On our way to warmer waters......

The Golden Gate shrouded in fog...we were fighting a flood with a 5knt current. Fog all day, good visibility at night of Half Moon Bay - we passed it and kept going. We were wearing just about everything we own - to keep warm. That is Alcatraz and Treasure island in the distance. While still in the Bay we were hit with a huge wave that got our bunk and a lot of clothing wet. Right now, we are in elegant Santa Barbara and we have wet clothes and linens draped all over the outside. The Clampetts have arrived. Saying aloha to the Bay area was difficult, but we realize that we need to toughen up and get south for the warm weather.

Our neighbor, Robert took the photo just before we cast off. Do we look nervous? We were, but Frank is another angel andwe trust God to lead us.

Right after this we headed down the Estuary, under the Bay Bridge, to our rendevous with the giant wave and a wet bed. We drove through the night

on three hour watchs, but no one could sleep very well with the big rollers. Off of Monterey and Big Sur, we hit wildly confused waves, coming at us from all over. At one point, Robert asked if that was normal for cruising. My answer was no really, but those conditions were not too bad. They were just awful and the boat handled it, one side to another, one side, swing over. Not fun.

I went to bed with bad news and woke up to Robert having brought the boat in with Frank on the GPS to Morro Bay. We crashed five hours before getting thrown off the Yacht Club dock by a guy who used big words and was sort of a jerk. To get fuel, we had to sidle up to some tall pilings and climb a steel ladder to get the hose down. Another first.

The fog cleared slightly as we clawed our way out using our reverse course....it was the case of the missing bouys and a narrow channel. Once we were out, Iwent to bed, with dogs and prayers for calm seas. Well, the seas were long, high rollers and we steadily made tracks south to here, wonderful Sant Barbara, where our laundry is all over the outside of the boat for all these elegant people to see. Do I care? Not much. We are having adventures -but are so pooped that we nap a lot. We had the best crew: Frank, who now we consider the best friend we could have for this adventure. He left and will join us in San Diego for the Baja. We miss him already.