Cruise Log #1, Leaving Long Beach
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Updated October, 2004
Monday, September 20th, dawned sunny and warm, auspicious for clearing out of the marina and setting off. Preparations complete, car sold, dockbox emptied, the SolMate crew had nothing left to do but run two last-minute errands. We hit Albertsons for fresh produce, then MJ walked down to the marina office, where she turned in our keys and checked out, while Stan completed lashing down the jerry cans and flamables cooler.
Jerry cans covered in red sun protection, and the
flamables chest lashed to the
red lines on the
coachroof
and to the mast bars
Flamables cooler? We store fuel in jerry cans and other toxics in the ice chest. They fit nicely around the mast bars, behind the dinghy, secured with a series of lines run between the handrails on each side of the coachroof.
Low-key and loosely scheduled as we were, Michael and Ann of B'Shert managed to catch wind of our departure -- armed with their camera, they were there to see us off.
The cruising clock is ticking for Michael and Ann. They will be following us a year from now. We're really looking forward to seeing them in Mexico, and parts beyond! These are their shots of SolMate's departure from the Long Beach Marina.
Dropping the dock lines Sailing out of the marina A dot, between Michael, Punam and Ann
And then we were just a dot on the horizon. Sounds romantic, but in reality we only sailed seven miles that first day, anchoring in LA Harbor's Cabrillo Beach anchorage. The reason for the short hop was two-fold, to acclimate kitty and to wait out the off-shore breezes, which made Catalina anchoring a bad idea.
Acclimatization was a great idea. On the hop to Cabrillo, kitty won the projectile vomiting award, ala "The Exorcist." By the time we were anchored, he was back to his ole crazy self. As he grew more comfortable at anchor in Cabrillo, he became quite rambunctious, which got him into a bit of trouble, later on.
A trimaran airborne in Cabrillo
Sometimes calm, sometimes not, that part of LA Harbor isn't called Hurricane Gulch for nuthin'. Some afternoons, the wind can build up quite a head of steam; we saw 30 knots on our anemometer. We also saw some boats that really responded to the breeze, like this little trimaran that entertained us with his antics.
Evening in the Cabrillo anchorage
Two other anchored boats enjoyed the local entertainment, the winds and the calms with us. There was a ketch, Zephyr, also on their way to Mexico, on the right of the picture, and a family on a fishing boat, in the center. The anchorage is so huge, we barely noticed them.
The morning we left Cabrillo Beach, the harbor was glassy calm. Gale was is high spirits. While dashing around the boat, he leapt off the dodger onto a solar panel and skidded right off into the water - an eight-foot drop, big splash!
Soggy kitty and all, we picked up the anchor and set out for Catalina Island.
