Flight of the Blue Eagle

Hey Jim, Roger, Steve, Dr. Bob, and everyone else,

We arrived back in Monterey late last night. Had dinner at the Sea Harvest Market-Restaurant, a good, but reasonably priced seafood place, and picked up groceries for the trip. 

We had returned to the boat, tightened up one of the antennas that was loose, and started putting the groceries away, when I heard a crunching sound coming from outside. We went out on the deck, and about ten feet away was a sea otter floating by, watching us, and eating something crunchy on his tummy. Apparently, we were his dinner show. 

The next morning, or was it still night, I got up at 4:10a, moved the supplies that had been emptied from the v-berth the night before back into my side of it, returned the keys to the harbor master,  and prepared the boat to cruise. At 4:47a, Blue Eagle slipped into the night.

Somewhere around buoy #2, my dad, still in his sleeping bag, asked me if we were out of the harbor. I told him yes, and that he could keep on sleeping. 

Sunrise, at 6 sharp, revealed overcast skies, and a huge flock of ducks about 10nm north of Point Sur, and just under 2 nm off shore. 

My father awoke, and, due to an opening in the clouds, we got to see some colorful, early morning sunshine, highlight the textures and crevices of Big Sur, including the beautiful, arching, art deco, Bixby Bridge, while everything else was still shrouded in grey. He relieved me at the helm, allowing me to get some well needed rest.

I slept until 9, getting up to cook a breakfast of scrambled egg-beaters, vegy sausage, and hash-browns. We also had non-fat yogurt, orange juice, and milk, for a very filling meal; all of this from our small fridge, a single-burner Wallace, and a non-stick pan. 

We had been making really good time all morning, and there was only 27.4nm left to reach Morro Bay, so  I made the decision to go strait through to Santa Barbara. It will tax our tanked fuel close to the limit, but I have an additional 30.5 gallons in cans on board as a safety precaution, so we will be fine either way. We will also have enough fuel to return, should Point Conception prove too rough. (There is a small-craft advisory with wind waves up to 3 ft in the NOAA Point Conception zone, but the zone extends way out to sea, and the current data from the Point Conception buoy, Point Arguello buoy, and Harvest oil platform, all indicate reasonably calm water closer to shore.)

Cellular 4g works great at sea; 8.5 nm off morro bay, and still 3 bars of signal on an iPhone 4s. At 10:53 we pass due west of Morro Bay, and about 17 minutes later I have to change fuel tanks.

Well that's all for now. I gave a wave to Kent and Marcia as we pass their home turf, and am now within sight of the first of the oil-rigs, Irene. Hope to post more tonight or tomorrow.

David and Donald

PS Don't underestimate the effect of wind, current, and swell on the speed of a lightweight, dory-hulled, boat like ours. Nominal fuel economy on the open ocean can vary greatly, based on conditions. For example, this morning, I set the engines at 3800rpm while in the flat water of the near-shore bay. Once we got into the open ocean, our rpms were constantly in a state of flux, based on which side of a swell we were on, as well as the effect of the wind. Within a span of 2 minutes I observed us going anywhere from 14.2-22.4 knots (GPS-SOG) without touching any of the controls.
 
mailbox101":2a3bnb6z said:
We arrived back in Monterey late last night. Had dinner at the Sea Harvest Market-Restaurant, a good, but reasonably priced seafood place. 
Click to expand...

I agree- We eat at Sea Harvest whenever we are in Monterey.

Roger
 
David & Donald, I hope you realize how special this time together is. I wish I could have done something like this with my Dad :love
 
Dave- Thanks for giving us a call when you got in to Santa Barbara.
Pat and I enjoyed having breakfast with you and your Dad.
Hoping you have safe travels and fun.

Roger
 
Dreamer":1kcad64y said:
...hope you realize how special this time together is. I wish I could have done something like this with my Dad...
Click to expand...
We recognize this wholeheartedly. Time is such a precious thing.


Thanks Roger and Pat, it was our pleasure.
We were glad to hear that you finally got the engine issue resolved, and are starting to properly enjoy your boat.

