous necessities such as a Walgreens and Trader Joe’s, taking a walking tour by historic
buildings, and taking in all the 4th of July street concerts and activities. We’ve also kayaked and
explored the area in our tender. The most fun in the kayak is getting out in the kelp beds and spotting
the fish life feeding there – as we did with a very small leopard shark on a previous trip here.
On our first day here, while cruising the marina in our tender, we were befriended by some folks on
their boat and invited to a dock party on the 4th – with virtual fireworks shown on a sail since fireworks
are illegal in Monterey County. Most of the boats in the coastal marinas are sailboats, but there are a
few cruisers. They also invited us that evening to the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, which is right
here on the docks of this marina. So we’ve appreciated the hospitality of fellow mariners.
Our late afternoon routine while in Monterey has been to go to the harbor office to research the weather
for the next day. We went again on Tuesday, July 5th expecting more of the same winds and
uncomfortable seas but were thrilled to see the winds were only expected to be 5-10 knots, with no
wind waves and moderate swells 4-5 feet every 9 seconds. So we decided this was our chance to
make a break for our next port – Morro Bay. We got the tender and kayak back on the boat, restocked
the ditch bag and set our alarm for 5:00 a.m. – o’dark thirty as our brother-in-law Sheldon likes to say.
And we called our dear friend Gene Barbera, a berthmate at Delta Bay Marina and an excellent boater
with considerable ocean experience. He is the person we are filing our “float” plans with each day we
cruise. This is an extra precaution that people recommend when you’re sailing in the ocean. It
ensures there is someone who knows your plans and is expecting your arrival. If Gene doesn’t hear
from us, he knows what to do.
Day 9, July 6
As expected, we awoke to fog, so we prepared our fog horn to go off every two minutes, turned all the
running lights on and set our course. Finally we have learned our lesson about ocean cruising from the
lower helm where we are dry and warm and have all our creature comforts handy, so we didn’t even
attempt to start cruising from the flybridge. We were pleased to see the winds had indeed died down
and the swells were more moderate than we had expected. As the hours wore on, the sun would tease
us a bit, and we remained hopeful the fog would burn off. We spotted a huge school of dolphins going
north just as we approached Carmel Bay.
We headed out further this time because we had been warned about Pt. Sur, which is supposedly
more treacherous than Pt. Conception north of Santa Barbara, though the latter gets the bad rap. So
rather than staying 3 to 4 miles off shore, we went out 10-12 miles. The further we went the more
beautiful the sea became! The swells became very gentle and the sun broke through.
We’re now 11 ½ hours into our cruise and have Morro Bay in sight, and the seas have remained
wonderfully calm. The mountains are beautiful, and we’re anxious to see if this “low-key, quiet and
natural” bay lives up to its charming and friendly reputation.
Day 10-11, July 7 and 8
What a beautiful Bay! And much larger than we expected. Morro Bay is actually a sandy lagoon that is
only separated from Estero Bay and the Pacific by sand dunes and, of course, by the awesome Morro
Rock – 500+ feet high. We learned that it and its 8 sisters in the area are all volcano cones.
Bill and I kayaked more than halfway down the Bay and then made for the dunes. I’m trying to make
sure I walk in the sand and collect a few shells in every port. It was a delight just to see my husband
enjoying the sand so much – he’s not always been as anxious to walk on the beach as I have.
Morro Bay claims more wildlife and waterfowl than any bay in California. The Bay is filled with orange
jellyfish, so it’s not the place to swim. So far the most beautiful bird we’ve seen is a night heron, which
looks very different from the regal blue herons we have off in the Delta.
We enjoyed our first day in Morro Bay so much we decided to stay for a second. We’ve enjoyed some
shopping and an art show, and I found a friendly coffee place on the dock where I could access Wi-Fi.
We had a delicious dinner at the restaurant recommended by the 2 fishermen docked next to us –
Tognazzini’s Dockside. As it turned out, Sheldon and Jackie’s son-in-law’s uncle owns the restaurant.
Bill was quite taken with the waiters’ shirts bearing (or is it baring?) a titillating mermaid and bought
one.
The nice weather is holding, so we’re planning on leaving tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. for Santa Barbara.
We’ll have to pass the dreaded Pt. Conception on the way, so stay tuned for our next update.
Day 12, July 9
The light was just breaking through when we followed a fishing boat out past Morro Rock and through
Estero Bay. We were barely out of the Bay when we came into a pod of Blue Whales. We had heard
they had been spotted but were surprised to see them in so close. They could have given us a better
show, but it was exciting to be so close nonetheless.
