22 October 2012

Santa Cruz 2009 - Preview

Santa Cruz vacation was much different this year as the weather was not ideal. Actually, the weather was great with the exception of the wind. We had a much improved anchorage, it was sunny every day, standing temperatures great, however the wind was blowing most of the time.

We had a great time kayaking the sea caves, snorkeling, hiking, taking in the sunsets, boating and just relaxing.

We had planned to return to Channel Islands Harbor on Friday but the winds picked up on Wednesday night and the weather reports said it would only worsen by Friday. So good sailing sense says adjust to the weather and we determined it would be wise to return a day early.

We had a rough passage back to Channel Islands Harbor on Thursday. High winds and seas and the inability to raise the main sail made it pretty bumpy. Made it back safely and all were glad to be in a safe harbor.

Channel Islands Harbor was beautiful yesterday and I headed out for my solo sail back to Long Beach. On the way I was treated to several pods of dolphins and a close encounter of the whale kind...blue whale to be exact. It was about fifty feet off Bella's bow. I estimated it being about 80-90 feet long. This is the closest I've been to a blue whale. Needless to say, it was very exciting.

I'll post more soon.


3 comments:

Laura Kae Brandler said...

wow, to be able to see a whale! and so close. sounds like you got some good sailing experience in. nice pictures too!

Connie H said...

There's no whales in the ocean silly.

Kathryn said...

Thanks again for the trip dad! It was great! I had a lot of fun.