By the way, the statistics for the Monterey to Santa Barbara leg are as follows:
Total trip from Alameda to Monterey: 14hr. 24 min, 208.21 nautical/239.62 statute miles (non-stop), 77.8 gal. of fuel, averaging 16.64 knots and 3.08mpg.


David and Donald
 
Blue Eagle starts on her long way north. 

Woke up late to the sound of many boats docking, but it turned out to be only one boat, a Newport Lifeguard one, with a new skipper practicing his docking skills. 

On the way to the Balboa Island fuel dock we saw a school of flying fish leaping out of the water and 'flying' 3 to 6  feet before landing back in the water. The fuel dock was located to the to the left of the ferry.

We headed over to Long Beach, where we heard the Queen Mary sound her horn (10a, 12p, 3p, and 5p), and San Pedro, where we drifted slowly past the Battleship Iowa (BB-61). Although we would have liked to have kept her in the bay area, I am pleased to report that they have cleaned her up nicely, and placed her at a highly visible turn in the channel; a spot that all ferries and cruise ships leaving San Pedro go past. 

As we left the harbor, we slowed for a view of the Los Angeles Harbor Light, a beautiful 1913 landmark, indicating the location of the western-most channel through the breakwater.

Then out to sea. We made about 18 knots until we reached the wind driven waves of Anacapas Channel, where we reduced speed to 9 knots, and continued into Ventura. There were no slips available, but a sympathetic Harbor Patrol allowed us to tie up at the launch ramp overnight.

The next morning, a bicyclist named Lee drove up to us.  It turned out that he and his wife bought the very last Cape Cruiser Venture. While we were chatting and comparing notes (We are a CC Marinaut), a TomCat showed up at the launch ramp next to us; David and Donna in Patriot. An impromptu C-Dory moment.

After a day enjoying Ventura, we headed off to Santa Barbara, where we await weather more favorable to a safe passage past Points Conception and Arguello.

David and Donald
 
Woke up late, 10:23am, expecting to have a lazy day while waiting for the weather to improve on Monday, when I saw the report:

"Today: NW winds 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 2 to 3 ft. SW swell 3 to 4 ft at 17 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning."

The weather at Conception changes fast, so it was time to go for it.

We set out of the harbor at 10:48. It was a bit choppy, but we were comfortably cruising along at 10 knots.. As we got further out to sea (3nm), and afternoon wind waves of 2-4 ft. started kicking up, we needed to reduce speed, first to 8 knots, then 7, then 6. We moved closer to shore, to trade wind waves for shoaling.

It worked, and my father said that he liked these waves much better. Coho anchorage was 2.8nm ahead. From there we could poke our proverbial nose around the corner, and try to get a sense of the actual conditions at the points.

Conception was a challenge today. Large enough shoals that I couldn't hold the camera still enough to take a picture. Large enough that we almost turned back. We passed within 900 feet of Government Point, and continued to stay within 1/2 nm of shore, banking on reports of improved conditions to the north, as well as an improved forecast for the evening. The shoaling and swells improved, and the only issue was now the 5.5 knot speed. By the mid-spot between Conception and Arguello it was calm enough to eat lunch, but my father will never again tell people how calm Conception is. 

While we were eating lunch, the southbound Coastal Starlight train went past. We waved, and they honked their horn in reply.

Just north of Point Arguello the fog moved in, the temperature dropped, and the sun set. Although a nearly full moon would rise in an hour, for now we were on instruments only.

Maybe the first clue that we shouldn't have attempted to stop at Avila was when I called the bait shop to see if they ran the fuel dock, or knew who does. They curtly replied "No.", and hung up. The second clue was that several of the lights on the main navigational buoys were not lit. As we got into port, the harbor master eventually answered the radio, telling us where to moor. After looking for quite a while, we got back on the radio, seeking more direction. There was a new harbor master on duty who told us that the moorings the first harbor master sent us to were half-submerged, and that there was no way we would find them in the dark. He told us that the other harbor master didn't know what he was talking about, and instructed us to tie-up to the very pier that the other one had said was off-limits. Rather then place ourselves in between these two, we left the harbor, and continued onto friendly Morro Bay.

