San Francisco to San Diego

December 26th, 2017

We are finally back aboard our Merrion! A two and half month long sabbatical took us both back to Juneau for work as well as a wonderful Christmas tour to see family through Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington( a major highlight was Teddy snuggles in Idaho at Travis’s folks home). During this time Merrion behaved herself in a slip in the Berkeley Marina. Travis was able to fly back to the boat a few times and finish lingering projects such as a water maker install, finish the SSB radio install and replace lifelines, all if which he did a marvelous job at! The SSB install was certainly a labor of love for him. If you want more info on that, talk to him because all I know about it is that its a funny looking big black radio that makes weird noises and does magical things.

Neither of us expected to return to Juneau so soon after our departure in July, but finding jobs in a port town in California turned out to be more difficult then expected, even for me as a travel nurse. Both of our bosses back in Juneau had not filled our positions that we had vacated and they welcomed us back with open arms for a short two month stint. Both of us felt incredibly fortunate for this opportunity as we both loved our jobs in Juneau and realize that the majority of people would never get the chance to walk right back into a job you just left. It felt a bit strange flying back to SE Alaska but in the same sense felt like we were going home. Alaska will always have a big piece in both of our hearts. Two months working went by quickly thanks to our amazing friends who hosted us in their homes, borrowed us vehicles (we had sold everything we owned prior to leaving in July), fed us amazing food and over served us wine and liquor. We will be forever grateful to Alexa Pieri, Rachel and Kyle Schweissing, Todd and Mary Grant, Diana and Sean Samuelson and many others. Without your generosity Travis and I would have been sleeping in the street and walking to work in the pouring rain. We left Juneau on December 14th after an amazing 2nd going away party hosted by Jen Mosel. We were sent off in true Alaskan style having feasted on king crab legs, fresh oysters, shrimp and loads more of delicious food and drink. We love all you Juneauites and hated saying goodbye again but hope to see many of you in the future.

While prepping and cleaning Merrion up for her journey south we had a fabulous visit from Marta’s close friend Devon and her boyfriend Andrew. We sailed around San Francisco bay and explored the city with them for a few days. Merrion experienced her first time running aground when we attempted to pick up a mooring ball on Angel Island. It really was a very non-dramatic and gentle grounding as we slowly came to a halt in soft mud. Thankfully our strong engine was able to power us off the mud and into deeper waters. We had referenced guide books, checked charts and asked locals about the depths in this certain bay and yet the charted mean low depth of 12 ft turned out to be a mucky 6 1/2'!

New years Eve we left the marina loaded with provisions that Devon and Andrew had helped us obtain. We are always so grateful for friends with vehicles when major grocery shopping is needed. We anchored in Richardson Bay which gave us a beautiful view of the midnight firework display that was launched over downtown San Fran. Merrion and Crew departed at 0400 on the 1st day of 2018 for Morro Bay,CA. We were all so excited to be back on the boat and heading south to warmer waters and climates. The seas and winds were dead calm and we ended up having to motor for two days, with a small whiff of four hours of sailing. We had a bit of excitement when we ran over a submerged crab pot buoy south of SF and wrapped the line around our prop. What a horrible noise that made! As well as a horrible sinking feeling in our chests as we both knew what had happened. Travis donned his dry suit and was able to untangle the line easily, much to our relief. I started having flashbacks to the movie Jaws as I watched anxiously for any Great White shark fins surfacing as Travis was bobbing around in the water resembling a porpoise. My fears were really not that irrational as the Farallon islands were not far, a regular haunt for Great Whites! No sharks were sighted.

We enjoyed two and half full days anchored in front of Morro Bay, a quaint and sleepy little fishing village that sits at the entrance of a gorgeous estuary. Morro Bay was an extra special and nostalgic stop for me as I have fond memories of coming here as a child on family vacation. It was wild how the smells and sights of Morro Bay transported me back to being six years old and playing in the sand with my siblings. We gave surfing our best shot during our stay here. Turns our trying to learn to surf short steep waves on 12ft long inflatable paddle boards results more in a comical show of getting dumped off the boards, tumbled around in the waves and drinking half of the pacific ocean. We had a blast pretending to be surfers.

