October 20th, 2006
I could tell we were getting close to Los Angeles; the pelicans were all wearing bling, and the mother seals were carrying their pups in little pink plaid purses…
We arrived in Marina Del Rey yesterday, and are feeling very yachty here. It’s about 80 degrees and it feels so good! We have had a few days of great sailing. We got to fly our new spinnaker, and we were flying downwind at about 12 knots! That doesn’t seem like a lot to you car drivers, but when you are on a box in the middle of the ocean, it feels fast!
We spent a couple nights anchoring in the Channel Islands, Southern California’s answer to the San Juans. We who live in the Pacific Northwest are very fortunate to have the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands, and southeast Alaska as cruising grounds. Apologies to all our California boating friends, but the Channel Islands look like big piles of dryer lint sitting out in the middle of the ocean. There is not a tree in sight, and the anchorages are woefully inadequate. Maybe it’s just the wrong time of year to be visiting the islands, but we found ourselves missing the green Northwest immensely! We did, however, find some very friendly seals on the beach at San Miguel Island.
I have been thinking a lot about prudent sailing. We have done a few very prudent things, like changing to our smaller headsail while we were still at the dock, in anticipation of heavier winds. We were very glad we did that, when it was blowing 25-30 knots through the night watches on our way down here. We have also done a few un-prudent things, like entering moorages and anchorages after dark. It was scary trying to anchor in Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel Island in the dead of night – no lights, shallow water, and the beach was looming dangerously close ahead of us. Jessie was on the GPS, calling out, “More to starboard, Dad; stay in the middle of the channel”. Molly was calling out the depth’ “12 feet, 11 feet…” – we draw 8 feet! I was shining the flashlight on the rocks and the beach, and Jim was calmly driving to the right spot. It all worked out, and it was a nice spot to anchor, but we are learning lessons about timing and entering places with some daylight left. Our girls make great crew members. They are very comfortable with the boat lingo, and are good on the navigation equipment.
We finally have started school on a pretty regular basis. There is one historical fiction book that we read out loud each week, and one that the girls read on their own. Then we have math, history, grammar and spelling, and a Bible class. It seems like a nice full curriculum. We also have science and a navigation DVD that we haven’t dug into yet. I feel like we are a little shy on art and music, but I think being in the South Pacific Islands will take care of that. Phys. Ed takes the form of swinging from the dodger, driving the boat, and playing on the beach whenever they get off the boat.
Things I miss: church, friends, weekends, family, work, and Butch.
Things I don’t miss: traffic, television, school pressures, feeding chickens, and rain
Molly and Jessie are writing journals to post to this site – they will finish soon! Happy Halloween – we’ll talk again from San Diego!