Glory Days - December 1996

Nov. 30	After months of preparation, we leave. It's 4:00 pm when we go under the Golden Gate Bridge. It's close to dark, cold and misting, but we are excited to be leaving. At 8:00pm we drop anchor in Half Moon Bay.
Dec. 1	Sail from Half Moon Bay to Monterey, about 12 hours.
Dec. 3	Leave Monterey - see about 50 dolphins!
Dec. 4	Arrive in Morro Bay.
Dec. 5	Arrive in Santa Barbara after about 16 hours.
Dec. 6	Vough and Sharon meet us in Santa Barbara.
Dec 7 - 10	The four of us cruise the Channel Islands and arrive in San Diego. Vough and Sharon fly home on December 10.
Dec 11 - 21	The two of us linger in San Diego. Rod has a root canal and a crown made to repair a tooth that broke underway. Rod installs the SSB radio and finishes the water maker installation. Our folding bicycles prove very valuable, especially for carrying groceries and laundry to the Laundromat. We also get good at interpreting the bus schedule and riding the buses.
Dec 22	Dave flies to San Diego. The three of us depart for Mexico. It's an ugly gray day and there's a threat of rain. The seas are lumpy. Rod gets sea sick.
Dec 24	Christmas Eve - After our 36 hour passage, we arrive in Turtle Bay. Anna flies in on a private plane to meet us. We don't buy five lobsters for $10.00 for our dinner (Ha Ha), because it is illegal.
Dec 25	Christmas - The warm sun feels delightful! We put on shorts and spend the day working on projects, Brenda cooks a traditional Christmas dinner including a 12 lb. turkey that we carried in the boat refrigerator from San Diego. Anna gets the weather fax software out of the box and gets it and the computer running. Rod and Dave spend a good part of the day rebuilding the toilet that stopped working in San Diego. We don't buy eight lobsters for $8.00 (Ha Ha). At 9:00 pm we depart for Santa Maria Bay.
Dec 27	At 11:15 am we are anchored in lovely Santa Maria bay. We lower the dinghy and outboard motor and pick a place to snorkel. We see lots of fish, a few sting rays and a turtle. We are delighted. Now it's beginning to feel more like the cruising we imagined!
Dec 28	It's 170 miles to Cabo. We depart at 7:45 am. We catch four Mahi-Mahi.
Dec 29	Arrival in Cabo San Lucas. It's hot here - mid-eighties during the day, but not muggy. All the long passages were worth it!
Dec 30	Joe arrives.
Dec 31	Anna and Dave leave for home. Joe will stay with us in Cabo until January 4.

I took the express route to Turtle Bay (6 hours to do 600 miles, including stopping in Mexicali to clear customs and immigration). The cool guy is Paul.	A town of only 3,000, Turtle Bay is rustic and friendly.
Very friendly...	These people invited us to join their Christmas celebration as soon as we hit the beach. Guess which one is Brenda.
They were all excited about having their pictures taken. Rod stands out in this one.	The entrance to Magdalena bay is similar to that of San Francisco and the bay is just as large! Unfortunately, time did not permit a stop.
The first fish is a good one, no matter how small!	The lobster ain't bad either.
There was plenty of action on board the day before we arrived in Cabo. We caught four good-sized Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) in 30 minutes and threw two back. That's me holding one of the three I caught on my trolling lines. Rod is reeling in the fourth in the background. That's Dave behind me. The Dorado fight so much Rod and Dave took turns fighting it.	Off the point at Cabo where the Pacific meets the sea of Cortez. There was great snorkeling here.
A crab washed up at Santa Maria Bay.	The kids head out in the dinghy.