Look closely- yes those are jelly fish. Just like the ones inside the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, except these are wild and we sailed through them for hours along the coast. 
One of our first sunsets out on the pacific. 
Cruising Monterey As I've imagined the first leg of this sail, I'd always figured that we'd sail nonstop straight to San Diego. I'm not sure exactly why... maybe because I assumed that the sailing this far north would be pretty cold and miserable.
The last few days have been neither cold nor miserable.
We woke up from Half Moon Bay a little unsure if we should sail - the winds were forecast to be much lighter, but still from the south at least for the first half of the day. We talked it over and ended up in the end deciding that the day was too beautiful to be spent at anchor. Unfortunately, beautiful days don't always equate to fair winds - we were able to sail at about 3.5 knots for the first hour or two, but then the winds totally died and we ended up motoring all the way into Monterey. It was a long day (I hate motoring - I've been told I should get used to it, but the constant noise, vibration and faint diesel smell aren't my favorite), but it's sweet to be here and we're well positioned to sail down the Big Sur coast.
The purgatory of motoring was offset considerably by the (endless) school of jellyfish (do jellyfish travel in schools? do jellyfish travel at all? what do jellyfish think about, I wonder...) that we sailed through. Amanda noticed them off the bow, and they were EVERYWHERE. We'd watch them for a few minutes and then be amazed hours later when we looked over the rail and found that we were still sailing over more and more. I kept being reminded of the jellyfish scene in Finding Nemo. That, and the time in Nicaragua that I came out covered in stings after a (not very long) day of surfing.
We've got amazing friends in Monterey - back in the good old days we used to come down here almost every weekend (took less time in the car...) and I've got fond memories of good food, good surf and generally good times. Today turned out to be no exception to that rule. Our friends Mark and Sherry met us a the dock with bikes and we cruised the Monterey waterfront, took showers and Sherry made awesome brunch while Mark made the best coffee I've had since Convivia (Tucker, Mark was impressed that you roast your own... you're now famous in Monterey). I'm not missing my desk yet.
Spotty rain and another day of calm winds are keeping us in Monterey for the night, but we'll be leaving tomorrow morning with a forecast of northwest winds for the next couple of days. Assuming no surprises, we should be leaving Monterey for our first overnight sail.
I remember those jellies. Ruby and I (and later Miles and I) spent forever on the foredeck watching them slip under our hull. They don't look like much from the pictures (I remember thinking that when I looked at my attempt) but man were they impressive in real life.
ReplyDeleteYou better not be cheating on my coffee Krister. You can look all you want, but no drinking. I got the heating element and fan for the roaster (just in case you want to turn around).
Congratulations! Noticed you are on your way to San Diego! 10 hours so far... Hopefully your crossing is going ok. Approx. 70nm from Catalina to San Diego... hmm. u must be motoring at about 3-4 knots-ish. Am I right? Motoring is no fun but your still livin it up. Your on the boat, have each other, and doing what you want to do on your time. Hope you have a very safe rest of the crossing and and very long peaceful rest in San Diego. Can't wait to hear about it. Next up Mexico! Emerycove says hi!
ReplyDeleteKrister,
ReplyDeleteBlue Bottle would be disappointed for your coffee quote! Gold's is not the same brother but I too had to cancel my membership and now its really over! Hope all is well sailing the high seas,
Mitchell
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