Abre tus ojos!

Abre tus ojos!

Open your eyes. That is the message I just received from an old canvas coffee sack in the bathroom here at Top Dog coffee shop in Morro Bay. Once again we have arrived at another neat central California coastal town to be greeted by a festival. This time it was an avacado and margharita festival. The Saturday market was even more refreshing and interesting. I love to see the change in latitude through the foods (fruits mostly) which are sold at the farmers market. Not nearly as many apples and berries as back home but more raisins, dates, and mexican food.

Sailing into San Simeon

Before Morro Bay we had an easy 30 hour sail from San Francisco to San Simeon. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the beatiful bay of San Simeon. The life beneath the surface of the water must be vibrant because the species that feed on them are abounding. Pelicans, sea otters, seals, shearwaters, porpuses, etc. We witnessed a rare (at least special) moment in bird migration. We were sitting out on the deck on a foggy evening doing some reading when we started to hear a sound like lots and lots of babies crying. Through the thick fog we started to make out hundreds of birds sitting on the surface of the water making these baby-like noises. We watched as the hundreds turned to thousands right off the bow of the boat. The fog was giving birth to more and more of these Sooty Shearwaters. We later learned that these birds migrate from New Zealand and Australia all the way to Alaska! We were witnessing a flock of these guys coming into the bay to feed and rest along their incredible journey. A small sample below. The sound was the best part. We were laughing out loud at how much they sounded like thousands of babies crying.

We were able to get off the boat for a night and put our tent to use in an illegal camping spot right on the point (Casa Blancas, I think) near San Simeon. We had a beautiful overlook over kelp beds right off the point. Guess what!? Like Homer Simpson's incessent draw to donuts so is poison oaks' draw to me. I have been bestowed with a little devil dust which has turned into itchy poison oak on my skin. O joy. Of course it is all the plants fault not mine.

Yet another cheesy "look at us having fun" couple shot, that's our skipper Ken in the background. (it's not a skirt it's a towel.)

Now we are in Morro Bay where we just enjoyed the best maple bar donut we have ever had. Next stop San Louis Obispo, then the Channel Islands.

.Hope you all are well.

.Much love all around.

Written by Colin, approved by Kirstin.

San Francisco!

Let the worried souls rest assured! Moms you can sleep sound tonight; we are alive and well in the vibrant city of San Francisco! We are experiencing a little bit of culture shock as we have been surrounded by nothing but the deep blue for almost a week prior to arriving here. The day after we arrived we read in the San Fran newspaper that the Power to the Peaceful festival was happening in Golden Gate Park for free!

60,000 people, music, speakers, loud noises= culture shock.

Speaking of arriving. Our sail into the city was beautiful. The morning fog parted and we were greeted by the Golden Gate Bridge shining in full sun!

However, the sail from Br(rrrr)ookings was not all sunshine and rainbows. The day we left we were under the forcasted impression that the winds would be 10-15 out of the north; which they were for about 12 hours. At about 2am the winds started picking up a bit and we lowered one of the downwind sails, another 3 hours passed and the wind continued to build to about 25 knots.

(For those who aren't so nautically savvy 1 knot =1.15mph) At that point I, Colin, stumbled out of my sound sleep to help Kristin and Ken lower the second (and last) sail. This took us to sailing under "bare poles" (No sails up) and still moving at about 6.5 knots! Our average sailing speed under full sails! Morning broke, we sailed under bare poles for about 4 hours with winds at about 30-35 knots and swell at 8 feet plus 6-7 of wind waves (not so savvy folks again, FIFTEEN FOOT WAVES!). Finally the decision was made to heave to (bobbing like a cork). We were hove to for about 20 hours and when we awoke the next morning the wind had died down and we sailed under 15 knot winds and lived happily ever after.

Now for some photos.

Drying out our clothes in Drakes Bay after the big winds and wet night of heaving to.

Next stop: San Simeon (we hear mysterious rumors of whales diving under boats, thousands of pelicans diving, and pirate treasure chests... Stay tuned.

However we are not sure the next place we will have internet access.

Photos!

Waiting, Waiting.

We have arrived on the beautiful Oregon coast where we are aboard the wonderous Allymar. We thought we were going to be leaving tomorrow morning but the winds have changed and it is looking like we will be leaving more like Friday. So we are waiting for the wind to blow in the direction we want it to. Poo.

Once again thanks to everyone who is supporting and has supported us. We appreciate every bit of it.