The following is a log of a sailing trip aboard my sailboat Spirit of Adventure. It was an adventure that I had been planning for several years. Over the past few years, I have had two knee replacements and have almost died as a result of two pulmonary embolisms. At 74 years old, I slowly have recovered and with the approval and clearance from a half dozen doctors, another adventure begins.
Saturday, 8/17/2019- For almost two weeks before today, I had spent many hours getting Spirit of Adventure ready for this trip. I had installed a Katadyn water maker that miraculously converts salt water to fresh drinking water. At four gallons per hour, we had no fear of running low on water. The non-skid on the boat had also all been repainted and my 34 ft 1972 Islander sloop looked almost brand new again. All of the wood on the boat had recently been painted with ten coats of varnish. Diana (my trustworthy first mate (and my sister) arrived and we provisioned the boat for a two week trip.
The plan- If you refer to three of my earlier blogs (Sailing California's Cape Horn Parts 1-3) you will see that my friend Al and I had attempted going to Morro Bay and although we didn't make it quite to Morro Bay, we still had a grand adventure. One thing I learned from that trip is that it is very time consuming to sail north along California's coast. The wind, currents and (I believe) even God are against you. My plan for this trip was to motor the 100 miles to Santa Barbara and then after a few days motor again the 120 miles to Morro Bay. I may attempt to sail north again in the future but at this time motoring is my preferred way of doing it. Note- With the completion of this trip, I have passed by Point Conception (The Cape Horn of the West Coast) FOUR times. I no longer fear Point Conception but I have a very healthy respect for that part of our ocean. On with the log.
Sunday, 8/18/2019- Diana and I readied the boat for a morning departure but as we planned, we had no schedule because schedules are only to be broken more often than not. We motored over to the fuel dock and filled our main tank (27 gal) and two five gallon diesel containers. Then turned right once past the breakwater. It was a beautiful clear day with almost no wind and a clear blue ocean. We motored north at 5.3 knots. To say that we were both excited would be an understatement. We relaxed, made lunch and later dinner and just talked into the night. Diana finally said that she was going to "rest" until I called her for her watch. Now we have sailed together for quite a few years and so we don't set formal watches or times when we are tending to the boat and the other boats and islands that could get in our way. I had turned on the radar when the last light of the sun had slid into darkness. I also put a four nautical mile "guard zone" on so that if anything came within that zone, an alarm would sound. At about midnight, we left the Rancho Palos Verde cliffs and headed across the vast Bay of Los Angeles. As we later neared the gap between the Channel Islands and the mainland, our boat speed slowed to just a bit over two knots. The southern running ocean currents along here almost brought my boat to a stop. The wind and the southern current almost stopped my boat even though my RPM's read 2,200 all of the time. Diana and I switched watches and I believe one time I got 2.5 hours of rest. What a nice sister.
Monday, 8/19/2019 - 8/22/2019- After motoring for almost 23 hours straight, we pulled into the Santa Barbara Marina. I had spoken via telephone, to the Harbor Patrol office and they had assured me that we would have a slip for the three nights we were going to stay. We arrived about an hour sooner than I had projected. Diana and I both slept once we had checked in and got our slip. We were in the middle of quite large fishing boats and unsightly at first, we soon enjoyed these young hard working fisherman and their boats. Mary rode the train up to Santa Barbara and I met her around 11:00am the next day.
We walked the few short blocks back to her hotel and after dropping off her bags, we were soon on the boat having a great salad lunch that Diana had prepared.
Mary and I both love Santa Barbara and it was great to show Diana around the beautiful town. We visited the Sterns Warf, the Mission and had a great lunch downtown at the Benchmark Eatery. This day that Mary was there we all walked seven miles each.
