Anduril Sailing Blog: Flies, Fog and Electrons

To the north we go, one slow bite at a time. After arrival in Ensenada we spent a couple of weeks doing boat repair work. Then we took a six week boat break back in Vancouver. Unless you are fond of really cold, crappy weather, April is too soon to head up into the northern Pacific, so the back at home interval was a wait-it-out strategy.

We returned to Ensenada on May 11th and once we were back at the boat, three days were enough to finish the essential boat chores required for onward travel. This included another two hoists up the mast to install a new wind instrument wand and a new mast-head anchor light. Alice’s biceps grow stronger as she ages.

Happily, aboard Anduril the electrons are now flowing more sensibly. With the old sailing instruments constantly on the fritz, Greg finally got frustrated and sprung for new equipment. The fitting of the new instruments inspired a revamp of the nav station layout, which then led to a major re-wiring job, followed by hours of calibration and troubleshooting to make it all work.

Departing Ensenada en-route to San Diego we anchored just short of the border at Islas Coronado, which also happened to host a huge sea lion rookery. Aside from being extremely noisy and stinky creatures, sea lions also attract flies. Many, many flies. We got the bug screens installed too late and before bed time had to hunt down and swat 300 that had found their way below.

The Coronados holding ground was also sketchy and protection from waves and swells was not good: up, down and sideways we endured the night. Morning finally arrived and up on deck there were a thousand flies waiting. Heading into the wind got rid of a few, but flies are loathe to abandon a boat haven after they’ve found one, strong winds or light. Our last resort was a can of Raid. We don’t like using poisons but better a deck covered in dead flies than live ones.

Arrival in San Diego is a demonstration of US military might. Helicopters roar and submarines go in and out. Large grey ships with numerous protuberances are in great abundance. Despite their famed love of protuberances, sailor types are in fact wary of military ones; any interaction with them could ruin an otherwise nice day out in the bay. Steaming into the harbour we came closer to a US Navy submarine than they liked and a navy gun boat full of hard-faced marines gripping assault rifles roared up to our port bow to wave us away.

Despite this mistake the USA again granted us access to their great country. Mind you, aspects of the current American political climate these days seem to be hardly so great. Not to mention their shockingly frequent shooting rampages. In the news we recently happened upon an article that suggests best practices for people finding themselves in “active shooter” situations. Apparently the order of priority for civilians goes “run, hide, fight”. Gun owner rights evidently trump all sensibility. And the elephant is in the womb.

The USA can be head-shakingly crazy, but the California coast is also really beautiful, if you can see it. Winds have recently been generally light and sea-kindly, but frequently you can’t see a freaking thing for the pea soup fog. We like to keep a deck watch at all times and being reduced to spinning the radar and watching the screen feels like a dereliction of duty. Being down below a lot does however have the advantage of staying warm and dry. As we have moved northward sailing has become a cold experience. Each time we go on watch or off means putting on, or stripping off, heavy foulies and boots.

After a 48 hour run we arrived at Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco. At first we were depressed by the foggy cold and strong winds in the forecast. But renting a car allowed us to explore the area and discover its good restaurants and many natural beauties. A week of being weather-bound is not so bad in a place like this.

Bye, bye Mexico! We will miss you.

Last night in Mexican waters with flies, fog, and sea lions at Middle Coronados Island. And there was enough disorienting fog leaving Ensenada earlier in the morning that Alice had to lean over the rail.

Military might on approach to San Diego Harbor.

Almost 6 years later we are back at the San Diego Yacht Club.

The coveted new jib is hoisted in San Diego.

On to Dana Point where everyone is super hardy and fit paddling in the Harbor.

The Yacht Club has an excellent restaurant.

We enjoyed 2 days at Twin Harbors, Catalina Island.

We hiked and met up with a good guy, Nick, that we sailed with in Mexico years ago.

View over Twin Harbors.

Big things to see on the water......

......and cute little things catching a ride.

We spend 3 days at the welcoming Ventura Yacht Club next to a sandy beach.

We rented a car to visit Joe, Helene, and Arthur in Pasadena.

Next, was a 48 hour passage to round notorious Cape Conception (thankfully calm for our crossing) and we safely arrived at Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay. Cold and damp with lots of fog. So happy to rest up and visit the Brew Pub for dinner.

Pillar Point is an interesting harbor with lots of working fishing boats and odds and sods of derelict vessels. Now we had a week to wait to the next decent weather so we rented a car and explored a new hike or beach each day.

"Car Park" take-out drinks in a special sealed plastic container at the Moss Beach Distillery which was previously a secret spot for bringing in moonshine from Canada to be enjoyed by celebrities and politicians.