Shoving off to Morrow Bay

What a great morning! Many thanks to all our locals that were able to come and see us off at 7:00 a.m. Monday Morning. Dick & I were both so excited and anxious, happy and sad. Love you all and will miss you all.



The trip down was very pleasant during the day. The winds were 15-25 knots coming from directly behind us and the seas swells were 4-6 feet following, with clear skys after the morning fog. The sunset was beautiful!! (See the pics in the slideshow at the bottom.) Shall we say, it was a tad exciting at night. The winds were only forecast to be 15-25 knots at night, with 5-7' swells but ended up being 25-40+, with 7-10' swells. There was no moon and we couldn't see a thing! We had a single reef in our main sail but the outhaul (line) for the 1st reef broke when the mainsail backwinded (the boom was prevented) and the reef came loose. I had to turn the boat around, up into the wind, in pitch black darkness in 10' seas with 30-40 knot winds, so that Dick could put a second reef in the sail. This was not an easy thing to do in the dark & pretty scary. This happened at 9:15 at night. (My sweetheart was at the helm while I was on deck and she did a superb job of keeping the boat stable in the wind and seas - D) . The main sail was damaged just a little from a grommet tearing out as a result (nothing really bad), but it was in a well enforced area of the sail, so did not compromise the sail overall. The rest of the night was uneventful, except for the high winds and seas. Thankfully they were following seas and winds, so it was less uncomfortable. We both took turns resting/sleeping every 2 hours through the night. We were sleeping on the bench in the cock pit. Towards the end of the night we were switching every hour as neither of us could keep our eyes open for more than an hour at a time. The winds and seas settled down into the “teens” and 4-6 feet after about 4:15 am. The Sunrise was beautiful!! (See the slideshow at the bottom.) Neither of us slept much and were quite happy to see Morro Bay in the morning at 9:15.

We were moored in front of the Morro Bay Yacht Club by 10:30 a.m. and have been enjoying VERY nice weather here today and should be leaving Thursday for Ventura. Weather looks promising at the moment. If that changes, we may have to enjoy Morro Bay a little longer. We understand there is a Harbor Festival this weekend and a Kareoke Joint in town :--). Enjoy the slideshow below.

Pictures from the Party

Bon Voyage Party 09-18-2011 HMBYC

We are truly blessed with wonderful friends!  What an outstanding day it was!  The weather was stellar and there were so many who came out to say goodbye.  Thank you to all our friends for coming and sharing your time, well-wishes, cards and gifts with us as we celebrate our leaving.  It meant so very much to us!  Thanks to all for bringing the fabulous foods to share!  Yum!  Thanks to all the club members that helped with the set-up and service of those yummy foods!  Thanks to John "The Kareoke Man" :--) for setting up and adding to the fun and entertainment!  Thanks to Christine, "The Bar-Maid" for making the special "Painkillers" and for providing great service all day!  Special thanks to our Watch Officers, Jeff & Carol, who also helped with the coordination of the food service.  It was a very special day for us.  As excited as we are, I think the hardest thing for us is having to be without you all.

Stay tuned......

Check our pics from the party:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106643295752162272068/BonVoyagePartyHMBYC91811

September 16, 2011, Half Moon Bay California

We are one and a half weeks from "cutting the dock lines".  Getting all the last minute details taken care of, such as setting up this Blog page for all our lovely friends to follow.  Testing... testing... testing...