I drove for 2 hours then Bill took a 2-hour shift. We traded off again and then began to notice that the
winds were increasing and the sea was becoming rougher. This continued until the wind waves and
swells were 6-9 feet and they were coming at 9 second intervals. This is what you call a square sea –
the height of the swells are the same as the interval between them. The goal is NOT to be at sea when
the seas are square. But no matter how diligent you are tracking the coastal weather reports, we’ve
been told they’re only right about half the time!
Pretty soon the ocean was too rough to continue to use our autopilot. In that kind of sea, with the
waves and swells coming at us almost continuously from different directions, the boat just weaves back
and forth as the autopilot continues to correct its course. We turned off the autopilot, but I quickly
realized that I could no longer manually control the boat. So Bill took the helm and drove for the next 10
hours!
With Bill driving and the sea so rough, there wasn’t much for me to do but help keep watch and to take
pictures. Walking around, reading or even preparing much to eat was out of the question. When we
were down in the valley of the swells, the ocean was higher than the windows in the lower helm! The
waves weren’t breaking on us, and at no time did Bill and I feel concerned. Paraclete has proven to be
absolutely seaworthy. She undoubtedly was having much more fun than we were.
We pulled into Santa Barbara Harbor at 9:10 p.m. – 15 ½ hours after we left Morro Bay! We left in the
dark and arrived in the dark. It was another ½ hour to find our way into another new harbor and to the
harbormaster’s office, to get tied up and check in with the harbormaster. We were exhausted and out
like a light. Bill deserves a reward for his endurance this day. I don’t know where he found the energy.
Day 13, July 10
Sunday, the day of rest, took on a whole new meaning this day after our exhausting day on the sea.
We were blessed with a beautiful day in Santa Barbara, a delicious lunch at the Fishouse and the
weekly craft fair that runs along the ocean. I actually found the craftsman who does metal work wall
hangings that I had seen several years ago when I was there. Because I was flying home then I wasn’t
able to purchase one of his Kokapeli’s. So I was delighted to be able to find him again and order it.
Day 14 and 15, July 11-12
We could rest easier and not worry so much about the weather because we were now past Pt.
Conception and in the waters protected by the Channel Islands. Our destination was Marina del Rey,
which is located in the north end of Santa Monica Bay, just north of LAX airport. The ocean and winds
were kind, and we had smooth cruising all the way.
Getting into the marina was another story. Our greatest challenges were dodging the multiple
sailboats in a youth class and getting into the right area of the marina. It is a marina with multiple
marinas, and our charts didn’t necessarily translate to reality. To make matters worse, when I called
the port office to clarify where we were going, she kept giving me landmarks I couldn’t find. Then she
finally admitted she had never seen their marina from the water!! So of course she had no clue of our
perspective.
When we finally got to the right place and were assigned a dock space, we had a horrible time
docking because of our exposure to the afternoon winds. When docking, Bill’s job is driving the boat
and mine is “getting” (sometimes means “jumping”, but Bill doesn’t like to hear that) off the boat and
securing the lines. To get off the boat while it’s still moving, I have to go off the swim platform in the
stern, which means ducking under all the braces and ties for the tender and “leaping” onto the dock at
the first opportunity. Securing the bowline is the first priority, so I have to run quickly to the front of the
boat and grab the line, quickly wrap it around the cleat on the dock, and run to the stern to do the same.
Well, on this particular day, the wind was so quickly turning the boat that by the time I reached the bow,
the line was beyond my reach. Meanwhile the stern also moved too far away from the dock. I will
spare you the painful details as to how we finally secured the boat, but from this experience evolved a
procedure that we continued to perfect and that fortunately helped preserve our marriage. Basically,
now when I secure the lines on the bow and stern, I drape them loosely over the railing. I grab the
boathook and take it with me when I “leap” off the boat. Then I can easily reach the line high up on the
bow even though the boat may have moved away from the dock. I then run back to the stern and with
the boathook can reach the line even if the stern has moved away from the dock.
We stayed two nights in Marina del Rey, enjoyed a good walk to a grocery and Starbucks for the Wi-
Fi, and enjoyed dinner on board with Jackie’s colleague from the Alzheimer’s Association, Debra
Cherry, and her husband Joe and with our niece Shannon, her husband Jason and 1-year old daughter
Taylor.