Sunday, 8/18/2019- Diana and I readied the boat for a morning departure but as we planned, we had no schedule because schedules are only to be broken more often than not. We motored over to the fuel dock and filled our main tank (27 gal) and two five gallon diesel containers. Then turned right once past the breakwater. It was a beautiful clear day with almost no wind and a clear blue ocean. We motored north at 5.3 knots. To say that we were both excited would be an understatement. We relaxed, made lunch and later dinner and just talked into the night. Diana finally said that she was going to "rest" until I called her for her watch. Now we have sailed together for quite a few years and so we don't set formal watches or times when we are tending to the boat and the other boats and islands that could get in our way. I had turned on the radar when the last light of the sun had slid into darkness. I also put a four nautical mile "guard zone" on so that if anything came within that zone, an alarm would sound. At about midnight, we left the Rancho Palos Verde cliffs and headed across the vast Bay of Los Angeles. As we later neared the gap between the Channel Islands and the mainland, our boat speed slowed to just a bit over two knots. The southern running ocean currents along here almost brought my boat to a stop. The wind and the southern current almost stopped my boat even though my RPM's read 2,200 all of the time. Diana and I switched watches and I believe one time I got 2.5 hours of rest. What a nice sister.
Monday, 8/19/2019 - 8/22/2019- After motoring for almost 23 hours straight, we pulled into the Santa Barbara Marina. I had spoken via telephone, to the Harbor Patrol office and they had assured me that we would have a slip for the three nights we were going to stay. We arrived about an hour sooner than I had projected. Diana and I both slept once we had checked in and got our slip. We were in the middle of quite large fishing boats and unsightly at first, we soon enjoyed these young hard working fisherman and their boats. Mary rode the train up to Santa Barbara and I met her around 11:00am the next day.
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| Diana (First mate & sis) & Captain Don |
Mary and I both love Santa Barbara and it was great to show Diana around the beautiful town. We visited the Sterns Warf, the Mission and had a great lunch downtown at the Benchmark Eatery. This day that Mary was there we all walked seven miles each.
Thursday 8/22/2019- Mary had left, on the train back home,
and Diana and I were planning on leaving SB this morning. I took a walk over to the Harbor Patrol and inquired about the weather north of Santa Barbara. The evening winds were predicted to be 30-40 knots and the sea swells were predicted to be 10 feet or more. The following day (Friday) was much calmer and the sea state was more friendly. We chose to stay one more day.
Friday 8/23/2019- We awoke early and were motoring out of the Santa Barbara marina by 8:30 AM. Coming up from Los Alimitos had been rough and Diana had been sick part of the way. I was amazed at how she was looking forward to this part of our trip. I stuck to my plan and motored north past Point Conception and onward past Vandenberg Air Force Base. The seas were not calm but the worst thing we had to contend with was large ocean swells of ten feet or more. The wind was light so motoring was once again, our best option. Night watches can sometimes seem extremely long and at one point, I had only been on watch for an hour. Diana had gotten up and I told her I was really tired and asked her if she could take over. She didn't question me but just took over her watch 1.5 hours early. I slept until almost midnight and awoke quite refreshed.
During night watch, the radar is always on and the guard zone and the AIS kept us from running into other ships or land. When we are on watch, we can read, take short ten minute naps, sit outside under the stars, and most often we sit and watch the miles click off on the chart plotter. Time at night seems to go either very slowly or very quickly. Sometime after midnight and around Point Arguello, our speed picked up and we were cruising along at 5.5-6.5 knots. The ocean was like glass and there was no stopping from traveling at such a high rate of speed. During Diana's watch, she once awoke me stating that we were about to hit "287". I hurried to the chart plotter and smiled as I explained to her that "287" was the depth of the ocean at that point. I was so pleased that instead of her not waking me, she erred on the side of caution and awoke me. Some friends ask me if I ever become afraid when out in the ocean. I have never been afraid whether day or night or going from mainland to Catalina or on a crossing from Hawaii to San Francisco. I don't believe I have ever seen Diana afraid, except maybe when we almost hit 287. Early the next morning, she awoke me again and said that there were things with lights on them directly in our path.
These were small oil islands and as numerous as they were, we surely could have hit one of them.
I took the watch and let her sleep until we arrived at Morro Bay.
