September 18 - Leaving Morro Bay

We had a lovely last day in Monterey. Our walk around the old town, which is lovely, included a stop at a Walgrens where we were able to get our annual flu shots. We toured the Maritime Museum, which was very sweet and informative. One of the highlights of the day was lunch at a little place called Turtle Bay. You order your food at the counter and it is brought to your table, obviously not a fancy place. Earl had calamari that he thought very highly off, and I had the best chili rellenos I have had in years.

Thursday morning we left at 4 am in the fog and were met by lumpy seas even before we left the harbor. It was not pleasant, but Earl was delighted to find how well the Serenity did in a large following sea. Even with the current and 30 mph winds coming from behind us, we did not seem to get much of a ‘push’. We averaged under 7. Finally around 2, the fog lifted and we were able to see the beautiful coast below Big Sur. The seas also gradually improved, so that by early evening it was very nice going. Just before reaching Morro Bay we encountered a pod of whales chasing small fish on the surface. It was fun to see and we wished we could linger but were anxious to get into the harbor before it was too dark. Just to temp us further, we had a brief visit from porpoises. It was lovely and we enjoyed the view of the big rock, 581 feet high, against the sunset. We finally anchored up at 8 pm, in the dark, after 16 hours and 110 miles. We fell asleep, once again, to a chorus of barking sea lions. I can’t see how they are too endangered.

We left Morro Bay 12 hours later, again in the fog, but now an hour later it seems to be clearing. It is lumpy, but nothing like yesterday! We have not decided how far we will go today. The big challenge on this part of the Coast is Point Conception, which can apparently be pretty nasty. If the weather is not too bad, we will probably try to go around it today, probably in the evening when the winds tend to die down.