They made it! John, Brad and Don aboard
S/V Wizard have arrived safely in Monterey! The passage from Sausalito, San Francisco to Monterey in 17+ hours was a "wild ride" down the coast with choppy and confused seas, making the sailing uncomfortable, but doable, with 15-20kn winds gusting to 30kn at times, to clock 6.8kn SOG for most of the trip. The course set had them tacking west away from land to sail on a beam reach for a more comfortable ride using only the genoa sail.
Having three on board to share watches in this first "shake down"leg to San Diego was a smart decision. As everyone was new to the boat's motion, it was good to get a little down time off watch. No one got seasick, but all felt a little queezy... it takes a few days to get the "sea legs". The only mishap was an unlatched V-berth hatch that someone forgot to close and water did come in to soak the bed! All systems worked as planned, the chart plotter, the wind vane, water maker and inverter...these were all the components added or upgraded for cruising and John (skipper) wasn't sure how all would perform. He upgraded the electrical system with new inverter, just days before launch as the old one had "pooped" out.
It's a funny story...this trip has taken almost a year of planning! We felt that it would take this long to get the boat "geared-up" and also to get the mind-set to pull away from the strings that attach you to your land based work/world... house, cars, pets, garden, work, work..and less work... sooo, here we are at this crossroads...the boat is ready, but are we? Or I should say ...am I? More to come on this as I wean myself away from one lifestyle to assume another.... I plan to join the crew later in warmer climates of San Diego, but first must dissolve previous work commitments.
But, the real funny story was earlier, when John and crew were preparing to leave the Clipper Yacht Harbor, Sausalito... they had planned a midnight sail away on an ebb flow tide out the Golden Gate. Our family came to say good-bye and have lunch at our favorite restaurant, FISH. We watched as they prepped for departure, John stowing gear, Brad and Don plotting the course on the chart plotter. While standing in line for lunch order, I said, why don't you
just go now, while you have daylight to see any dangers (i.e. large freighters in the shipping lanes)...well, they looked at each other and just decided to go right then! So much for lunch! We packed up the restaurant faire in to-go boxes for the men to eat later... the family waved good-bye from the docks and off they sailed at 1500 hrs instead of midnight!
Towing Mr. Dingy
John in cruising mode
Ribbon Pt, Catalina West End
Sunset
Pt. Loma, San Diego
