We had planned to leave Avalon for the 11 hour trip to San Diego at 3 am, but by 1:30 I had been awake for half an hour, so we left at 2:00 instead.
Once you get past the sensation of driving down the freeway with your eyes closed, night sailing is beautiful. We had taken out the fill in pieces between the dodger and bimini for better visibility, so we were also sitting out under the stars.
We wove our way through the container ships sitting idle while they waited to enter Los Angeles port. That one’s not moving, that one’s not moving, that one’s moving! Fortunately no close calls.
I was having a nap across the the front of the cockpit when noise on the VHF woke me up. “We’ve got dophins” Chris says. I thought dolphins were cool during the day, but dolphins swimming with the boat at night are spectacular. They come at the boat like torpedoes trailing long streams of phosphorescence. When they reach us the dive under the boat, or turn sharply swim past at high speed, zigzaging and weaving complex patterns with other members of the pod. Nature meets Fantasia!
San Diego has been the planned stop to pick up spare parts and do last minute maintenance before entering Mexico. We went for a trolley ride to Ikea and Costco, and had a few walks around town, but most of our time was spent preparing the boat for a couple of weeks away from “sailing essentials”.
The “cruiser’s anchorage” was just a stones throw away from the airport runways. At times it felt like they were landing on our boat. Not so bad though, we had the camaraderie of the other cruisers packed into the tight anchorage, all heading the same way, and trying to get those last minute jobs done. We had a great happy hour packed into tiny Maya with a few cruisers from our little informal group we’ve gathered along the way. It’s the people that make this lifestyle worthwhile!
When Chris and I were honeymooning in Australia in 1987, the American yacht Stars & Strips took back the America’s Cup from the Ausies. It also inspired one of our favorite movies, “Wind”. While heading the marine store on Shelter Island, there she was, in the middle of a refit to prepare her for her life as a tourist attraction.
Next stop Mexico.
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