One note is... On my chart plotter, it looks at our current speed and the distance to our next port and estimates the time we will arrive. At one point, we were estimated to arrive a t 5:21 AM. Now I have been to Morro Bay maybe five times but I have never entered the port from the ocean. There is a bar (not the drinking type) at the entrance and there are often breaking waves at the entrance to the harbor. I knew that the harbor patrol went to work at 6:30 AM so I slowed Spirit of Adventure down until my estimated time to arrive was 7:00 AM. We arrived at 7:05 AM and when I called the Harbor Patrol, they said that the entrance into Morro Bay was clear of fog and very little breaking waves. We glided into the channel and after a quick phone call to the Morro Bay Yacht Club, we were assigned to a mooring ball (#2). I had told the yacht club member that my sis and I would be sleeping and would be over to pay for the mooring ($20/night) sometime that afternoon. She understood and agreed.
Saturday 8/24-8/25- Now some say that Morro Rock is just a big rock, or a small mountain but this is the remains of a volcanic plug in the middle of a (you guessed it) a volcano. Part of the love of Morro Bay has to be Morro Rock. It greets you when you are miles out to sea and Morro Rock seems to catch your attention no matter where you are in town. It has been written about, painted and certainly is one of the most photographed features of Morro Bay. I believe it is beautiful.
For the next two days, Diana and I slept in, took our inflatable to shore and just wandered this quaint part of our California coast. Diana spent a lot of time (but not much money) in the famous Shell Shop. We walked the length of Morro Bay several times and at one point we had lunch at The Coffee Pot. I introduced Gordon (the owner) to my sis from Colorado and he gave her a hug and a mug. She proclaimed her egg omelette the best she had ever eaten.
Monday 8/26 - Wednesday 8/28- Heading home- I had hoisted aboard our inflatable, flipped it over on the forward deck, covered it with it's cover and the strapped it all down for the ride back South. Before leaving Morro Bay, on Monday morning, we stopped by the fuel dock and topped off our main tank with diesel. It had only used a 1/2 tank coming up from Santa Barbara and so I was pleased to only spend a bit over $10 for fuel for the trip home. We headed out early into the foggy morning and with the lack of any wind, we motored South. It was foggy but beautiful.
We had only gone about five miles when the engine sputtered to a stop. I could tell immediately that we had a fuel problem and after quickly removing my primary fuel filter and the plastic bowl that is attached to the bottom, I was sure that we had bad or "dirty" fuel from Morro Bay. I would start the motor, it would run for 10-15 minutes and then get clogged. Luckily the wind came up and we sailed. My desire from the beginning of the trip was to sail and we cruised along at rip roaring speed of 5 plus knots. I have been asked many times how I could travel in my boat at only a bit over walking speed. I remind them that 5 knots times 24 hours is n 120 miles. 120n miles is a good distance in 24 hours and I (we on this trip) can eat, sleep, read, listen to music and just enjoy our time while traveling at this speed. The next morning we tacked (turned) and headed along the West coast of Santa Cruz Island. Diana and I had spent many weeks on Santa Cruz Island in previous years and I really wanted to spend a few days in one of it's beautiful coves. Diana and I have always loved snorkeling but it was not to be this year. We traveled just outside of the shipping lanes and were passed by many large cargo ships. I imagine my small sailboat to be like a rabbit crossing the freeway. My AIS always warned me of them passing and the possibility of us colliding but we managed to miss all of the large ships. Just before sunset, we passed Anacapa Island and as the sun sat behind the island, it glowed like a magnificent jewel.
As you may remember, our motor faltered off and on most of this day and night. We sailed in light winds until after midnight and then my sister and I discussed our options. We could just lay adrift in shipping lanes until morning when wind might reappear. Diana was ready to stand her watch when I suggested another option. We could get towed if we could find some Boat US towboat that would come out in the middle of the night. I pay annually for unlimited towing from Boat US. After only a short while, the dispatcher found a boat out of Channel Islands who would come down and tow us further south to our port of Los Alimitos. I had been towed before when I came up from Mexico with a diesel tank of bad fuel and again when my alternator died on our way North in my second part of Cape Horn with Al. The two pilots arrived at 4:00AM and quickly took us into tow for Los Al. One of the Boat US pilots told us to go to sleep and catch up on some rest. We arrived in our slip at 10:30 AM the next morning and the captain was well rested.
