Seize the moment, seize the day, seize the life. We departed from Morro
Bay yesterday at noon. The weather window opened up a day earlier than
expected, and it is wonderful to have a wide enough window to cross under
The Golden Gate in San Francisco at 8am to coincide with the slack and
then flooding tide into The Bay. The weather is looking fabulous, warm and
sunny, hardly a breath of wind, and we are easily maintaining our required
average.
Morro Bay was a real little jewel. A population of 12000 people, it is a
small, quaint little town, with an interesting history. On the weekend we
arrived they had a kite flying event on the beach and kites of all kinds
of shapes, sizes and colours were flown. The cone shaped rock that is
prominent of Morro Bay apparently is a volcanic plug that formed many
years ago, and also forms a nice breakpoint for the surfers here. Known as
the foggiest port and the fourth most dangerous, these are just at certain
times of the year and under certain conditions. We met some wonderful
people and had some great experiences.
Looking back a bit we had a very interesting trip in many regards. We
started out hoping to crack 10 000nm in two months, ran nearly non-stop
from Cape Town to Panama, transited as fast as we could, and then the
3000nm stretch up the West Coast, against current and wind. Our first leg
was slower than hoped for due to light winds. Even though we maintained a
6.9kts average, we were hoping for 7.5kts. Motorsailing with the genaker
for weeks kept us in contention though. The trip took us three weeks
longer than anticipated, two of which was stops at a few places for
refuelling and bad weather, and going through Panama. But we have learned
a lot which we can apply to future deliveries up the West Coast.
The trip is not over until we are tied up at end tie S37 at The Oakland
Estaury Marina Village, 37*47.171N/122*16.201W to be exact :-) First tie
up at the Customs dock just a mile away, clear in, and then to Infinity's
first berth in San Francisco. Looking greatly forward to sail in under
good weather. Cross under the bridge, sail between Alcatraz on our port
and the San Francisco city line on our starboard. Then cross under the
Oakland bridge and into the Oakland Inner Harbour area.
Currently we are entering the Monterey Bay area, about 70nm south of San
Francisco, and time here by us is 10am. Earlier in the week we heard
reports of blue whale and orca activity here in Monterey bay. About a 1/4
mile on our port side I spotted a whale blowing spray into the air, doing a
bit of a body flip and then gone.
The special occasions on this trip is far to many to mention or even to
remember. We have captured a lot on video and pics, and also kept a diary
of sorts. I hope to post some of our experiences afterwards, make a little
documentary. Share some magic moments with you.
Once we have arrived in San Francisco and cleared in etc, we will start
preparing Infinity to hand her over to our agent in San Francisco. From the
top of the mast all the way down we will first wash her down before
replacing all the halyards, sheets, lines, stack pack etc. Then shine her
up, inside and out. Should take us about two or three days most. Hope to
spend at least a day just visiting San Francisco and probably fly out on
Tuesday.
As always, take good care
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