While in Morro Bay we had a wonderful visit from Doug and Brenda Welker, some of Larry and Yvonne’s (Travis’s parents) great friends. We enjoyed an afternoon with them, eating fish and chips and taking a car ride to San Simeon to see Elephant seals and their pups in their breeding grounds. We stared at these strange rotund creatures that littered the beach for quite a while. They really are a site to see, google them if you have no clue what I’m talking about.

The next day we had a short sail to Avila Beach, near San Luis Obispo, also Doug and Brenda’s home port. We were absolutely spoiled by these two again as they showed us around town, fed us, took us wine tasting and even brought us to a laundry mat (much to my delight.. hand washing clothes is a distasteful job). We wished we could have spent a week with Doug and Brenda as we so enjoyed their company. Thank you again for the lovely visit!

We scurried out of Avila beach on January 6th bound for Catalina Island due to a strong southerly blow approaching the next couple of days. Unfortunately this weather system forced us to bypass a planned stop in the the northern Channel Islands, as they are known to be a poor place to weather a storm. A decent overnight sail brought us to the sunny and glamorous Avalon bay on Catalina Island. We were astonished by the amazing blueness and clarity of the water. I actually freaked out a bit when I thought Travis was driving us into a rock that turned out to be 30 feet under our boat. We bit the bullet and payed for a mooring ball in Avalon bay due to the poor anchorages that were available and the fast approaching gale. The next two days proved the mooring ball to be a good choice as we rode out 4ft boxy waves that rolled into the bay along with 30-40knot winds. We actually both got seasick while our boat was not even moving, and it was like trying to sleep on a bucking bronco. Another not so glamorous side to the cruising lifestyle.

The storm blew over and we enjoyed a couple sunny and beautiful days on Catalina island. We went on some amazing hikes to the top of the ridge lines and were awarded with a beautiful view of the various Channel Islands. We also hiked around the steep hills of the classy town that was built by the wealthy Wrigley family (The ones from Chicago that own Wrigley field) in the mid 1800’s. The small town is covered with multi million dollar homes, many of which used to be owned by famous people like Zane Grey, Cary Grant and others. We took part in some amazing snorkeling after a fellow cruiser named Christian, took us to some of this favorite snorkeling spots. Travis even accompanied our new friend on a successful night-snorkel for lobster. I stayed in the boat and watched for more sharks.

The evening of January 11th had us departing Catalina Island bound for San Diego to pick up our great friends Ron and Brandy who were flying in on the 13th. They would be joining us for the 800 mile portion of the trip from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Another good overnight sail brought us into busy San Diego amidst the thickest fog either of us had ever sailed in, our visibility was limited to about 20ft off our bow and stern. We needed a fog knife that morning. We took turns doing bow watches and staring at the radar as we approached the narrow shipping channel into San Diego. It was quite nerve wracking as you stared into the fog and could only hear big ships pass close by us. Thank goodness for good radar! We did have a lighthearted moment as we passed the naval base at 0800 and the national anthem started playing loudly. The fog was still so thick that we couldn’t see land and it seemed as if an unseen band was welcoming us into this foggy city that didn’t yet exist to our eyes. We had a pretty good laugh after putting our hand over our heart.

The next day we tromped all over town re-provisioning and stocking up for our trip into Mexico. We had an Alaskan friend, Rachel come over for a quick visit. It was great catching up with her and getting all her tips of sailing in Mexico. We welcomed Ron and Brandy aboard on the 13th and briefed them on all their expected duties as new crew members of Merrion. We made sure to point out where we would erect the plank if they should get out of hand. That evening my older brother Erik who is a airline pilot, was able to join us for a dinner aboard the boat during a layover in the area. Lots of fun was had by all in San Diego.

Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out if we are forced to feed Ron and Brandy to the fish.