Pacific Coastal Cruise
San Francisco Bay to San Diego Bay
Summer 2011
Days 4-8, July 1-5
Weather has mostly been sunny and pleasant, so we’ve occupied ourselves with urban hikes, finding
numerous necessities such as a Walgreens and Trader Joe’s, taking a walking tour by historic
buildings, and taking in all the 4th of July street concerts and activities. We’ve also kayaked and
explored the area in our tender. The most fun in the kayak is getting out in the kelp beds and spotting
the fish life feeding there – as we did with a very small leopard shark on a previous trip here.
On our first day here, while cruising the marina in our tender, we were befriended by some folks on
their boat and invited to a dock party on the 4th – with virtual fireworks shown on a sail since fireworks
are illegal in Monterey County. Most of the boats in the coastal marinas are sailboats, but there are a
few cruisers. They also invited us that evening to the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, which is right
here on the docks of this marina. So we’ve appreciated the hospitality of fellow mariners.
Our late afternoon routine while in Monterey has been to go to the harbor office to research the weather
for the next day. We went again on Tuesday, July 5th expecting more of the same winds and
uncomfortable seas but were thrilled to see the winds were only expected to be 5-10 knots, with no
wind waves and moderate swells 4-5 feet every 9 seconds. So we decided this was our chance to
make a break for our next port – Morro Bay. We got the tender and kayak back on the boat, restocked
the ditch bag and set our alarm for 5:00 a.m. – o’dark thirty as our brother-in-law Sheldon likes to say.
And we called our dear friend Gene Barbera, a berthmate at Delta Bay Marina and an excellent boater
with considerable ocean experience. He is the person we are filing our “float” plans with each day we
cruise. This is an extra precaution that people recommend when you’re sailing in the ocean. It
ensures there is someone who knows your plans and is expecting your arrival. If Gene doesn’t hear
from us, he knows what to do.
Day 9, July 6
As expected, we awoke to fog, so we prepared our fog horn to go off every two minutes, turned all the
running lights on and set our course. Finally we have learned our lesson about ocean cruising from the
lower helm where we are dry and warm and have all our creature comforts handy, so we didn’t even
attempt to start cruising from the flybridge. We were pleased to see the winds had indeed died down
and the swells were more moderate than we had expected. As the hours wore on, the sun would tease
us a bit, and we remained hopeful the fog would burn off. We spotted a huge school of dolphins going
north just as we approached Carmel Bay.
We headed out further this time because we had been warned about Pt. Sur, which is supposedly
more treacherous than Pt. Conception north of Santa Barbara, though the latter gets the bad rap. So
rather than staying 3 to 4 miles off shore, we went out 10-12 miles. The further we went the more
beautiful the sea became! The swells became very gentle and the sun broke through.
We’re now 11 ½ hours into our cruise and have Morro Bay in sight, and the seas have remained
wonderfully calm. The mountains are beautiful, and we’re anxious to see if this “low-key, quiet and
natural” bay lives up to its charming and friendly reputation.
Day 10-11, July 7 and 8
What a beautiful Bay! And much larger than we expected. Morro Bay is actually a sandy lagoon that is
only separated from Estero Bay and the Pacific by sand dunes and, of course, by the awesome Morro
Rock – 500+ feet high. We learned that it and its 8 sisters in the area are all volcano cones.
Bill and I kayaked more than halfway down the Bay and then made for the dunes. I’m trying to make
sure I walk in the sand and collect a few shells in every port. It was a delight just to see my husband
enjoying the sand so much – he’s not always been as anxious to walk on the beach as I have.
Morro Bay claims more wildlife and waterfowl than any bay in California. The Bay is filled with orange
jellyfish, so it’s not the place to swim. So far the most beautiful bird we’ve seen is a night heron, which
looks very different from the regal blue herons we have off in the Delta.
We enjoyed our first day in Morro Bay so much we decided to stay for a second. We’ve enjoyed some
shopping and an art show, and I found a friendly coffee place on the dock where I could access Wi-Fi.
We had a delicious dinner at the restaurant recommended by the 2 fishermen docked next to us –
Tognazzini’s Dockside. As it turned out, Sheldon and Jackie’s son-in-law’s uncle owns the restaurant.
Bill was quite taken with the waiters’ shirts bearing (or is it baring?) a titillating mermaid and bought
one.
The nice weather is holding, so we’re planning on leaving tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. for Santa Barbara.
We’ll have to pass the dreaded Pt. Conception on the way, so stay tuned for our next update.
