We left Santa Cruz in sun and calm seas. As the night passed, the starlit skies turned again to fog. We passed by Point Conception just past dawn and were now in Southern California. We headed to Santa Barbara to see Steve and Lynel Lemon as their guests at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club for dinner. We were greeted by an armed harbor master who required ID and vessel documentation then she came to the boat to drop dye tabs in the heads insuring we had legal waste discharge. We enjoyed the Lemon’s hospitality and the historic Santa Barbara YC –even saw the trophy donated by Mussolini. We fueled taking on 475 usg. The fuel dock attendant was amazed we had come all the way from Seattle on so little fuel. Quick calculations indicated that we had burned 2.9 gph at 7 knots.
We passed south of the Channel Islands. Again we were amazed at the lack of vessel traffic in the shipping lanes. We had been blessed with several great dolphin shows on the way down the coast but nothing like we would see this day. Large groups would skip across the water to play with us, more would join then poof they would be gone. This spectacular show went on all day.
Derek go the prize for the best pics for sure.
We went by Catalina Island in the dark. A mass of bright lights showed up in the distance, the AIS indicated two huge tankers transferring fuel. A call the to support vessel and we changed course to avoid the ships by two miles.
Point Loma raised in the horizon as the dawn broke and we rounded the sea buoy in sun and warmth. it appears the whole Navy decided to enjoy the day of boating just as we entered the narrow channel, somewhat intimidating to say the least,
We turned to clear Shelter Island and a call to Wayne Jones from Selene California confirmed our slipp assignment. We docked at the Island Palm Hotel and Marina, a great place to be with full hotel amenities provided to guest boats– yup we all hit the hot tub as soon as we were secured
This ended the first leg of the adventures of Furthur. The trip went very well, the boat performed flawlessly and the crew were all great to have along, they left with a new outlook and increased confidence in themselves and the boats.
The pictures are looking great!