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Position Report 2004-09-30
Half Moon Bay, Ca.
37` 30.15” N 122` 29.04” W
Area Info:
Fresh Salmon (caught this morning) directly from the fishing boat is
about $4.00 a pound.
It's been foggy most of the time we have been here. GREAT anchorage
area.
Jill ----
Wow! Since my last day at work (June 25), we have been racing
time to get the boat ready for our departure and wind up our shore side
life.
We spent the month of July working on storage and saying
good-bye to
friends and family. We did get to take the boat out for several
days
around the fourth of July. We met friends in Richardson’s Bay and
anchored out. It was a good shake down for the boat projects we
have
accomplished. We did discover that our new boom is 6 ½
inches
too long. I'm glad we discovered this while in the bay. On
a tack, we hung up the boom on the back stay. Better to work on this
while
still in the bay area than out at sea.
The first part of August, we hauled out for our final
inspections of
the bottom of the boat and to change the thru hulls and many, many more
projects (when will we ever get to the end of the list??)
We finished and got the boat back to the slip just in time for
a visit
from the kids.
When the kids left, it was back to work. We loaded all
the necessities
aboard the boat. Surprise!!!
We have too much stuff aboard and are way low on our water
line.
Take every thing back off the boat and decide what must be left
behind.
Then we repacked everything and diagrammed where it was stored on the
boat.
A little better, but we are still too heavy. At this point, I
must
thank all our dear friends who took our castoff items and acted so
happy
to have them. (That must be how we got so many things to begin
with).
The last two weeks have been filled with highs and lows.
Birth,
death, and serious injury. We realized that we would not be here
physically to support our friends and family at times like these.
If we do not follow our dream now then when? Life goes on-time
goes
on. We love you all and will carry you in our hearts and
thoughts.
September 15, 2004
When does “cruising” begin? Is it when, having acquired
the boat
and spent countless hours and $$ working on it, you now deem it
“ready”?
Is it when there is no money left with which to outfit and
provision?
Is it when you have saved enough money or have enough time or when the
kids are grown or out of school?
For me, I thought it would be when I quit my job, but I was
then working
twice as long and hard getting the boat tasks ticked of our list. Then
I thought it would be when we had our dock line cutting party.
When
we would say good by to family and friends who patiently listened to us
plan our escape for years. But these events came and went and we
were still working preparing. I, then, thought when the cars and
TV and Internet connection went away.
Today we left our slip for the last time and said good by to
our neighbors.
We are swinging at anchor at Treasure Island and that's cruising!
We no longer have a physical location where we can be found. Of
all
the things we have done to get prepared, untying the dock lines and
moving
away from our slip for the last time was the simplest and yet in some
ways,
the hardest thing to do. Finally saying “we're ready”. We
still
have a list with uncompleted tasks on it, but they will get done as we
go or not at all. This evening, we watched the sunset and had a
nice
dinner and spent time just being together and watching the world.
We are ready for more of this!
But first! Reality creeps in! We have decided to
haul out
once again. Because we are so low on our waterline (yes still) we
must change some thru hulls that are now at the waterline. Since
there is always something to be done, we find many more things to
do.
While we were in the yard, we met so many wonderful people. This
is our first trip to the yard where we did not have a car with
us.
Several people we have just met, offered to lend us their cars for
trips
to reprovision and to purchase parts. We felt hesitant to accept
these offers. As we were walking to the main street our boatyard
neighbor pulled over to the curb, got out of his truck and handed us
his
keys. He said he would pick it up later tonight and walked off
down
the street. Being good cruisers, we headed directly to the ice
cream
parlor. This generosity surprises me. In these times, it is
good to remember the good spirit and generous trusting nature of
Americans.
We splashed on September 23, topped up the fuel tank, and
spent the
night at Treasure Island. In the morning, over to Alameda to run
the measured mile to set new instruments, then to Sausalito. We
spent
four days at anchor in Richardson’s Bay. Tuesday morning at 6:45,
we headed out the gate. I wish I could say it was a beautiful
sunny
day but we are talking about the San Francisco Bay so, of course—it was
foggy! We had a nice trip south to Pillar Point. We saw so
many pods of dolphins that we began to lose track of the numbers.
They were all heading north. Migration?
We arrived at 1500. Made the boat tidy, ate an early
dinner on
board, and took warm showers.
Greg ----
As Jill said above, we have been doing a LOT to get ready!
One thing I found very interesting about our passage to Half Moon Bay
was that we had the company, sort of, of two other boats. As we were
coming
out of the San Francisco bay, a small Montgomery sailboat was also
heading
out. I took a photo of him, and one back at the bridge as our last view
of the Golden Gate. When we got here to Half Moon bay we settled in.
After
our early dinner I looked over and there was that same small Montgomery
sailboat! I went over and talked to him. It is 15 feet long. And we
thought
we were on a small boat! His name is Richard and the boat is named Q2.
He had no autopilot/self steering/generator etc…He said his goal this
year
was ONLY Monterey. Last year he sailed it all the way to Oxnard! From
San
Francisco!!
This is a photo we took of Richard as we were out the Gate.
As I have said in the past, it's not as much about the boat as
the crew.
Later in the evening, we were visited by the crew from S/V
Chalet Mer.
A number of people have asked why we did not hurry and get out
sooner.
Well, we departed only after we thought the boat was well prepared.
And,
I have explained to a couple of people, we are “retired”, that's when
life
can slow down a bit. We are also “cruising” that's when you slow down
and
savor your surroundings, so we are now in double slow mode! And
enjoying
EVERY minute!
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