Day 12, July 9
The light was just breaking through when we followed a fishing boat out past Morro Rock and through
Estero Bay. We were barely out of the Bay when we came into a pod of Blue Whales. We had heard
they had been spotted but were surprised to see them in so close. They could have given us a better
show, but it was exciting to be so close nonetheless.
I drove for 2 hours then Bill took a 2-hour shift. We traded off again and then began to notice that the
winds were increasing and the sea was becoming rougher. This continued until the wind waves and
swells were 6-9 feet and they were coming at 9 second intervals. This is what you call a square sea –
the height of the swells are the same as the interval between them. The goal is NOT to be at sea when
the seas are square. But no matter how diligent you are tracking the coastal weather reports, we’ve
been told they’re only right about half the time!
Pretty soon the ocean was too rough to continue to use our autopilot. In that kind of sea, with the
waves and swells coming at us almost continuously from different directions, the boat just weaves back
and forth as the autopilot continues to correct its course. We turned off the autopilot, but I quickly
realized that I could no longer manually control the boat. So Bill took the helm and drove for the next 10
hours!
With Bill driving and the sea so rough, there wasn’t much for me to do but help keep watch and to take
pictures. Walking around, reading or even preparing much to eat was out of the question. When we
were down in the valley of the swells, the ocean was higher than the windows in the lower helm! The
waves weren’t breaking on us, and at no time did Bill and I feel concerned. Paraclete has proven to be
absolutely seaworthy. She undoubtedly was having much more fun than we were.
We pulled into Santa Barbara Harbor at 9:10 p.m. – 15 ½ hours after we left Morro Bay! We left in the
dark and arrived in the dark. It was another ½ hour to find our way into another new harbor and to the
harbormaster’s office, to get tied up and check in with the harbormaster. We were exhausted and out
like a light. Bill deserves a reward for his endurance this day. I don’t know where he found the energy.
Day 13, July 10
Sunday, the day of rest, took on a whole new meaning this day after our exhausting day on the sea.
We were blessed with a beautiful day in Santa Barbara, a delicious lunch at the Fishouse and the
weekly craft fair that runs along the ocean. I actually found the craftsman who does metal work wall
hangings that I had seen several years ago when I was there. Because I was flying home then I wasn’t
able to purchase one of his Kokapeli’s. So I was delighted to be able to find him again and order it.
Day 14 and 15, July 11-12
We could rest easier and not worry so much about the weather because we were now past Pt.
Conception and in the waters protected by the Channel Islands. Our destination was Marina del Rey,
which is located in the north end of Santa Monica Bay, just north of LAX airport. The ocean and winds
were kind, and we had smooth cruising all the way.
Getting into the marina was another story. Our greatest challenges were dodging the multiple
sailboats in a youth class and getting into the right area of the marina. It is a marina with multiple
marinas, and our charts didn’t necessarily translate to reality. To make matters worse, when I called
the port office to clarify where we were going, she kept giving me landmarks I couldn’t find. Then she
finally admitted she had never seen their marina from the water!! So of course she had no clue of our
perspective.
When we finally got to the right place and were assigned a dock space, we had a horrible time
docking because of our exposure to the afternoon winds. When docking, Bill’s job is driving the boat
and mine is “getting” (sometimes means “jumping”, but Bill doesn’t like to hear that) off the boat and
securing the lines. To get off the boat while it’s still moving, I have to go off the swim platform in the
stern, which means ducking under all the braces and ties for the tender and “leaping” onto the dock at
the first opportunity. Securing the bowline is the first priority, so I have to run quickly to the front of the
boat and grab the line, quickly wrap it around the cleat on the dock, and run to the stern to do the same.
Well, on this particular day, the wind was so quickly turning the boat that by the time I reached the bow,
the line was beyond my reach. Meanwhile the stern also moved too far away from the dock. I will
spare you the painful details as to how we finally secured the boat, but from this experience evolved a
procedure that we continued to perfect and that fortunately helped preserve our marriage. Basically,
now when I secure the lines on the bow and stern, I drape them loosely over the railing. I grab the
boathook and take it with me when I “leap” off the boat. Then I can easily reach the line high up on the
bow even though the boat may have moved away from the dock. I then run back to the stern and with
the boathook can reach the line even if the stern has moved away from the dock.
We stayed two nights in Marina del Rey, enjoyed a good walk to a grocery and Starbucks for the Wi-
Fi, and enjoyed dinner on board with Jackie’s colleague from the Alzheimer’s Association, Debra
Cherry, and her husband Joe and with our niece Shannon, her husband Jason and 1-year old daughter
Taylor.
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