We went to Catalina to spend Christine's birthday, and as a special treat our old friend Steve from Wilmington came to celebrate. We started out with morning pancakes and ended the day with a bbq on the beach! A warm thank you to Steve for making Christine's birthday extra special.
Our initial plan was to spend four nights in Avalon (the city that made Catalina Island famous); it's a quaint, Mediterranean style town whose only mode of transport is golf carts. While we enjoyed seeing the historic casino/theater and walking the hilly neighborhoods, this town is also a bit stuffy for our tastes. After one night on a mooring ball, we asked for a refund and have returned to the Isthmus.
We wanted more island time, so we went back to Santa Cruz for a longer visit. For two nights we anchored in a rocky bay surrounded with eucalyptus trees and cliffs. The views were spectacular. While hiking we kept a sharp lookout for scorpions and snakes. But at night our focus was shooting stars and constellations.
Our last full day with Gretchen and Dave was spent touring the vineyards of Santa Barbara. We enjoyed these vineyards more than Napa and Sonoma due to their quaintness and seclusion; and the wines were better too! After tasting our fill of wine, we found a lonesome picnic table overlooking vineyards and mountains and enjoyed some crackers, cheese and conversation. Thanks again, Gretchen and Dave, for coming out! We really enjoyed your company!!
Roger's older sister and brother in law (Gretchen and Dave) came out for a visit. We took them to Santa Cruz Island to visit the marine sanctuary. While the way over and back were quite challenging, boating-wise, the bright Milky Way at night and secluded anchorage made it worth it.
This was a great day on the water! A blue whale swam within 20 feet of us, there were a lot of seals and the wind was steady.
While in San Francisco, we took a day tour to Napa Valley and Sonoma. While this is not enough time to really experience the vineyards and surrounding beauty, it was enough time to tour three vineyards and taste 12 different wines.
Because of a usually rough and long passage to San Francisco, we decided to take the train. It was a last-minute whirlwind tour; we stayed in three different hotels (due to limited availability) and saw most of the city by foot or bike. We saw all the usual tourist traps (Fisherman's Wharf: never again), but also found some great (small and quaint) dinner cafes. San Francisco proved to be a fun town and a good get-away from the boat (it was nice having our own bathroom with shower and square bed).
Although initially foggy, Santa Barbara is our favorite town so far in California. The mountains deliver a much needed familiar backdrop, but with palm trees. We plan on staying here for a few weeks while we explore the vineyards of Santa Barbara, the Channel Islands and San Francisco.
Here we are, cavorting on the boat on our second passage to Catalina. Notice that we're not driving; our new crew member, Ollie, is driving the boat for us. We only took the wheel to set the mooring. (Ollie is the name of our new auto-pilot; and he steers better than we do).
This is Angel's Gate; the end of the breakwater for the Port of LA. We hope to not see this lighthouse again for the foreseeable future!
