San Diego, California

We've logged nearly 2000 miles since leaving Portland! We are now in San Diego and are doing our last-minute repairs, paperwork, and buying-spree in preparation for our adventures this winter down in Mexico! We got in on the 11th and were beginning to feel we were the last of the cruising boats to arrive into the San Diego harbor as the last few harbors North of San Diego were fairly empty of cruisers the last week or so... We spent Thanksgiving here with family friend's of Jay's and will setting off to Mexico next week sometime.

Definitely our favorite harbor so far in California has been Morro Bay. We ran into fishing/sailboat "Chanty" there and ended up hanging out for a week as it was very homey and had one of the best beaches for wildlife we've seen so far on the trip! It's a little working town that has not been developed like most of the rest of the harbors down the Central and Southern California coast. They have, however, recently piped drinking water in from the Sacramento (drinking water has historically been a problem in Morro Bay) and the developers are chomping at the bit to develop little Morro Bay, so hurry down before the charm is lost in this little and hospitable harbor.

Our trip from Halfmoon Bay to San Diego has been pretty uneventful, big wind and seas wise, in comparison with the trip down the Oregon, Northern California coast. We enjoyed some of the best sailing of our trip from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, comfortable 15 to 20 knot breezes. Visited Jay's family in Santa Cruz for about 10 days and were very busy during the visit (including a new nephew of Leslie's), so ended up by-passing Monterey to get moving down the coast. Point Conception was pacifico when we rounded the cape around 2300 at night -- only about 12 knots wind. Visited Santa Barbara, which is a very clean and pretty city. The famous old wooden pier burnt not long after we left, very sad.

We spent a nearly a week in the Channel Islands, which are just past Point Conception. The anchorages there are definitely trials for your anchoring skills. Bow and Stern anchoring is the way in SoCal cuz of the big populations and limited cruising grounds, so we had a bit of learning curve on that one. As an example, the cruising guide said that Frys harbor can accomodate 12 boats or so. There were only two of us the night we stayed there and we thought two was a crowd -- how on earth do they ever fit 12 boats in this anchorage?!

While in the Channel Islands, we also had gales on the windward side of the island and were riding them out on the lee. One night we had 34-37 knot winds coming off the island in our anchorage! The dinghy was trying to fly! (And it's a hard dink!) The holding was excellent, however, so tho it was noisy, we actually were able to get some rest as there was no fetch, only a 2-3 foot chop! Our favorite anchorage on Santa Cruz Island was Albert anchorage, well protected and very pretty. Jay actually got some snorkeling in.

Leaving the Channel Islands to Oxnard saw Small Craft Advisories in the E. Santa Barbara Channel. The Mid-Channel bouy was already showing 19-23 knots in the morning so that meant Windy Lane was going to be hooting. I was ready to turn around and anchor again at Alberts till the winds abated, but we went ahead out into Windy Lane on our way to Oxnard. When we got out of the lee of the island we had winds to 34 knots! We put up the storm staysail and triple reefed main and had a great sail w/8 foot seas! :-)

One of the things we have learned is that cruising is alot of fun, but also alot of work. Jay and I feel like we have been on-the-go non-stop since we left Scappoose in July. By no means are we complaining, as cruising is definitely tops over the "W" word, but it is also much more work than we had expected. We are looking forward to reaching La Paz to do a little nesting for the winter.

Downwind Marine is THE place to visit in San Diego for the cruiser's questions and needs. They have mail forwarding services and also have a cruiser's net each morning so you can catch up with people. SIYCers were asking about the paperwork... You need visas and fishing licenses. Visas are free at the consulate. Easy bus-train ride from the harbors. Fishing licenses are issued by the Mexican Fishing Licenses office, about 14 blocks from the Mexican Consulate -- easy walking distance. We paid $157 US for our boat, the dinghy, and personal licenses each for Jay and me. Vagabundo del Mar issues Mexican liability insurance at $85 p/year with a $35 membership requirement. Pretty cheap. Charlie's Charts of Mexico and the Baja Boaters Cruising Guides (2 Part) has copies of the required Port Captain Crew Lists that everyone always hears about. Sounds like the Mexicans are pretty lenient on outter Baja on Immigration and Customs arrival. Ensenada, Cedros Island, San Carlos (Mag Bay) and Cabo are all Ports of Entry, though it sounds like Ensenada or Cabo are the main ones used by cruisers. We've heard that Cedros and San Carlos don't really want to bother w/yachties -- but we'll try when we get to San Carlos.

We hope to do a 5-7 day non-stop out of SD to Magdalena Bay, as we again want to get South. Once we leave for Mexico, we are anticipating that Free e-mail will be much harder to come by (and it hasn't been easy thus far), so we would really love to hear from all of you via snail-mail as well as e-mail. Our Snail-mail address is: c/o Steve Allen 6805 NE Skidmore, Portland, Oregon 97218.

OK, that's it for now. We wish all of you fair winds and calm seas -- and please keep in touch. Hasta Mexico!

Fair winds and sunshine,
       Leslie & Jay