July 7 - 13, 2008 We head out of Santa Barbara after a refreshing change to our normal routine; we stayed in the marina. Long hot showers, unlimited electricity and restful nights sleep. We got a slip on the 3rd of July, a vacated spot that the owner allowed us to sublet through the weekend. All the slips in Santa Barbara are leased from the city. So if a slip appears vacant, the city will call and ask the owner if they can rent it out for the duration of the vacancy. The lessee gets a small cut off the monthly dues, the city gets the rest. We considered ourselves lucky to get the open spot after being on a waitlist for several days. On the forth, the marina was more active than I have ever seen one. The fireworks display was going to be set off the beach just outside and just about every boat owner was there to watch the show with guests aplenty. Jodie and I also went downtown during the day to see our first 4th of July parade. It was quite a show with various local clubs (did you know there is a Vespa club in S.B.?) and the local High School band marching down the street. There was also quite a display of vintage army cars, trucks and tanks that rolled by the crowd. Most of the local clubs threw candy out towards the kids which they eagerly gathered into their hands. Afterwards we had dinner with Andy and Joslyn and watched the fireworks from our rear deck. There was a minor problem that caused a 10 minute pause in the middle of the show. We had some laughs blaming Bill Gates and the Vista O.S. All in all, it was quite a fine day. As we make our way back to Santa Cruz Island, I get to finally use our wind vane that we installed before leaving San Diego. A wind vane is a self-steering device that steers the boat by its relationship to the wind. So as long as the wind comes from the same direction, the boat will stay on course. This is an incredibly valuable piece of cruising equipment. So much that it is referred to by most as "the third crewmember".
Back
to the wind vane. We are sailing in 8 knots of wind, full sails
up and doing 5 knots. We trim the sails so that the autopilot
barely has to move the steering wheel to keep us on our heading.
I attach the vane, adjust the vane angle into the wind and release the
various locks located on the wind vane. Nothing really
happened. That€™s a good thing. We shut off the autopilot,
locked the rudder in position and the wind vane took over fully,
steering the boat with its own small rudder. We had heard that wind vanes are tricky to get used to, that they take sometime to get to work right. This information was actually in the instructions. Not with us. The wind vane just started working right off the bat. If the boat started to head into the wind, the wind vane steered it away. When the boat started to fall off, the wind vane kicked in again and brought us back. Magic. Maybe the way we used the autopilot and trimmed the sails before starting the wind vane made it work so smoothly. Whatever it was, we were able to sail all the way to the anchorage not using any power whatsoever, except the wind. Things are really starting to come together now. We started the engine when we saw the anchorage, a place named Pelican Bay. We didn't get a clear view of the anchorage from afar because visibility was poor. We were less than 1 mile away before we could even make out the island. Not the most comfortable feeling, knowing that you are really close to land but not being able to make it out in broad daylight. But as we got close, things became clearer as the foggy haze burned off and thinned on the island. Yikes the place was crowded. Seems not everyone stayed in the marina for the fireworks display. And they were still here. We thought that since it was Monday, everyone would be back at work, or at a minimum heading back today. The bay was filled with 7 boats. Instead of trying to cram ourselves inside with them, we opted to anchor just on the fringe of the bay. Conditions were calm and there was no forecast for change the following day. We lowered our anchor in 45 feet of water, clear of any neighboring boats. We swung on our single bow anchor that night and by noon the next day every boat but one left to return home. We pulled up and reset the anchor in a nicer spot inside the bay and put out our stern anchor to keep us pointed out towards the open water. This kept our bow pointed into any incoming swell that would wrap around the land and enter the anchorage. As for our anchor windlass issue; we exchanged the malfunctioning control box for a new replacement when we were in Santa Barbara. A very nice worker, whom we cannot name, allowed us to exchange it despite it being against store policy. We were quite honest with her that the unit was well over three years old, but we had never used it much before now. We are crossing our fingers that the new unit will perform better than the original.
