Crew: Lawrence, Mark, Katie, Harry, Lutz
Departure Time: Saturday May 30, 10:03am
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| Bluewater's Route from Santa Cruz to Monterey |
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| Variety is the spice of life and we are loving the change in crew! Pre-Departure: Lutz, Harry, Katie, Mark, Lawrence |
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| Lutz awaiting departure from Santa Cruz |
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| Mark and Lawrence coordinating departure |
Santa Cruz Weather: Gray, light winds, 56 degrees, overcast, calm seas
See a brief departure video of Bluewater departing "M" dock end tie in South Harbor and heading out the channel: Santa Cruz Departure
We originally planned to sail from Santa Cruz at 9, but delayed till 10 to give the wind a chance to build. A call to Monterey Harbor indicated the end-tie on Delta dock would be waiting for us, and we slipped out of the harbor after several fishing boats had motored into the fog. Visibility gradually improved and enough breeze was up for us to set sail, start dragging some salmon gear, and cut the motors.
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| Bluewater departing after exiting the Channel, Santa Cruz
We were soon making too much speed to keep the salmon gear happy, and Lawrence quickly accepted the challenge of trying to keep our sailing speed below 5 knots. The wind remained below 12 knots or so, but varied in strength and direction enough to keep Lawrence and the rest of us busy reefing, furling, unfurling, etc. We managed to drag salmon gear for a good part of the trip, but the drag of the diving planes and flashers under our somewhat "fast" speed, kept us from checking gear as often as we would have liked.
We had been snacking on some of the fresh pastries, fruit, and croissaunts that Katie and Lutz had provided since we left the dock, and Lawrence offered a steady stream of caffein. We gradually shifted to a fruit and cold-cut sandwich lunch. No salmon were jumping into the boat, but our lack of fishing success didn't really have much of a chance of becoming a survival situation.
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| Harry, Mark, Katie in fog |
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| Katie |
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| Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Even before the sun started peaking through the clouds, we began seeing whale spouts. They were scattered and at some distance for much of the trip, but we changed course when we saw a sizable group off our starboard bow. We were eventually close enough to hear them, and again saw flukes in the air as they dove. As the day warmed up and we pulled in the salmon gear, we saw a number of dolphins, seals, and eventually otters.
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| Dolphins along the way! |
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| Approaching Monterey |
We approached Monterey from the west, and sailed along Pacific Grove and the Aquarium in scattered sunlight before we started the motors, dropped sail, and found our way to the Dock. An otter and a kayak dashed in front of us as Lawrence drove us into the surprisingly narrow entry to the marina, and we had an interesting exchange with a boat temporarily using our spot as we prepared to dock (luckily, the skipper's wife was able to speak at a volume much loader than the skipper's mumble).
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| Monterey Bay Aquarium waterfront |
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| Destination Made! Monterey Fog moved in soon after arrival Click here to see a video and listen to the onboard entertainment: Music! |
Harry entertained us as Katie and Lutz swabbed the decks and Mark drank a beer. We took a roundabout walk to Hula's (great spot) for dinner, and started planning our next leg.
Arrival Time: Saturday May 30, 3:17pm
Monterey Weather: Beautiful, scattered clouds, nice breeze
Total Distance: 24.4 nautical miles
Time Enroute: 5-1/4 hours
After arrival, Liz/Amanda/Zoe drove from Belmont to Monterey to meet the crew who had spent the night on Bluewater. We spent the day (Sunday May 31st) enjoying Monterey before shuttling the crew back to Belmont and San Francisco. Here is a video of some wildlife and kayaking: Monterey Wildlife
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