Leg 7, Santa Barbara to Ventura

After the crew from Leg 6 departed, Mark had a brief stay (1 day) in Santa Barbara before arrival of Phillip and Nicole Laby, along with their twins Tess and Jackson.  Phillip grew up in Ventura, Mark and Phillip were roommates at UCSB, and Mark has raced with Phillip in the very competitive J105 fleet on San Francisco bay.  This was the first time Phillip and the rest of his family had been on Bluewater, and Mark was happy to have all of Phillip's knowledge of the area (and his sailing expertise) available for a quick trip to Santa Cruz Island.

Friday June 19, 2015

We stayed on the boat in Santa Barbara Marina for Friday night, with Tess and Jackson being great sports during a trip around the marina in the dink.  The kids learned their way around Bluewater while Nicole cooked up a fabulous meal.

Tess and Jackson in Santa Barbara before departure

Saturday June 20, 2015

Departure Day:  Saturday June 20, 2015
Departure Time:  7:40am
Crew:  Mark, Phillip, Nicole, Tess, Jackson

The following is a map of the 70 nm journey from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz Island (including overnight anchoring in Fry's Harbor and Smuggler's Cove) before heading to Ventura:  Bluewater's Route for Leg 7

From Mark:  "We departed at 7:40am under blue skies and 2 knots of wind."

There was very little wind as we departed Santa Barbara Marina on Saturday morning, so we motored toward the central anchorages along the North Shore of Santa Cruz Island.  See a cool interactive map here:  Santa Cruz Island Anchorages

Enroute from Santa Barbara

The line-up:  Jackson, Phillip, Tess, Nicole

Before we were halfway to the Island we saw our first group of dolphins.  They were followed by several other groups of various sizes, with a few of them swimming in formation under the trampolines on Bluewater's bow.  The crew moved forward to look down on the show, and was also happy to see whales spouting ahead, and eventually, whale flukes coming up out of the water.

While we saw some groups of birds working and lots of encouraging life in the sea, and despite Tess and Jackson helping to pick lures and watching the boatlines like a pair of hawks, we had no action on the fishing gear we trolled throughout this trip.

Lunch underway: Tess, Nicole, Jackson

We arrived at Santa Cruz Island and cruised east along the coast till we arrived at Fry's Harbor.  The one boat anchored in the harbor offered some suggestions regarding where we might want to drop a hook; and while it took a couple of tries, we eventually had two anchors down with plenty of scope and a healthy offset from both the cliffs and our neighbor.

Phillip, Nicole, and the kids took the dingy over to explore one of the nearby caves while the fish in the area had a good laugh at Mark's attempts to bring them aboard.

While they ended up rowing back toward the boat for a while (as even brand new small outboard motors need lots of rests between those tiring runs), they had a great adventure.

Cave near Fry's Harbor

We had another great dinner and headed to bed relatively early.

Sunday June 21, 2015

The sunrise was beautiful on Sunday.

After a pancake breakfast (and after our neighbor managed to pull his bow anchor up from somewhat near our port ama), we cruised the cliffs along the shore to the east.  We eventually raised our sails and sailed toward and around San Pedro Point, admiring the boats tucked in to Scorpion's and the rest of the picturesque coves along the Northeast shore.

We had our choice of spots at Smuggler's Cove, and dropped a single anchor just north of the point that separates Smuggler's from Yellowbanks.  The third boat to arrive in the wide-open anchorage seemed to admire our thinking, and eventually dropped his anchor (on short scope) just between us and the point.  The wind stayed calm but did shift to the north so that I had a nice view of our new neighbor directly off our stern during the night, but we were never really close enough to get to know them well.

We all dinghy'd to the rocky shore, with Phillip driving the dink till the kids and Nicole could scramble over the bow.  Mark and Phillip dragged the boat over the rocks, away from the small waves, and to the base of the cliff.

Mark ran up the ridge to try (unsuccessfully) to call Amanda and Liz for Father's Day.  We all met up at Smuggler's Cove Park and walked back along the beach to the dinghy, where the kids did a great job jumping onto the boat despite the splashing waves.

After Nicole had prep'd yet another feast to throw on the barbecue, the pressure regulator on the propane seemed to decide it was time to retire.  Cold tacos were substituted and washed down with cold beer, and we called it a night (with Phillip and Nicole sleeping out on the foredeck and watching a surprise meteor shower).

Monday June 22, 2015

We slept in a bit on Monday, and headed out toward Ventura (and the closest Peet's Coffee, as the propane system was still not cooperating).  We started out motoring away from Smugglers and toward Anacapa with calm seas and no winds.

Daughter and Dad discussion with Anacapa Island in the distance

As we left the lee of the shore the breeze picked up, allowing us to raise the sails (with a reef in--the fitting to a lower batten car having let go earlier).  We were just downwind of a beam reach, and Phillip had some really helpful suggestions for both our sail trim and rigging.  As the wind built we were able to touch double digits (just over 10 knots), making great time all the way to Ventura.

We cruised Ventura harbor and then brought the boat to the dock behind the house of Phillip's parents in the Ventura Keys.  Jordan and Sandra Laby were very gracious, helping take care of the kids and Phillip and Mark headed to the store to get some parts for the propane system.

The boat remained at the Laby's dock, awaiting Leg 8 on the 4th of July.