We also explored the old location of an inn that was built on the island in the early 1920's. The Eaton's built the inn and brought passengers from Santa Barbara on their boat named "Sea Wolf". Nothing remains but a few stairs that lead up from the anchorage and some old concrete foundations. There is still an old tree that you can read the names of yachts that visited during that era. We can attest that "Ships Tree" is still living and many names are visible in its bark. We spent the rest of the time spear fishing (can't seem to catch anything with a line) and dingy rides around this portion of the island. The return trip home went well, with a steady early morning breeze from the west. The anchor came up with no problems from the new windlass controller, thank goodness. Using the wind vane was once again, a breeze. That was bad I know. It worked perfectly again. After a while we shut off all the electrical systems, and sailed using the wind vane and the magnetic compass to keep on course. We would turn on the GPS/chart plotter to verify that we were on course every hour, just to make sure. I am sure that over time we will be growing more accustomed to the wind vane and how it operates and check the GPS less. Until we get close to landfall that is, then crank that GPS/chart plotter up! So we are back in Santa Barbara one final time. We will pick up the solar panels and install them before we depart. Some other small projects as well, but easily accomplished here at the anchorage.
July 14 - 22, 2008 We finished installing the new solar panels. The previous time we were here, we had ordered two additional 85 watt panels from the same dealer in Arizona. They arrived on time and we were quick to pick them up from the mail center here at the marina. I believe they sat in the entryway of the mail center for less than an hour. Jacque, the owner, still made us pay a 20 dollar handling charge, despite the fact that he never actually physically touched the packages. Ah well, what can ya do? We were just happy to get the final panels to complete the power consumption issue.
Another
project we have completed is replacing both starting batteries for the
engine and the generator. I have also created some parallel
wiring for both systems, tying them into the house system. This
way I can turn some switches and give both batteries a little booster
charge in the afternoon when the main house batteries have gone into
float mode. Float mode is when the battery voltage has reached
13.3 volts and the solar charger will restrict the amount amperage for
charging. So even if the panels can produce 20 amps, the charger
will restrict the amperage to 1 - 2 amps. We had our first visitors during this stay. Keith and Carol, old neighbors from Northern California were in town visiting Carol's sister and mother. They knew though the web site that we were making Santa Barbara a reprovisioning point, so they sent us an email letting us know when they were going to be in town. They were excited to see the boat after hearing so much about it when I was up at the house getting it ready to sell. We met them at the marina and brought them out to Savannah which was anchored just beyond the wharf. After
a quick lunch, we pulled up the anchors and sailed out on a beam reach,
a light breeze pulling us along. We had a nice slow sail, which
was fine for Keith as he used to have a tendency to get seasick.
It had been a while since he had been sick and we didn't want to ruin a
good track record. The
rest of our time has been spent doing laundry and walking to the
grocery and hardware stores. It is amazing how much time it takes
to do "normal" things like that when you are on foot. Not
to mention that you then have to walk back carrying everything you just
purchased. So oftentimes a trip to the grocery store is
split into 3 separate trips. Meat and cheese is one trip, produce
another and staples a third. This seems like a lot of work and it
is, but we have taken advantage of the multiple trips in another way. Since we end up going out for different items at different times, we will go to different stores. Here in Santa Barbara there is a great meat store at one end of town. We go there to stock up on very affordable beef, chicken, fish and pork. Then off to the other part of town to a produce market to get the best deal on the freshest produce grown locally. Lastly we go to Ralphs to get whatever is left on the list. So we are able to save some money with this method. I don't think we would have the patience to use this method if were back home with a car. Besides it would take an entire afternoon, a Saturday or Sunday afternoon no less, to accomplish it. We're planning on leaving Santa Barbara tomorrow, back out to Santa Cruz Island for a couple of weeks before we start making our way slowly south again.