Note- While there was not much I could do about the bad (dirty) fuel, it was easy to discern where I had gotten the bad fuel. Before Morro Bay, the engine had run beautifully for over 24 hours at one point just before Morro Bay. After refueling and within a short distance, I had a terrible running engine that would run for no more than ten minutes at a time. After returning to Los Al, I purchased a pump that would re-cycle my diesel fuel and run it back through a newly purchased filter that separates gunk and water from the fuel. I ran this pump/filter assembly for several hours and cleaned or polished my diesel fuel. My engine again ran beautifully. I will 1) run all new fuel into my tank through my newly purchased filter and if somehow I find I have dirty fuel, I can polish (clean) my fuel while out to sea. I learned another important lesson.
Our final log read that we had sailed/motored over 450 nautical miles (not counting the towing). We had loved all parts of our trip and my goal of showing my sister Santa Barbara and Morro Bay had been gloriously achieved. This had been my sister's and my longest trip and My wife Mary had even been able to join us in Santa Barbara for two days.
PS- After being towed by the two great young men, I mentioned that my sis and I are both in our 70's and that we are still sailing on trips like this 450 nm trip to Morro Bay. They were amazed and congratulated us. As they departed, they both shouted back at us..."STAY YOUNG!!" All I can say is, we will do our best.
Note- For my Yellow Brick track of this great trip, please click on the following link...
https://my.yb.tl/Spiritofadventure
Note #2- After returning to my slip in Los Alimitos Bay I found (online) a way I could polish (clean) my own fuel at sea or in my slip. This is a two part system where the pump (orange suit case) siphons the fuel from my tank, then pumps it back into the tank through a good filter (see the round black filter in the upper right) which separates, water and particles which could contaminate the fuel going into my engine. I ran this for several hours while moving the siphon hose around the bottom of my fuel tank. After replacing the primary fuel filter, the engine started immediately and gave me no more trouble. After this (also) I promised myself that wherever I bought fuel, it would get run through the filter before going into my tank.
and Diana and I were planning on leaving SB this morning. I took a walk over to the Harbor Patrol and inquired about the weather north of Santa Barbara. The evening winds were predicted to be 30-40 knots and the sea swells were predicted to be 10 feet or more. The following day (Friday) was much calmer and the sea state was more friendly. We chose to stay one more day.
Friday 8/23/2019- We awoke early and were motoring out of the Santa Barbara marina by 8:30 AM. Coming up from Los Alimitos had been rough and Diana had been sick part of the way. I was amazed at how she was looking forward to this part of our trip. I stuck to my plan and motored north past Point Conception and onward past Vandenberg Air Force Base. The seas were not calm but the worst thing we had to contend with was large ocean swells of ten feet or more. The wind was light so motoring was once again, our best option. Night watches can sometimes seem extremely long and at one point, I had only been on watch for an hour. Diana had gotten up and I told her I was really tired and asked her if she could take over. She didn't question me but just took over her watch 1.5 hours early. I slept until almost midnight and awoke quite refreshed.
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| Chart Plotter showing information. |
During night watch, the radar is always on and the guard zone and the AIS kept us from running into other ships or land. When we are on watch, we can read, take short ten minute naps, sit outside under the stars, and most often we sit and watch the miles click off on the chart plotter. Time at night seems to go either very slowly or very quickly. Sometime after midnight and around Point Arguello, our speed picked up and we were cruising along at 5.5-6.5 knots. The ocean was like glass and there was no stopping from traveling at such a high rate of speed. During Diana's watch, she once awoke me stating that we were about to hit "287". I hurried to the chart plotter and smiled as I explained to her that "287" was the depth of the ocean at that point. I was so pleased that instead of her not waking me, she erred on the side of caution and awoke me. Some friends ask me if I ever become afraid when out in the ocean. I have never been afraid whether day or night or going from mainland to Catalina or on a crossing from Hawaii to San Francisco. I don't believe I have ever seen Diana afraid, except maybe when we almost hit 287. Early the next morning, she awoke me again and said that there were things with lights on them directly in our path.
These were small oil islands and as numerous as they were, we surely could have hit one of them.
