Leg 1 - San Francisco to Ensenada
On June 21st, 2003, we purchased Cattitude from Ginger Thacker, a nice lady who kept her boat in Richmond, the north side of the San Francisco Bay. After taking delivery of the boat 4 miles offshore, sailing about for a while and then returning Ginger to shore, Steve, Leslie, Nicholas and Steve's parents Fran and Ed Regier sailed the boat out the Golden Gate, and turned left. Sailing was good as the wind was 20 knots from the northwest, except that Fran got seasick. That evening, we arrived at Half Moon Bay, 25 miles south, where plumbing problems kept the boat in-port for the weekend, and we also completed the name change of the boat to Wabi Sabi.
On June 28, we sailed 40 miles to Capitola, a harbor 5 miles east of Santa Cruz. The day was mostly overcast and with no wind, except when we passed Santa Cruz the fog lifted, the breeze filled in, and we had a wonderful 1 hour of sailing! There we spent the next 6 weekends provisioning, repairing, and upgrading the boat. It was a beautiful venue where we attached to a mooring in the harbor about 400 feet offshore of the active summertime beach. We enjoyed the view, the live music wafting from a restaurant on the wharf, and the quaint stores that lined the waterfront area. One day, Mark Bartlett and family visited us, and we sailed for a couple of hours, during which we were boarded by the Coast Guard. They made a safety inspection, and we nearly passed with flying colors, but we were told to have a waste discharge plan and wire-shut our waste discharge valve.
Twice, Nicholas did not tie the dinghy well to the boat, and it came loose and floated away. Once it was saved by a passing paddleboarder, but the 2nd time Nick had to swim for it. He ties better knots now. Had we more time, we would have liked to spend the entire summer at Capitola, visiting on the weekends. We made many trips to Cosco for food, K-Mart for household items, and West Marine for boat parts. We installed the radar and GPS chartplotter, as well as a seemingly endless list of modifications and maintenance to prepare us for our extended voyage.
Beach at Capitola
On July 26th, the family motored from Capitola at 0300 in the dark, windless fog, and arrived 75 miles south at San Simeon Bay just after the sun set. The wind never filled in, and we had to motored the entire way. We did see 11 whales - Blue and Humpback. One dove while coming directly towards us, and we were tense until we saw it blow behind us. After anchoring, we enjoyed the evening playing Yahtzee in this sleepy bay with only 2 other boats. The next morning we sailed for Port San Luis, next to Avila Beach, where we fueled and picked up a mooring.
The next weekend, August 2, we embarked on a week-long vacation sailing down the coast of California. We left 0630, where there was no wind and clear skies until about noon, when the wind filled in from the northwest rising to 22 knots. A group of about 100 dolphins surrounded and swam with the boat, jumping and playing at our bow. We also had a close encounter with a large whale of some sort. We reduced sail around Point Conception, and arrived at Coho Anchorage at 1800. The Bruce anchor wouldn't set, so we used the Danforth - there was a lot of kelp around, and presumably on the bottom as well. We sailed 85 miles this day.
The next morning, Steve and Leslie spent about 30 minutes cleaning the kelp off of the anchor and chain, and left the harbor at 0815. The wind was west and varied in strength up to 20 knots, the seas were moderate, and the skies were clear - a good day of sailing. We arrived 35 miles south at Santa Cruz Island around 1630, and anchored in a small, poorly protected inlet called Cueva Valdaze. We went ashore (a no-no without a landing permit), and explored the small beach and marine caves. The cove was exotic, beautiful and secluded, but a bit rolly and hard to sleep.
Wabi Sabi at anchor at Santa Cruz Island
On August 4, we motored 3 miles to Painted Cave, the largest marine cave in the world. Steve stayed on board while Leslie, Nicholas and Katherine took the dinghy to the cave. Unfortunately, the waves were too large for us to enter the cave safely in our dingy, and we had to skip this highly anticipated part of our vacation. We sailed with good wind astern to Smuggler's Cove at the southeastern part of the island 20 miles away. We arrived at 1430, and spent the afternoon putting around the area in the dinghy.
The 5th found us departing Smuggler's Cove at 0630 after a night of winds up to 31 knots. We motorsailed 70 miles in variable winds and clear, warm skies to Santa Catalina Island, and had occasional dolphins around the boat. We arrived at Isthmus Cove, near the town of Two Harbors, at 1945, but had trouble picking up the rear mooring line due to winds and current. We spent three days here, as we were told by the harbormaster that Avalon was totally full and could accept no more boats. We have been to Two Harbors several times in the past, and enjoy the simple country store and minimalist surroundings. There is just enough civilization for us to get ice cream cones during the day.
On the evening of August 7th, we were departing for San Diego, when a floating mooring line in the harbor got wrapped around our propeller. After being assisted back to our mooring by the harbor police, we untangled the line, but decided to wait until morning to depart again. So, at 1030 on the 8th, we began our 100 mile sail to San Diego. Light variable winds and clear skies were the order of the day, and we sailed slowly southeast. We spotted no whales or dolphins at all, which is unusual. During the night, each family member sailed the boat on 2-hour shifts, with Steve sleeping in the cockpit or at the salon, checking with the crew every hour or so. The wind died around 0200, and we motored the rest of the night until we arrived at San Diego at 0630 with the dawn on the 9th.
After motoring 2 hours to the south end of the San Diego Bay, we arrived at the California Yacht Marina in Chula Vista. There we spent the day cleaning the boat, exploring the area, and completing installation of the watermaker Steve had been working on all week. We needed parts, and got a cab into San Diego, which cost $72 for the round trip! To celebrate our first night passage as a family (and Leslie and Katherine's first night passage ever), we had dinner at the Polynesian restaurant next to the marina.
On August 10th, we packed up and made ready to drive home. Bobby Dean and family, friends of ours who live in San Diego, picked us up and took us to the rental car place to get a car to drive back to Fresno, thus ending our week's vacation. The pressure vessel in the watermaker had a crack in it, so we gave it to Bobby to take to the manufacturer next week and get a replacement.
On August 30th, I drove to San Diego and loaded up more stores from Fresno. I also re-installed the watermaker pressure vessel, and performed various other upgrades to the boat. I began an inventory of the boat's extra parts, materials and consumables - we need to make sure we have everything we're going to need. The next morning, Bobby Dean arrived at 0500, and we left the dock at 0600, beginning our 75 mile trip to Ensenada. The wind was light all day, but the sky was clear. We motorsailed all day, seeing no marine wildlife - another odd day. We arrived at dusk, only to find our reserved slip had another boat in it. We tied up to the end of the dock, but because we arrived so late, we were unable to check in with the marina and get our immigration, customs, and port authority paperwork completed. We went into town for dinner, and the entire bill, including beer, was $14! On the morning of September 1st, we removed the sails and bimini for some re-stitching and patching work, and met with the marina manager to get the paperwork completed. Bob's sister-in-law arrived around noon, and gave us a ride back to San Diego, and I drove home.
I had the sails and bimini repaired in Fresno, and Nicholas and I went to Ensenada on September 13, returning to Fresno on the 14th. While there, we reinstalled the sails, and performed various other preparatory tasks on the boat. We enjoyed some time in town, purchasing some good deals, and eating some interesting foods at questionable locations. Subsequent weeks found Katherine and then Ginger joining Steve as he continued to prepare the boat, and vacationing with the atmosphere and cuisine of Ensenada.