After a great sail to Point Reyes, the wind went light forcing us to motor south.  Originally we had planned to go all the way to Half Moon Bay, but it was about two hours farther and would have forced us to arrive in the dark.  We made the decision to divert into the familiar waters of San Francisco Bay and anchored for the night at Clipper cove on the east side of Yerba Buena Island.  Inside the bay the wind was of course honking in the slot.  In clipper cove we arrived to a spirited one design race (Vanguard 15) followed by the amazing lights of the Bay Bridge from a different view point.

The next morning we left on the outgoing tide for Half Moon Bay.  A three hour detour, but hey, we are cruisers.  There is no schedule.   Still getting used to that.  We dingied in and had lunch at the “best dive bar on the coast” well that’s what the sign said.  Lot of Pelicans on the breakwaters.

Resting half way between Santa Cruz and Monterey about 10 miles off shore.

The next morning we left for Santa Cruz.  Lisa put together a marathon of activities, full contact tourism.  First a bicycle ride to Capitola for the Capitola art and wine fair.  Wow, very crowded, and a startling contrast to the serenity of almost three weeks in Tomales Bay.   One of the booths had a lot of beautiful pictures from the tropics and it turned out that the artist Evelyn and her husband Terry Drew have a cruising boat, Aquarelle, in the Caribbean.

After the art show back to the boat ,leaving the bicycles and then walking to the boardwalk to “enjoy” a ride on the big dipper followed by dinner at Laila, a great middle eastern restaurant recommended by Norman and Lynda.

Now we are tied up at Monterey.  Doing a little boat work.  It’s different having to ride your bicycle to the Home Depot to find a new strap wrench.  Not having a car is a real perspective shift.  Luckily, Monterey has a beautiful bicycle trail along the dunes almost all the way, so no mixing it up with traffic.  We also have really enjoyed the Uber drivers we have met.  Seems to be a great concept. We enjoyed the Jazz Festival on Saturday. After a refill on provisions, we plan to head south for what will be our first overnight (alone) to Santa Barbara or one of the channel islands.  Still under discussion, but likely,  we’ll depart early Monday morning for Santa Barbara where we will wait for the wind in the Northern Channel Islands to subside.  Guidebooks make the anchorages sound a little sketchy so we want settled weather.

Otters

From Berklee School of Music in Boston – MIXCLA +1