Tag Archives: a family afloat

SLO to Santa Barbara

Our sail from Port San Luis to Santa Barbara was epic. With mostly a beam reach and then down wind sail, we were able to “fly the kite” as well as sail “wing on wing”. The seas were pretty flat and the winds were perfect. From Point Arguello through to the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Conception we had winds of 25 and gusting up to high 20’s. Perfect for a comfortable down wind sail around “the point”. We were originally going to leave from Morro Bay three days prior, but due to a southerly wind direction, we waited. I think we nailed it.

Once rounding Point Conception, we heading for COJO (an anchorage just west of Gaviota). Normally a protected anchorage, the wind had seemed to find it’s way wrapping in at such force, we chose to continue to the next safe anchorage. We sailed another 20 miles to Goleta Beach.

Upon waking at Goleta, the sun was shining and the water was clear. What we noticed with adequate lighting was that we managed to we’ve our way through the lobster traps that had just been placed the night before. Apparently lobster season just started. The anchorage looked like a mine field! It’s amazing that we didn’t snag any coming in the night before. After a few hours of breakfast, coffee and some boatschooling, a jump in the ocean was needed. Warm water (high 60’s) at last!

We were going to head out the the Channel Islands from that point, but with wind report was calling for 20-25 kt gusts. Although that’s not too bad for out at Santa Cruz Island, we chose to go to Santa Barbara first and hopefully hit good island weather afterward.

Santa Barbara was only 8 miles from Goleta. We arrived by early afternoon with time to anchor and go to shore to visit a few friends. Christian’s Dad and my cousin, Joe, who both made the sail with us from Morro Bay, were safely brought back to shore 🙂 .

Our time in Santa Barbara was too quick! Too many things to do and too many people to try to visit. Unfortunately, we didn’t fit it all in, but it we enjoyed it none the less. It was so hot and beautiful, it finally felt like we were heading south!

On Saturday, we heard the weather on Santa Cruz Island should be fair. We found ourselves having a hard the wanting to leave Santa Barbara. We felt like there were more thing to do and people to see. We realized that these feelings will probably come up often. It’s simply part of cruising. So, we left the next day. Here’s a shout out to the people we didn’t get to visit, “Hi, sorry we didn’t meet up. Come visit us somewhere along the way!”.

We had a lovely sail out to Pelican Bay on the North side of Santa Cruz Island. Details await for the next post.

Port San Luis to Goleta

Petaluma sail: part 2 (better late than never)

4 Replies

Well, it’s better late than never. I finally had enough time sitting in front of a computer with adequate wi-fi to post a semi-descent blog posting of our Sail/Motor up to Petaluma and back, May 14-18. The trip up to Petaluma was planned with a departure and meeting with our friends, S/V Sierra and S/V Gone Tomorrow, just off of the Berkeley Pier at 7am. We planned the early morning departure with the flood, in order to make our motor up the river easier. Going with the current and with a high tide is key for this trip. Another key point about this trip is making sure you schedule for the D Street draw bridge opening. This requires a minimum of 4 hour in advance notice during the week and a 24 notice over the weekend. We remember to call that morning at 9:30 am, but the bridge attendant was able to work with our schedule. Thankfully we arrived on time. The motor up was perfect; no wind and warm and sunny until mid way up, then it rained. Times like this, we really enjoy our dodger. The rain cleared once we arrived in Petaluma. There was a few old classic boats tied up when we arrived, shortly after, we learned that this was the “Salute to American Graffiti” weekend in Petaluma and that another 15 or more boats would be arriving in the next day or two. Sure glad we got there a day early!

No complaints for my 34th birthday. The weekend was filled with fun times; communal dinners, potlucks, festival activities, a birthday yoga class with Jen, more friends, walks to the park, more friends and one late night birthday celebration. I think this was the only time I felt my aging body. Late nights, although a great time had by all, can’t do those so much anymore.

On Sunday, we planned our departure for our return trip based on the tide again, but this time we also had to wait for most of the boats that were tied up behind us to leave first. We left just in time to catch the 1pm D Street bridge opening. A lovely motor down the river lead us to a lovely sail in San Pablo Bay. S/V Gone Tomorrow had to head back to their port, but S/V Sierra and our family afloat sailed in to China Camp for a night. We stayed anchored for the night. It was quiet and calm. A very different feel from Petaluma. It was a good way to decompress from the busy weekend.

On Monday, after some boatschooling in the morning, we sailed off the hook and in to Sausalito.

What a fantastic little weekend sail. It’s amazing how little distance you can travel by boat and feel so far away.

Picture from Andy’s boat on our motor up to Petaluma.

A view of the boat crew looking down the river at the city dock and market center. S/V Sierra in front, S/V Shawnigan second from front and S/V Gone Tomorrow third from front. Photo credit: to Andy on S/V Sierra.