We arrived at 1:47am and had MREs for dinner. Total transit time, including the hour detour, 13hrs 59mn.

Now we are resting up in wonderful, friendly, Morro Bay, and will linger here a few days before continuing on.

David and Donald
 
Left early, an hour before sunrise, the top of the grand dome of Morro Rock disappearing into swirly fog and blackness. Nominal coastal chop, a coast guard boat with what looked like a serious boarding crew on deck, but they ignored us. 

A puff of mist and a brief glimpse of the first whale we've seen in over a year. Then, a few hours later, just inside Monterey Bay, we came across a pod of whales! Not just a bit of whale at the surface, but at least four whales. Two of them breached, one of was entirely out of the water, spinning onto his back, and landing with a resounding splash. This was the first time either of us had seen anything like this, and it was truly amazing.

We will take advantage if the good weather to cross Monterey Bay today, and put in at the Santa Cruz marina. It will be our first time there since the tsunami, and we look forward to seeing how they have rebuilt it.

David and Donald
 
It is 6:19pm and Blue Eagle is full of fuel (170 gallons) and food.

The weather, here in Marina Del Rey, is beautiful. Point Conception is reasonably calm, after a month of unseasonably high wind waves, but there is a winter storm bearing down on us from Washington.

If conditions and fuel safely permit (I always allow 1/3 extra as a reserve.), we will attempt to reach Monterey, sometime tomorrow evening. If not, we will stop at Morro Bay.

David and Donald
 
We stopped at Coho, a calm anchorage just south of Point Conception, for a few hours of rest. The moon had already set, so we had to rely on radar to ensure that we were anchored far enough from the other boats. The catch was that I couldn't go forward to deploy the anchor while the radar was on. We resolved this by setting a waypoint for where we wanted to drop anchor while the radar was on, and then using that as a point of reference once it was off. The anchor set fast without trouble, and we were about to go to sleep when "Frontier Control" at Vandenburg AFB announced that zones 6-9 would be closed for 6 hours (Coho is in zone 9). We contacted them on 16, explaining our situation (tired and small craft advisory), and they were able to make an exception. As a side note, calling for "Frontier Control" on channel 6 or 16, is apparently the best way to find out about closures by radio, but they only monitor when a closure is imminent.

A couple hours later I had the neat experience of waking to a loud roar, poking my head out the hatch, and watching a rocket climb skyward. Wow!

We woke up in this pristine oasis of calm water, watching the seals playing in the kelp fields as we refueled the boat from cans, cooked breakfast, and weighed anchor. Onward we go, to Points Conception and Arguello.

David and Donald
 
Hi David and Donald,

We also saw Elon Musk's rocket in flight. We were driving south on US 101, a little north of Pismo Beach and got a spectacular view of the rocket in the southern sky. We see frequent launches but don't recall seeing so much exhaust flame. It was a thrillling sight!

I'm becoming convinced that Elon Musk is a modern day Edison. I had an opportunity to drive his Tesla roadster and I felt that I was driving a rocket. His ideas for Tesla super charging stations and high speed rail transportation for California show considerably more insight that our state's politicians.

Good luck on your cruise back home. Hopefully you'll get a good weather window!

Now that our health is improving, we'll look forward to seeing you on some of next year's C-dory adventures.

Regards,

Kent and Marcia
MARCIA JANE
 
Hi Kent and Marcia,

If I'd known you were so close we could have put ashore for lunch.

We were able to get as far as Morro Bay before having to turn in due to the huge swells reported to be coming our way from a huge storm offshore of British Columbia and Washington. The last little bit, rounding the point near the Diablo nuclear plant took forever. The final 6nm were done at reduced speeds of 4-5 knots, due to conditions, and we didn't have many alternatives as conditions were worse further out, and there are rocky outcroppings closer in. Eventually we made the corner and were surprised to discover what, based on the NOAA maps, was the only smooth section of water between Vancouver and Santa Barbara. The trip into the bay was completed at full nighttime speed.

We are glad to hear that your health is improving and look forward to seeing you at next year's adventures. Drop us an email if you'd like to get together off the water sometime.

David and Donald
Blue Eagle
 
Back
Top