July 24, 2008
Now our Perkins motor doesn't seem to have a sacrificial zinc. No zinc is mentioned in our owner's manual or workshop manual for the engine. Also, a search of the internet forums has many questions regarding locations of zincs on the various Perkins models. Mostly they ask "I can't seem to find my zinc location. Does anyone know where it could be?" I have searched the entire engine several times and cannot locate my zinc, if there is one. In my latest search, I happened upon a nut that could possibly house a zinc behind it. It was located on the transmission heat exchanger unit. So I shut off the raw water valve before I removed the nut (so sea water wouldn't flood into the boat). When I removed the nut, transmission fluid came out. Not much cause I was ready for either water or tranny fluid and had the nut ready to screw immediately back into the exchanger. But I did get some on the floor and I cleaned it up with a rag. Then I went to wash my hands and forgot to reopen the raw water thru-hull. When we left the anchorage yesterday to return to Santa Cruz Island, we first headed into the marina to use the pump-out station. Also, it was a good opportunity to fill the water tanks and wash off the boat. We'd just entered the harbor when the engine warning buzzer went off down below. I now know that in addition to the buzzer being a low oil pressure warning, it is also a high engine temperature warning buzzer. Who knew! So we are in the middle of the harbor with fishing, motor, and sail boats, not to mention kayaks, all around us, and the buzzer sounds. Panic ensues. Just kidding. Jodie is driving and I ask her what the oil pressure is, and she says it pegged at 80 psi (where it should be). I look and we are too far away from the dock to make it, say in less than 1 minute. I go below and open the engine as Jodie says "Is that smell us?" It is, the engine is baking hot and getting hotter. I remember then that I never reopened the thru-hull. I lean over the engine and throw it open and jump back out, no burns. I tell Jodie to shut down the engine. She balks and I insist firmly and head towards the bow. I am going to drop anchor right here, right now in the middle of the harbor. Savannah slows down and I drop out 40 feet of chain in 17 feet of water. The wind is light in the protected harbor and this should hold us in place. We drift downwind and she holds, just off the beach swim area. I radio the harbor master office and inform them that we have overheated and dropped anchor in the channel. A patrol boat comes by to check on our situation on his way out to a different call, and we explain how stupid I am, dooh! He sees that we are set on the anchor and heads out to his call. Twenty minutes later, a very long twenty minutes with people going past wondering what the heck we are doing and us worrying if we have warped the engine head due to the overheating, we restart the engine. We let her run for a bit and make our way to the pump out dock. Everything seems fine and we breathe a sigh of relief. We finish with the boat, emptying and filling tanks, plus a nice boat wash. Water from a hose that will never run dry, wonder of wonders. By this time, it is late afternoon, and we have completely blown our timeline for leaving and making the 20 mile crossing to arrive before dark. So about 2 miles out of Santa Barbara, we decided to turn Savannah around, reclaim "our spot" in the anchorage, and get an earlier start the following day. We departed this morning around 10, with light winds and a thin fog overhead. We shut down the engine and sailed along at 2.5 knots, an easy walking pace. As we cleared the coastline, the wind picked up and we got up to 4.5 knots. The sun came out and seemed to be burning off the fog just ahead us, as if drawing us along a golden pathway. As we reached the 15 mile mark, the wind really picked up and we were doing a steady 7 knots. The seas also continued to build, and as were on a slight upwind/beam reach, occasionally a wave would give a good splash and send spray across the decks. As we neared the island, the wind and waves continued to build. Within 2 miles of the island, we were doing 8+ knots under full sails and spray was hitting our dodger from time to time. I guess we should have reduced sail, but I was preoccupied repairing our stern rode which chafed through while at anchor in Santa Barbara. The learning curve continues on many fronts. As we got in sight of our destination, we saw that the anchorage was already full. Our backup anchorage was about 3 miles to the east, so all we had to do was change directions. Ha, easier said than done. First we rolled in the furling headsail, which slowed us down to a more manageable 5 knots. Then we discussed how we wanted to adjust the main and mizzen sail in order to go down wind. As we were doing this, a huge flapping noise grabbed our attention. The roller furling headsail had unfurled itself and was fully extended and flapping in the wind. Wow, that's never happened before. I grabbed the furling line and hauled it back in, this time wrapping the line around a cleat to prevent it from unfurling again. I normally have to haul on a jib sheet (line) with some effort to unfurl it, but the wind grabbed the line and the force was enough to unroll it. Now back to how we're going to adjust the main and mizzen to head down wind. We decide to steer across the wind (across the bow) with the main and mizzen up to head east, away from the. I sheeted the main and mizzen to the centerline of the boat at the same time from the cockpit, going back and forth between them, drawing each in increments as Jodie turned the boat. As we got straight into the wind, the boat seemed as if she was just about to cross the wind, then didn't. The sails were sheeted into the centerline of the boat and she just hung there. With the conditions, we couldn't tell whether we were slowly moving forward or back. It actually was kind of nice, hanging there in between, giving us a breather. This will be a trick we'll remember to use in the future when we need a "moment to think" in similar conditions. I decided that the wind blowing on the mizzen sail was preventing the boat from turning, so I spilled the sail (released the mizzen boom sheet) down wind and we then turned off the wind, toward the direction we wanted to head. We then ailed downwind, which was quite a ride in the big following seas. We quickly traversed the 3 miles and dropped the sails after we had rounded into the protection of the anchorage. We had aimed for Fry's anchorage, but ended up back at Pelican Bay. And we were glad to be there, we were ready to stop. One nice thing about this passage, we saw hundreds of dolphins, hunting in packs and leaping out of the water.
