Saturday, June 16

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We woke before five a.m. and I ran the boat aground before we’d even left the marina. The learning curve at this point is so steep I keep falling off it.

It was a very low tide and our slip was up against the end, near the shore. As we backed out of the slip and pointed our bow toward adventure, the keel went -sigh- into the soft mud. Aground! Twenty seconds later, I had us off the ground and careening toward the main channel out of Los Angeles Harbor. All we needed was a heavy dose of throttle. Which I’m getting used to. Speed is my friend.

The sail to Santa Cruz Island was, in hindsight, a brief walk in the park. The seas were completely calm - I baked Oatmeal Peach scones as we cruised along. The wind was mild. We arrived around 5pm to sunny skies, dropped the anchor and dove into the (very cold) water for a brief shriek.

Nobody got sick. The ocean was kind. We saw dolphins (a huge school of these guys) and seals and I talked on the cell phone with Shayla. She reports that she did really well at her swim meet, got PR’s in every event and knocked 12 seconds off her 100 breast. !!! We got an email from Sophie in France: she reports that she hasn’t slept in 40 hours. !!!
We’re not sure what Hannah’s up to but it’s bound to be exciting. !!!

The anchorage in Smuggler’s Cove was very rolly. The waves didn’t stop coming at us from the side all night, so we didn’t get much sleep. Since it was our first anchorage on the new boat, Harry was up pretty much constantly checking to be sure we were still there. We were.

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Photos

These are dolphins.
They come in these huge pods and surround the boat, preening and showing off with their huge leaps into the air. They're too fast for the camera!

Peter drives the boat.
The sun came out halfway to Santa Cruz Island and we so enjoyed the warmth. We're starting to get used to the schizophrenic weather.

Santa Cruz Island calls our name.
What a beautiful lump of land.