Monterey

 

Monterey Wharf

Had a nice sail from Moss Landing to Monterey. We left around 2:45 p.m. Sailed with a reefed mainsail and rolled out the jib sail. Winds were 15-18 knots. It was sunny with just a few puffy clouds.

We got to Monterey around 4:25 p.m. and dropped our anchor East of the Monterey Harbor entrance.  Keith and Mary did the same when they arrived.

The night started off calm, but then the winds picked up and the swells were big and close together.  I was in the middle of putting clothes away and trying to make our bed when I started to feel the boat rock heavily. I thought I’d better take a sea sickness pill and hurry and make dinner before things got worse. Well, I was able to put together a salad with smoked salmon, but that’s as far as I got. I handed Rick his salad, left mine on the counter and climbed up the stairs, outside into the cockpit. I had to watch the horizon or anything that wasn’t moving. Rick asked me on my way up the ladder if I wanted my dinner. I said, “NOPE!” and continued out the companionway.  I ended up spending the rest of the night out there. Rick came a while later because it was getting too rough for him down below. I was wrapped up like a burrito in my North Face mummy bag and used a big dog pillow to rest my head on. Rick came up only wearing shorts and carrying a blanket from our bed.  It made me cold just to look at him. Next, we booted Harley out of her little protected tent that I make for her every night and we each slept on either side of her. The winds howled all night!! I felt like I was riding a bucking bronco in a hurricane.  We heard later on the morning news that the wind gusted to 35mph last night. Hhhhm….that makes sense.

This morning we woke to sunshine and calm waters. But our blankets and sleeping bags were soaked from the dew.  So, after hanging up all of our sleeping gear to dry, we called Keith and Mary to see how their night went. They were up half the night too, concerned about the anchor holding up in all the wind and waves.  Keith said they were thinking about going inside the marina and getting a slip.  He did not want to go through another night like last night if they could help it. I kind of felt the same.  The vote was unanimous! We all went into the Monterey Harbor and got ourselves a slip for the night.  The Harbor Master, Brian, couldn’t have been nicer!  This was the cheapest place we have stayed, besides Moss Landing, which was free at the YC.  They have showers; Laundromat, free wi-fi, and they give you a key without asking for a deposit. If you take it with you when you leave, then they charge you.  Brian also printed out a weather forecast for us.

 Now we are just cleaning the boat and getting ready for the days to come when we won’t be near a store of any kind or showers or a Laundromat. So today will be doing a little sight seeing but mostly doing errands around town.