San Francisco - San Diego
Leaving Sequoia Yacht Club for the last time!
Sailing past Quiet Times - Ernie and Emily's boat
Heading up the Redwood City Creek
To the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific!
Cruising to Half Moon Bay - our first stop
Tidal Pool Exploring in HMB
We took a day off in Half Moon Bay to catch up on sleep and prep for the long haul down to Ventura.
A lovely cruise to Half Moon, although it was a bit rolly...
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After our rest day, we left early in the morning - next stop Ventura!
Paul's Birthday at sea!
It wasn't the most exciting birthday for Paul....
We were just getting to Point Concepcion around dark on the 4th, and the wind was forecasted to pick up a bit. There was also no moon and pretty good sized waves - around 6 feet or so - enough to push you around and make driving difficult.
I drove about the last 3 hours or so before dark. But I can only drive in those conditions for about 2 hours before my driving really starts to plummet. Paul seems to be good for about 6. So he took the wheel and drove for at least 4-5 hours - mostly in pitch black, 20-25 knots, gusts to low 30s and 6 foot waves at a less than desirable angle. Although I've yet to find where 6-8 foot waves are comfortable.
He also got to drive around all the oil rigs, most of which were marked on the charts, but not all. I took over and had maybe an hour so of windy, wavey driving. But the wind was upper teens, low 20s and the gusts were only to the upper 20s. And as soon as we were behind the cape, the wind totally dropped out and the seas flattened. It was a totally different world after that! We still had about 10 hours left to Ventura, and had to motor all the way in.
The wind started to pick up around Point Conception - you can see the waves have started to build up already...
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Safely tied up at Ventura Yacht Club
Chance meeting of a lifetime
When we were sailing down from Canada this past summer (Summer 2018), just as we were coming in under the gate - we were hailed on channel 16. It was just getting dark, we were exhausted, crossing the shipping lane with a tug and tow coming in the Gate, and a cargo ship heading out. We thought we were being hailed because we were in someone's way. Not to mention that cockpit radio wasn't working at the time - it was quite hectic.
Turns out, Al, was spending the night on his boat before going fishing, and just happened to pull up Marine Traffic to see what boat's were coming down the coast. Then he just happened to randomly click on a boat, not knowing it was Royal Venture. When he saw our name and picture pop up, he recognized the boat immediately. He was good friends with the original owners - Randy and CJ! Al actually met them cruising in Mexico on his Norseman! So he put us all in touch and the rest is history as they say!
Randy and CJ invited us to stay at their yacht club - Ventura Yacht Club on our way South that we could all meet! They commissioned Royal Venture in 1986, cruised on her from Alaska, through the Panama Canal, up the East Coast and back to the West Coast. They were out cruising for 15 years! It was such a random thing for Al to find us on Marine Traffic. The whole thing seems like more than chance alone. I guess sometimes, things are just mean to happen.
A very special meeting for the owners (past and present) of Royal Venture!