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Departing San Francisco- Day 1
We left Tiburon at precisely 1015 on Oct 5th. We were escorted to the Golden Gate Bridge by Fred, Cindi,
John & Sharon on Motu. Despite threatening skies and warnings from the crew of Motu to turn back, we proceeded to
Half Moon Bay. Our excellent crew, Andrew, stood watch most of the way. We saw three whales, porpoises and
were escorted to our mooring buoy by a sea lion.
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| Andrew & Sharon |
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To Monterey, CA
We left at precisely 0730 on October 9th for Monterey
and arrived at 1730. We saw six whales with one pod close to the boat. We also saw many flying seals performing
acrobatics just for us. Unfortunately, there was no wind so we motored again for a second day.
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| Andrew at Watch |
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Oct 7-9- In Monterey
Our departure
was delayed from Monterey. Our new engine would not start. We found great mechanic who quickly
diagnosed the problem as the booster for the solenoid. He also showed us how to bypass the solenoid and start the engine
with a screw driver. We bypassed the booster and the engine started fine. At the last minute before we left, the
radar stopped working but Kim and Andrew quickly reviewed the wiring schematic and diagnosed the problem.
Rounding
Point Conception, "The Cape Horn of North America"
On October
12th, we left Morro Bay headed for Santa Barbara confident that the infamous Point Conception would be
a very easy passage. For hours, Georgia J was buffeted by following seas reaching heights of 12 inches and wind gusting
as high as 4 knots. Despite the conditions, Andrew trolled for tuna and quickly caught two bonito about two feet long
which were thrown back. We finally had to remove the hook for fear that more fish would join us.
At Point
Arguello, electrical storms turned a dark night to daytime but never came closer than four miles. The
effect was eerie enough that we called the Coast Guard just to let them know we were there. This started a chain reaction
of sail boats making the same call. Everyone must have been a bit spooked.
After 18.4
hours of motoring, we arrived early at Santa Barbara and are safely
tied to the dock.
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| Georgia J Rounds Pt. Conception |
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Monterey to Morro Bay
After taking
on fuel, we left the harbor at precisely 4:22 pm as planned. Despite weather predictions, we were surprised by 20+ knots
when we left the harbor. We had a boisterous sail for two hours to Point Pinos and then started the engine. We
motor sailed for the next 18 hours against southerly wind and chop. Fortunately, the sea gradually calmed through the
night. We only saw two boats during the trip. We arrived in Morro
Bay at 11:30 AM on October 10th.
Our friend
Chris drove down from San Francisco to join us for the trip
around Conception. After a night on the mooring buoy, we are spending a second night at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. The weather prediction for Point Conception is for mild conditions, but even better tomorrow night.
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| Crew Safe and Sound in Santa Barbara |
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