Anchoring at Cabrillo Beach

Couldn't get outa the marina fast enough! Thunderstorms drove us away, not the storms, themselves, but the effluent running in the LA River. P-U!! Smelled like all the sewers of LA dumped directly into the marina. The brown cloud cleared up as we headed out through Queen's Gate.

MJ took Friday off and we experimented with SolMate's new gadgets. Stan had just installed the remote for Ray, the autopilot. We danced around San Pedro Channel, letting Ray steer, tacking this way and that way.

Ray did very well, but some of the crew suffered. A wicked swell was running in two directions and the wind blew from another, making the seas a veritable washing machine. Ray refused to compensate. He steered a straight course and didn't much care if we wallowed and sloshed through the waves.

Chewing on ginger to settle queasy stomachs, the crew busily tested autopilot defaults and tacking angles. It didn't take long to realize what a boon it is to have a third crew member on board. Raising sails and tacking is so much easier with two people handling the lines.

Fun over for the day, Ray pointed SolMate towards Angels' Gate and Cabrillo Beach. Just one other boat was in the anchorage, a large ketch snugged in near the marina breakwall. between the launch ramp and the marina. The couple on the ketch, with their two dogs, had sailed from Alaska, then the wife broke her back. They were staying in the harbor while she healed from having seven vertebra fused.

Cabrillo Beach anchorage was very friendly. Even though it was sloppy on the outside, inside the harbor all was calm. We anchored in eight feet at low tide (full moon low), and put out seventy feet of chain (5:1 scope at high tide). SolMate wasn't going anywhere! That part of the harbor is nicknamed Hurricane Gultch because of the notorious winds whipping around the penninsula, but we weren't at all apprehensive about leaving the boat to her own devices while we wandered off in the dinghy.

Saturday's search for mosquito netting at the San Pedro Army/Navy store was fruitless. However, the gettin' there was great fun. The city of San Pedro commissioned the restoration of an original 1920's trolley and put it into service on a three-mile stretch of track between the cruise ship terminal and the commercial fishing pier. The refurbished glass, brass and mahogany interior reflected an excellent restoration job. A buck buys an all-day pass for the rail trolley and two rubber-wheeled trolleys all around the San Pedro waterfront.

On the return trip, the rubber-wheeled trolley dumped us off right at Cabrillo Beach. From there we hiked the few blocks back around the breakwall to the dinghy, again tied up in the marina, past the youth camp covered in blooming ice plant.

Just as our dinghy rounded the breakwall heading back to the anchorage, there was Juno, again, headed our way. Dave and Carol had attended Cabrillo Yacht Club's opening day ceremonies and were all spiffed up in their blue blazers. Juno was dressed up, too, with battle flag and burgees flying.

Deck fluff, Dave, on the bow with Carol driving Juno

What a treat it was to entertain those two experienced cruisers aboard SolMate! Egret is their second Valiant and they have tons of cruising experience. Stan and I spent the afternoon gleefully picking their brains. These two sailors were overflowing with helpful cruising and boat maintenance tips.

Grace and Einer raised anchor early Sunday morning, but the reluctant SolMate crew dawdled until lunchtime, playing with the SSB and talking to Shea La Vie in San Carlos, on the Mexican mainland. Ron and Jane came in much clearer than we've ever heard them. Must have been because we weren't surrounded by a bunch of mast interference like in the marina.

Finally, we upped the anchor and headed off toward Long Beach, staying inside the breakwall this time, where seas were calm and the wind was at our backs. Experimenting, again, we sailed downwind under jib, alone, comfortably scooting along with the breeze. Too soon we were tied up again at the dock, scrubbing off anchor mud and ocean salt.

It's all at Goodwill, now, or stuffed into SolMate. Stan turned the storage room key in at the end of March, and headed directly to Goodwill with boxes and boxes of "stuff" we'd been saving, mostly clothes and boat parts. My last blazer and Stan's last coat and tie are now hanging in the half-price aisle. We gots nuthin' to wear to a job interview, even if we wanted to, and nothin' tying us to land, neither!