Santa Cruz Island, Ventura and Marina Del Rey

After spending 3 days exploring Santa Cruz Island we headed for Ventura. The Prisoner's Harbour anchorage was very rolly especially into the evening and night. We did get a good chance to look around. The island is very dry and the days were hot. One of my favorite activities was watching the pelicans dive fishing. They fly over schools of small fish then go into a dive attitude with wings close together, splashing head first into the water in an attempt to catch a fish. The hiking was good with many fine views of the island and Santa Barbara Channel. There is a great deal of fennel growing wild in the area. The trip to Ventura Harbour was an easy motor-sail. We found the harbour area unappealing, fortunately Ventura Harbour is a short bus ride away from downtown Ventura. There we visited the Patagonia store where the original forge of Yvon Choinard the man behind Black Diamond and Patagonia is located. Not everyone's idea of a holiday destination.

Another easy motor-sail put us in Marina Del Rey. This marina is huge, there are slips for 6,000 boats plus dry storage for countless more. The amazing thing is there were only 5 sailboats out in Santa Monica Bay when we arrived. It was sunny with a nice breeze. I think Americans work too much. There is a very nice spot next to a pubic park reserved for transient boats. A little bit noisy but nice. Saturday night was free concert night in the park with a symphony and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter) singing. A nice bonus. We took a walk through Venice and it's few canals. We took in the boardwalk at Venice Beach. It's a bit hard to describe Venice Beach and area. I'll try get some pictures posted next time we are at a fast internet connection. Quite the group of people, that's for sure. We also went to Santa Monica Pier and area. Our friends Steve and Kathy were at the same marina. We enjoyed a couple of BBQ's with them in the park.

We've moved again, this time to Catalina Island. We are on our way to San Diego where Emma (Nadia's friend) and her parents, Terri and Wally are meeting us for a visit. Unfortunately Pat and John, Brenda's parents had to delay their visit. Although we are all having a good time and experiencing a great deal everyone feels homesick about now.

Pete

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Name Change

Hi everyone, We have decided to change the name of our blog to a more generic, "Our Sailing Adventure". Since leaving it has become clear that you can't always get to where you want to be in a sailboat. One reoccuring statement we hear from local boaters is "gee, it's not usually this bad here this time of year." We're in Ventura Harbour right now and met a fellow Canadian family who bought a sailboat in San Diego and are sailing it home to Richmond BC. There are 5 of them, the youngest looks to be about 8. They are doing it for the experience. They have no plans on keeping the boat and they will sell it when they get home. That's an adventure! I can't imagine heading back INTO the wind and waves that we sailed down on let alone with three kids and in a boat I only just bought.

Channel Islands

We said goodbye to Santa Barbara after a two week visit. By normal holiday standards that would have been a long vacation and I doubt I would ever budget that much time into a visit to Santa Barbara. Somehow time seems to go by quicker while cruising. There are all the usual domestic chores that need to be done plus because we have no car and rely on walking or public transit everything takes a little bit longer. No complaints though we all feel much healthier for it. In short we saw the butterfly exhibit, took in the Grossology exhibit at the Natural History Museum (yes you can smell armpit odor or learn how people vomit), rented a surrey (four wheeled covered pedal car), went to public library, went snorkeling and swimming, music festival, Harry Potter party, had a new windlass pump mount made, had new glasses made (lost them while dinghying in Morro Bay).

We headed for Santa Rosa Island on the west side of the northern group of Channel Islands. Unfortunately it was too windy to launch or land a dinghy. The island looked very interesting and everyone was disappointed. It blew fairly hard through the night and with no let up seen in the forecast we departed for a more sheltered anchorage on Santa Cruz. It was one of those nights sailors hate, having to wake every couple of hours and check the anchor hoping you won't need to do a midnight departure because of a dragging anchor (30kt + winds). The sail past the west side of Santa Cruz is very scenic. The island has steep sides and was shrouded in fog. Pictures to follow. Nadia and I are going fishing this morning, always an adventure.

Nadia's Notes: To Grandma, when you put lipstick on your lips your are really putting algae on your lips. I saw a sunfish on our trip to Santa Cruz Island.

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Starry Days

Nadia wrestles in a big star fish.

Anemone

The enemy of my anemone is my friend??

Santa Barbara Beach

With our boaters friends, Steve and Kathy.

Butterflly Exhibit

Our trip to the Natural History Museum