After one week of being out, we have arrived at Moss Landing. We are members of Nawiliwili Yacht Club out of Kauai, HI, so we get reciprocal privileges at the Elk Horn Yacht Club in Moss Landing. The community here is so welcoming. We are excited to take showers, empty trash, do laundry, and restock with fresh produce.

Summary of our first week of cruising:

Aug 19: send off part from Galilee Harbor Sausalito, Ca. How amazing it is to gather with people that you so dearly cherish before you set off on a huge journey. I now see why sometimes people never leave; IT’S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE! We left with two guests aboard, Ellamae’s “bio” dad, Jason and Nina’s good friend,  Ava. All the girls aboard were crying as our friends untied our dock lines. I told the girls, “we are lucky to have these feelings, they’re ones that acknowledge all the love we are surrounded with. We are lucky to love these people and lucky they love us. And hopefully we will see them again. Hopefully we will give them the opportunity to travel to visit us along the way.” That night we motored our boat around the corner, ~3 miles, to Horshoe Bay, which is just under the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

August 20th: we sailed “out of the gate” after breakfast and down to Half Moon Bay. Aboard: our family of 5 plus Jason and Ava. The sail took about 6 hours. No one got sick. It was perfect! After setting anchor, we took our guests to shore and again had to say good bye. Jason bought a boat in Florida and plans to meet us in Mexico,so saying goodbye for Ellamae wasn’t as hard. You can follow him here. It was extremely hard for Nina to say goodbye to one of her best friends. As a parent I feel like I failed to realize how hard this would be for her.  But I really don’t think there was any way of knowing how we would feel until the time came. We stayed in HMB for 3 nights. I feel like it took about that much time for the lump in our throats to subside. But of course as I’m writing this, the lump has resurfaced. I hear that it takes 3-6 months to really feel ok with “goodbye”, and who knows, it might always be somewhat of a struggle.

our friends, Cheyenne and Anna and kids came to visit!

 
August 23: sail to Año Nuevo. The sail took about 12 hours. There wasn’t much wind for most of the way. Our average speed was 1-3kts. Underway, we saw over 40 Mola Mola (Sunfish), tons of Moon Jellies, Lions Mane Jellies, and Yolk Jellies, as well and tons of Albatross and other Sea Birds. While anchored there, we watched Humpback Whales breach and Pacific Common Dolphins jump all around out boat! We chose not to jump in the water here, since it’s known for its Great White Shark abundance.

August 24: we sailed off the hook from Año Nuevo and sailed to Santa Cruz in about 3.5 hours. It was mostly a downwind sail with sunny skies.  We made this day the start of the new year of Boat-Schooling. Yay, 7th grade and 2nd grade!

 August 25: after one night on the hook in Santa Cruz we motored to Capitola, which was about 4 miles. There was no wind. We stayed anchored in Capitola for three nights. We met another boat family, surfed, swam, and to our pleasant surprise, had a friend from Sausalito buy us drinks and appetizers from her friends restaurant/bar, The Sand Bar. This was such a treat, since we are now on a cruising budget. Thanks Raylene, Mike, Minna and Jeff! We also were able to take the kids to get local ice cream with a donation we received that was designated to getting the kids a treat. Thanks Sue Jang!  During this week we have also received cruising kitty donations. You know who you are, thanks!!! Again, we are so grateful for all the loved ones in our lives, feeling the love!

Capitola

August 27: today I got my morning workout by pulling up our 65lb anchor with 160 feet of chain that we had out. (We were in 30 feet of water with super strong Easterlies in the evenings) Ha, who needs crossfit! I won’t say how long it took, but I was sure breaking a sweat and breathing hard by the end of it.  We arrived in Moss Landing, ~12 miles, around noon. We’re currently tied up at the Elk Horn YC guest dock. I’m guessing we’ll stay here a few days. As I said earlier, we are stoked to get fresh water showers, clean clothes, and fresh food. There is lots of wildlife here and great people. I think we can keep ourselves occupied for a few days.

 From here, we’ll probably go to Monterey for a few days, then Stillwater Cove just off of Carmel.

Moss Landing

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Also, video clips to come soon!