July 25, 2008 Who wants to hear more about our generator? Well today is your lucky day. This morning we planned on running the generator to make some quick water with the water maker. We didn't need the water since we had filled up the tanks before leaving Santa Barbara, but the system needs to be run every two weeks or pickled. It had been two weeks since we last made water, so we planned to make a few gallons just to run and clean out the system. When we went to start the generator, it wouldn't turn over. It would go through a half rotation and seize. I could turn the crank shaft by hand, but get to a particular spot and be unable to turn it any more. I pulled out the oil dipstick and a stream of water came out of it like a faucet. Man o' man. A heavy sigh just thinking about it. I put the thinking cap on and try to figure out how this could have happened. My best guess is that when the boat is heeled way over when sailing, the water contained in the exhaust water muffler/cooler could possibly flow back into the engine. Time to get to work. I pull apart the entire generator down to the block. Inside there is a mucky grey oil/water goop coating everything. When I clean the parts, there is only a minimal amount of thin rust coating certain portions of the components. I think this must have started during our crossings back and forth between Santa Cruz Island and Santa Barbara, because there was no sign of this during a recent oil change that I performed at the 50 hour mark. It had just slowly filled up with the water contained in the heat exchanger during each crossing out. Not during the crossing back, since the boat would lean the opposite way with the wind always from the west. I decide this can be prevented by a gate valve placed between the generator and the water muffler, and will do this once I can pickup the needed parts. So after I clean up the parts, I reassemble them, piece by piece. Jodie is amazed that I was able to disassemble, clean and reassemble everything in one day. That left the goop in the lower end of the engine. Here we have a problem. I need lots of oil to do this and I don't have enough on the boat. It needs 2 full flushes. I only have enough for the first flush and the nearest auto parts store is in Santa Barbara, 20 miles across the channel. I drain out the goop and I add the oil that I have into the generator. I run the generator (it starts right up) for a few minutes to "wash it" with the clean oil. I then drain this oil out. It comes back out a milky color. Now I'm stuck. Do we go back to Santa Barbara in the morning to get more oil to finish the job? We just got here and aren't looking forward to making the crossing back so soon. Especially after it being a little rough like it was coming over here. Jodie comments on the fishermen that have been anchored all day just outside the bay. They probably have extra oil. Maybe go ask them for some? That sounds like a good idea. Off I go to ask for help. I bring some cash, I am not looking for a handout. I explain my situation and the captain quickly brings out a 4 quart container. I offer payment but he will have none of it. I give my thanks and we talk for little bit about how and why the water got into the generator. He tells me to place a gate valve in between. I get a good laugh at that. As it turns out, we have the same basic model generator and he could use an oil filter if I have an extra one. I do. I return with the oil filter and I wish upon him a full load tonight as he gets ready to head out to go fishing. I have no idea if this is the proper thing to say to a fisherman, but he said thanks.
July 26 - 27, 2008 This morning I refilled the generator with oil and ran it for 15 minutes. She started right up again, even quicker than before the rebuild, I believe due to having fixed a small fuel leak that was occurring at one of the injector locations. So hopefully this mornings cleaning will prevent any further damage from the water intrusion. I will change the oil once again when we get back to civilization, wherever that may be. We spent the remainder of the day relaxing and conversely fighting the bees that seem to thrive here at Pelican Bay. They are fairly docile and not aggressive, but ever present. Jodie had gotten stung during our last visit when one flew between her knees as she was lying in the cockpit. I swat at the more bothersome ones, knocking them into the water. Most often the young seagulls that are also nesting here in the bay will consume them. On Sunday we went for a hike, walking a trail that connects Pelican Bay with another anchorage, Prisoners Harbor, about 1.5 miles or so to the east. The temperature was in the low 70's making it an exceptional time to go for a walk. It felt good to climb the steep hillsides after the flatlands of Santa Barbara.
We head back to Savannah and just as we get to our dingy, a bee flies into my sandal and stings one of my toes on my left foot. A sudden burning sensation and I look down to see a bee flying out and away. I limp quickly into the cool water to help numb the sting, hoping also that the salt water will extract some of the toxins. This sting will bother me for the next few days, itching like crazy as it heals. So Jodie and I are 1 for 1 on the bee stings. Hopefully no more encounters of the stinging kind with our black and yellow flying friends. After lunch we took the dinghy over to Prisoners and spent the rest of day snorkeling and kayaking with everyone. We headed back to Savannah just before nightfall. A very busy day for us and we were ready to eat a quick meal and hit the sack. Except around 8:30 a neighboring boat in the anchorage knocks on the hull to invite us over for drinks. Ab-so-lutely. We can always sleep in tomorrow.