One note is... On my chart plotter, it looks at our current speed and the distance to our next port and estimates the time we will arrive. At one point, we were estimated to arrive a t 5:21 AM. Now I have been to Morro Bay maybe five times but I have never entered the port from the ocean. There is a bar (not the drinking type) at the entrance and there are often breaking waves at the entrance to the harbor. I knew that the harbor patrol went to work at 6:30 AM so I slowed Spirit of Adventure down until my estimated time to arrive was 7:00 AM. We arrived at 7:05 AM and when I called the Harbor Patrol, they said that the entrance into Morro Bay was clear of fog and very little breaking waves. We glided into the channel and after a quick phone call to the Morro Bay Yacht Club, we were assigned to a mooring ball (#2). I had told the yacht club member that my sis and I would be sleeping and would be over to pay for the mooring ($20/night) sometime that afternoon. She understood and agreed.
For the next two days, Diana and I slept in, took our inflatable to shore and just wandered this quaint part of our California coast. Diana spent a lot of time (but not much money) in the famous Shell Shop. We walked the length of Morro Bay several times and at one point we had lunch at The Coffee Pot. I introduced Gordon (the owner) to my sis from Colorado and he gave her a hug and a mug. She proclaimed her egg omelette the best she had ever eaten.
Monday 8/26 - Wednesday 8/28- Heading home- I had hoisted aboard our inflatable, flipped it over on the forward deck, covered it with it's cover and the strapped it all down for the ride back South. Before leaving Morro Bay, on Monday morning, we stopped by the fuel dock and topped off our main tank with diesel. It had only used a 1/2 tank coming up from Santa Barbara and so I was pleased to only spend a bit over $10 for fuel for the trip home. We headed out early into the foggy morning and with the lack of any wind, we motored South. It was foggy but beautiful.
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| Morro Bay Sea Otters |
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| Morro Bay thousands of sea birds |
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| Anacapa Island Channel Islands |
As you may remember, our motor faltered off and on most of this day and night. We sailed in light winds until after midnight and then my sister and I discussed our options. We could just lay adrift in shipping lanes until morning when wind might reappear. Diana was ready to stand her watch when I suggested another option. We could get towed if we could find some Boat US towboat that would come out in the middle of the night. I pay annually for unlimited towing from Boat US. After only a short while, the dispatcher found a boat out of Channel Islands who would come down and tow us further south to our port of Los Alimitos. I had been towed before when I came up from Mexico with a diesel tank of bad fuel and again when my alternator died on our way North in my second part of Cape Horn with Al. The two pilots arrived at 4:00AM and quickly took us into tow for Los Al. One of the Boat US pilots told us to go to sleep and catch up on some rest. We arrived in our slip at 10:30 AM the next morning and the captain was well rested.
Note- While there was not much I could do about the bad (dirty) fuel, it was easy to discern where I had gotten the bad fuel. Before Morro Bay, the engine had run beautifully for over 24 hours at one point just before Morro Bay. After refueling and within a short distance, I had a terrible running engine that would run for no more than ten minutes at a time. After returning to Los Al, I purchased a pump that would re-cycle my diesel fuel and run it back through a newly purchased filter that separates gunk and water from the fuel. I ran this pump/filter assembly for several hours and cleaned or polished my diesel fuel. My engine again ran beautifully. I will 1) run all new fuel into my tank through my newly purchased filter and if somehow I find I have dirty fuel, I can polish (clean) my fuel while out to sea. I learned another important lesson.
Our final log read that we had sailed/motored over 450 nautical miles (not counting the towing). We had loved all parts of our trip and my goal of showing my sister Santa Barbara and Morro Bay had been gloriously achieved. This had been my sister's and my longest trip and My wife Mary had even been able to join us in Santa Barbara for two days.
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| My sis and best first mate...Diana Love you Sis! |
Note- For my Yellow Brick track of this great trip, please click on the following link...
https://my.yb.tl/Spiritofadventure
Note #2- After returning to my slip in Los Alimitos Bay I found (online) a way I could polish (clean) my own fuel at sea or in my slip. This is a two part system where the pump (orange suit case) siphons the fuel from my tank, then pumps it back into the tank through a good filter (see the round black filter in the upper right) which separates, water and particles which could contaminate the fuel going into my engine. I ran this for several hours while moving the siphon hose around the bottom of my fuel tank. After replacing the primary fuel filter, the engine started immediately and gave me no more trouble. After this (also) I promised myself that wherever I bought fuel, it would get run through the filter before going into my tank.
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