12／17／2012 13:30 PST 65 F

It was a rough day yesterday. East wind blew directly to our anchorage, Cuyler Harbor. After a long haul in the head sea to Santa Cruz, we struggled to find a good anchorage. wind wakes and swells seemed to come from all directions. Finally, We settled down at Cueva Valdaze Harbor. This is a great spot for protection from East wind and west swell. We had our best anchor-out night.


After all that roughness yesterday, today was gorgeous. Sun was out, no wind. The confusing sea we battled with yesterday became a big lake today. We took the dinghy out, went to exploring the painted ave.



Dinghy driver Mark



Going through

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12/15/2012 19:30 PST After 280 miles, We pulled into the Cuyler Harbor, San Miguel island around 7PM. It was raining with no moon light — could not see anything outside. Luckily the harbor is wide open and well marked. GPS + radar, we managed to get settled in. It was not exactly a calm anchorage, but served us well for a good night sleep. [google-map-v3 width=”350″ height=”250″ zoom=”12″ maptype=”satellite” mapalign=”center” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”34.06,-120.34{}cruiseship.png” kml=” https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12142193/GPS/Day1_SF_CH.gpx” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]

12/15/2012, 14:30 PST, 60.1 F

Just passing the notorious Point Conception. No wind, just ocean swells. Once in a while, a big swell caught us by surprise. Fortunately, the only damage so far is a coffee mug. Having done this exact trip two years ago on our previous sailboat, we are loving the ride this time. Nordhavn 62, rocks! Continue reading →

12/15/2012, 7:10 AM, 54.0 F

Our first night-run was uneventful, just riding with NW swells. Originally, we planned to spend a night at San Simeon Cove. But forecast is predicting S, SE wind, which would expose this anchorage. Plus, we want to get south as much as we can. So we will skip this stop and head straight to Channel islands NP. ETA 8pm.

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12/14/2012, 10:40 PM PST

Just passed Monterey. It actually turned into a clear night. Countless stars surrounding us, so beautiful and peaceful, although hard to captured by camera.

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12/14/2012, 12:40 PM PST, 50.4 F

We sail across Golden Gate Bridge on Gray Matter. Out to the big ocean. It is overcast, and a bit cold. But the condition is calm. We decided to make a direct shot to San Simeon cove, estimating 24 hours in route.

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It is hard to believe, but this day has finally come. After our last commute on the 101, we pushed our BMW GS motorcycles into the trailer — shipping to Australia later. We are ready!

See you in Australia!

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We reached a milestone on Thanksgiving day — cleaned out our locker and sorted out our belongings.  Feeling more ready to go than ever, we treated ourselves with a two-day outing to San Francisco bay, on N62 GrayMatter — also an opportunity to check all the systems on the boat before the big trip.  This could the last time we hang out in the bay — then it’ll be a straight shot out the Golden Gate (in 3 weeks!!)

We headed to China Camp State Park on Friday morning.  But the wind was blowing directly into the anchorage.  We ended up U-turning back to Paradise Cove, spotting another Nordy on the way
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