July 28, 2008
The Painted Cave, the largest sea cave in North America, begins with an 80 feet high, 40 feet wide entrance, very much like the top of a wizards hat. Once you enter, the ceiling rises over 130 feet and begins to step down into a series of smaller chambers. The final chamber is 600-700 feet deep from the entrance and approximately 40 feet around. The entrance into the final chamber is a smaller version of the wizards cap, and you half expect a sign above it to read "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." Very creepy. Jodie and I had the cave to ourselves until a man paddled in on a surfboard. He was glad we were there and commented that he would not have come in this far not having any kind of flashlight with him. Sea lions make there home in the recess that shoots off another 150 feet to the right off the final chamber. Their barking echoed throughout the cave, adding to the eeriness. We joked that we are brave enough to cross an ocean, but no way are we going into the total darkness where the sea lions reside.
We head back to Savannah and begin our eastward trip to a new anchorage, Scorpions. We had made plans to meet up with Andy and Joslyn there. We depart Cueva Valdez at 3 p.m. and begin the 15 mile trek to Scorpions. A late start, but we have the option to dive into several anchorages along the way. A steady 6-8 knot breeze carries us along with it and we get to use our wind vane on its first downwind run. We average 4.5 knots during the passage and we decide to push on through, arriving at Scorpions at 6:30 p.m. We anchor close to Andy and Joslyn and they come over for some of Jodie's fantastic spaghetti. Another long day for us, and at 9:30 we say goodnight and after cleaning up, head to bed. The anchorage has quite a bit of swell that rolls into it and Savannah is dancing tonight. Things calm down around 1 a.m. and we sleep undisturbed for the rest of the night.
July 29 - 31, 2008
Later
on, we all went for a hike on the island to a lookout point over Potato
anchorage. The trail was just over a mile long and took us up
along the top the bluff that borders the channel. Several hundred
feet above sea level, and a hundred feet from the edge of the cliff
face, massive cracks have formed in the terrain. Some were easily
1 foot deep and 2 inches wide as they spread out in a chaotic network
of interconnecting fissures. The fissures were quite fresh
showing no real signs of weathering. The relentless wind and wave
action of the channel was undercutting the whole mountainside below,
the soil above showing telltale signs of the movement. We had
also heard of a 5.4 magnitude earth The following day, Andy and Joslyn headed back to the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard where we first met them. We plan to meet up again in a few weeks at Santa Catalina Island. We stayed on at Scorpions for a couple more days to avoid the south swell on the east/south side of the island. Once it subsides we plan on heading to another anchorage south/east of Scorpions named Smugglers Cove. That is a favorite name for an anchorage and we will probably stop at a dozen different "Smugglers" before we are finished with our trip. Scorpions has now taken the number one spot for rolliest anchorage to date. Not to mention that the wind blows from no less than three different directions depending on what time of day (or night) it is. I had to develop a routine for our stern anchor to tighten/slacken it or to switch from port to starboard fairlead depending on the conditions. One change was done at about 2 to 3 a.m. everyday. Needless to say, I will be happy to leave Scorpions and head to Smugglers. An excellent event occurred, I finally provided us with our first dinner from the sea. Two 16 inch fishes, (Farmer? or Prairie?, something like that, I can't remember the name) that Andy had said were good eating, got the business end of my spear gun. I can't remember the last time I have cleaned a fish, must have been 9 years old, but Jodie pulls out one of her cruising cookbooks and walks me through it. The secret? Bold strokes with your knife so as to not dice or tear the fish. In the end, it was a mess and quite a hack job by the time I was finished. We grilled them in a pan outside on the barbeque in some butter and garlic. Mmmm. The taste was much better than the presentation.
MIchael
|
|
| home | current log | past logs | photos | savannah | contact us |
|---|
I
needed to have the vane portion modified to fit the boat before we
could use it, which was performed by an electrician on Catalina
Island. Need a pipe bender? Talk to an electrician.
With the vane tubing properly configured, I still needed to modify the
cover to fit the new shape of the vane. That task was completed
with our sewing machine while sitting in the slip in Santa
Barbara. We also took our old car cover and modified it to cover
the dingy when it is inflated on deck. A cruiser calls their
dingy their car, so why not use a actual car cover to cover it?
We had never really used the car cover very much, it had always stayed
folded in the trunk. So after ten years we actually are putting
it to use on the boat. We had to sell our car to use the car
cover. Life is funny.
