From Santa Barbara we went directly to Pelican Bay on Santa Cruz Island, which is one of eight Channel Islands. The four northern islands, and their waters including Santa Cruz, are part of the National Parks System (NPS). I’d previously downloaded the NPS app and Channel Island location, so we were able to read up on the park even though we didn’t have cell service there. I highly recommend the app.

On the foggy journey from Santa Barbara, once again we saw the Hōkūleʻa, a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe on its four-year Moananuiākea Voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific. The canoe visited Suquamish before our departure, and her visits coincided ours in Half Moon Bay and Monterey. Due to weather, she was delayed coming into Morro Bay and it was good to see her again. This was our last chance since she’ll arrive in San Diego after we depart.

Herman picked up a cold in Santa Barbara, so we skipped snorkeling and scuba diving. Pelican Bay used to be a favorite of Hollywood stars, and it is where Humphrey Bougart’s skipper loaned him the book African Queen that inspired the movie. For us, it was a place to enjoy isolation, except for a few divers and a big dive boat that anchored for a night dive. It was fun to see the divers lights below the surface.

We enjoyed a night at Smugglers Cove, where historically sea otter pelts were smuggled, away from the watchful eye of mainland authorities. The surf at Santa Cruz was a little too rough for us to go ashore, nor were we able to see the Painted Cave, which is the 4th largest sea cave by length. We hope to visit again.

Laura Mason (AKA Duke’s mom) had a layover in LA, so we decided to head over to Marina Del Rey (MDR) to see her and her daughter Maddie. As an aside, we had the pleasure of dog sitting Duke and that pleasure has now been assumed by Jefferson, Shannon and Sam.

We stayed at the Del Rey Yacht Club. Members who walked by our boat were curious about our voyage and each one offered a hearty “Welcome!”, which must be in their handbook.

We unfolded our OruKayaks, which play on the word origami. We had an excellent opportunity to see many of the 4,600 boats in MDR up close, which some boating friends call this boat porn. We’ll fold and secure the kayaks before we depart to Mexico.

Today we motored eight hours with no wind to Dana Point, which took us by Long Beach, the busiest port on the West Coast. Our trip was uneventful except that the boat was thirsty and hungry. The wave action spilled coffee, watermelon and cereal, thus the galley (kitchen) floor was cleaned three times today. We hope the boat’s satisfied.

Tomorrow we head to San Diego, where we will spend a couple weeks re-rigging, sewing, and dealing with other business before we depart to Mexico. We look forward to a few visits with relatives and friends. Please let us know if you have questions about the boat. We have a few things set aside to tell you about in the next posts.