Survived Point Conception, docked in Santa Barbara..

Sunrise at Cojo 

We are so thrilled to be here! We had been struggling with what would be the safest, least stressful way to get us to Santa Barbara. Again, Captain Rick figured out the best way!

So, we set our alarm on Friday night for a 3 a.m. wake up. The entire night we were checking the time to see how much time we had left to sleep. What a waste.  Didn’t get much sleep.

We pulled up our anchor at Avila at 4:00 a.m. It was pitch dark with only a few stars shining along with a slight crescent moon. It was pretty out, but cold and dark.  We knew there were 3 other sailboats anchored near to us when we first arrived here, but we could only see one of them. The other boats did not have their anchor lights on. So, it was not an easy exit. We had to use the spot light and even then it was hard to see.

The winds were light most of the sail. Only reaching 9 knots. The swells were small as well.  Once in the afternoon the swells became quite large, but they were behind us and about 18 seconds apart. So, it was a comfortable ride.

Point Conception

We passed Point Conception without injury around noon. The winds were nil and the swells under 3 feet.  Piece of cake! Soon we arrived at the Cojo Anchorage we had read about. When we first arrived, we motored over to the only mooring ball that we could see but it said, CG on it, in big lettering.  So we figured it was for the Coast Guard and moved on. We kept on going…looking for another mooring ball because in the books we’ve been looking at state there are “several” mooring balls. The only moorings we did see were huge…the size a freighter might tie up to and it was full of sea lions. We weren’t sure if we could use it or not but did anyway. We really had no other choice. We weren’t really prepared to go to SB at that time because it would have been dark when we got there and we did not want to do that. So, we tied up to one of these gigantic mooring balls.  We didn’t mind tying up to this ball as much as we minded smelling the sea lions and listening to them bark all night long. It was also a very rolley anchorage.   Between the noise, the smell, the motion and getting tied up in a knot to the mooring ball at one point that brought the sea lions right next to our boat, we did not sleep a wink.

The Mooring with the Seal lions on it which collided with our boat. 

I would not recommend mooring here. It’s not really for small sailing vessels in my opinion. We read more later that the anchorage is really designed for large working vessels.

I was able to make a delicious dinner despite the sloppy sea. I seared the tuna that Rick caught the day before, and made an Ahi Tuna Salad.  I poured a mixture of olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, wasabi paste and a dash of s&p on top. It was so good. The fish was so fresh that it just melted in your mouth.

The Tuna that Rick caught made a delicious salad!

The next morning woke up to a beautiful sunrise and decided to take off and head to Santa Barbara.  There was absolutely no wind whatsoever the entire day and the sea was flat. We motored the entire trip.  The sun was out and the weather was very warm.

Oil Rig, Irene

Santa Barbara coastline

At 2:00 pm we pulled into the Harbor at Santa Barbara. We pulled up to the Guest Dock, which is left of the fuel dock. Once we tied up, we went up to the Harbormaster’s office and paid for one night.  I was surprised that the price was so reasonable compared to what we had heard. It was only $1 per foot, per night and $7 for a key to the gate and restrooms (a key we can keep). It’s a better deal than what we had in Santa Cruz. Tomorrow night and for the next few nights we plan to stay at the Yacht Club so that we can use their facilities.  We get one night free and the rest are the same as at the Public Harbor, $1 per foot, per night.

Santa Barbara Yacht Club

Since we have been here on D dock, 1^st berth, we have met lots of people.  Sitting this close to the walkway here has gotten us a lot of attention. People notice where we are from and have to inquire. The grass thatch on the side of the boat Rick installed has gotten a lot of praise. And the type of boat and the fact we have a dog on board all seem to be of interest and everyone stops and strikes up a conversation. For a minute I thought people were mistaking us for celebrities or something. We finally decided to come down below to escape all the passers by. 

Just taking it easy now but plan to get a few things done on the boat and to check out the sights here in Santa Barbara while we are here.

Next stop will be the Channel Islands.

Sunset at Cojo