The
sky was mostly cloudy the first few days we were anchored at Pelican
Bay. We still were getting just enough light to recharge the
batteries from the overnight drop. Well almost enough.
There was a small deficit that kept adding up, but for the most part we
were getting the amps replaced. We plan to return to Santa
Barbara to install our final two solar panels that should be arriving
Monday. On the forth day, the sun came up over the horizon with
clear skies and brought some warmer temperatures during the days.
We took the opportunity to go exploring and found a really fantastic
land bridge just to the west of the anchorage.
Now
that they are installed, we're generating 26+ amps per hour during the
peak charging time (noonish). We seem to average 20+ amps at any
given moment during the daytime. We now have over 400 watts
(2-85w, 1-120w, 1-135w) to feed the batteries. In ideal
conditions we can "float" (fully recharge) the batteries by 2 or
3 in the afternoon. So the total number of panels may seem to be
a case of overkill, but 2 o'clock is under ideal conditions. In
many cases the conditions will not be ideal. Fog in the morning
or a hazy day can severely impact the total amps we can generate.
So the "extra" wattage will be helpful to make up any shortfall
that we might encounter due to unfavorable charging conditions.
Many times when anchoring, you place yourself close to a bluff for
protection from the wind. The bluff will create a land shadow
which will cover the boat as well, limiting the total charging time per
day. So every little bit of wattage helps keep the batteries
charged up. We now just need to figure out a way to sell the
extra power back to the power company!
We
put both of them to work doing various sailing tasks to give them a
feel for handling the boat. Carol, who grew up here, got a kick
out of being able to have a look from the water side of things for the
first time. So after a couple hours sail we reset the anchor in
the same location that we had previously occupied. Keith and
Carol had dinner plans with the family and had to be on their
way. It was great to be able to share our new life with them, as
they were part of our old life for many years.
Well
we spent one more day here in Santa Barbara. Yesterday we'd
gotten a slow start on the day and then I overheated the engine in the
middle of the harbor! I had shut off the raw water thru-hull to
the engine several days ago as I was removing various nuts on the
engine. There's a sacrificial zinc in the raw water cooling
system in most marine engines. This zinc is placed there for one
purpose and one purpose only: to corrode. Corrosion occurs
because of the rapid electrolysis that occurs in sea water. So
the zinc is placed there so it corrodes first. It will corrode
before any other metal, thus saving the metal in your engine from
corroding.
When
we reached Prisoners, we saw Andy and Josyln aboard Athena anchored in
the bay. We had made plans to meet up with them here during our
last visit to Santa Barbara. Also anchored in the harbor were
Matt and Chris aboard their boat, a 34 foot Pacific Seacraft I
believe. I am not one of those boat gurus that can recognize and
name every craft ever assembled and put to sea, so this is a
guess. So if you are reading this Matt and Chris, sorry if I got
it wrong. Anyway, it is a very stout boat that can, properly
fitted, make any ocean crossing. Matt and Chris have been friends
with Andy and Josyln for many years, having both been live aboards in a
marina in Ventura, California.
We
plan on making our way around the east side of the island to visit the
other anchorages that are located on the southern portion of Santa
Cruz. It will soon be time to start making our way back to Santa
Catalina Island. South, south, south! Very exciting for us
and we are both ready to start. But we have another 2 months
before we can enter Mexico. One stop we have wanted to make on
Santa Cruz before leaving is a place called "Painted
Cave". It is located on the north western end of the
island, but weather conditions on that part of the island have not been
cooperating with us. We originally wanted to stop there first
from Santa Barbara on this trip, but 20-35 knot winds have kept us on
the north eastern portion of the island where conditions have been
calmer. So if we really want to go, we have to go today.
When we head around the east end of the island, there will be no coming
back. So we decide to head west to an anchorage called Cueva
Valdez. We will anchor Savannah there and then head to the cave
via dingy, about 2 miles further west.
We
spent the morning snorkeling and Andy showed me how to identify the
scallops that cling to the rocks below. We harvested 7 nice ones
and I took some shots at a few fish with my spear gun. My ability
to stay down for long periods is somewhat limited, hampering my ability
to wait for the game fish to swim by. I look forward to expanding
my down time and/or donning the scuba tanks and hunting when I can sit
and wait for a closer shot.
quake
that shook Los Angeles earlier that day. Who can say what caused
the fissures? Nevertheless, it was quite a site to behold as we
pondered the forces that work beneath us constantly.
