I can't believe that we've missed a few weeks with the blog!! We'll have to get back ourselves back on track. Clearly the sun has made us forget all timelines. I'm sorry friends, but I do not miss your dark grey clouds and ominous fall rains that are likely occurring up north. We've frequently forgotten what day it is!
Our continued stay at the government dock was mostly uneventful. Mixed with deliveries from Costco, lots of walks and perhaps the biggest excitement: the episode with the black cat....
One night, we were awoken at midnight with much cat hissing in our main cabin. The neighborhood black cat 'fell' into our porthole, onto the galley sink, knocking over a few dishes in the drying rack and gave poor Leia (and myself) quite a shock. The next day we tried to find the 'cat owner' -- but no one would own up to the cat. All was good on Okisollo when we managed to get the black cat out -- it was a bit of process. At first I feared I would be wrestling a raccoon or a sea otter, and I was greatly relieved when we turned the light on that it was only a cat.
We stayed at the public dock for our allotted
14 days, then headed to Sun Harbor Marina. It was a tight fit for us to squeeze into the 45' slip, but with two gracious people on the dock we managed to wedge our way in. Sun Harbor is located in America's Cup harbor, which is a vibrant marina in the heart of a healthy restaurant, chandlery, everything-boating scene. The people were friendly, the shore side amenities nice. We stayed here for a few days and took a roadtrip to visit my parents in Palm Desert while we were safely tied up at the dock.
The scenery overland to Palm Desert was a stark contrast to the big blue. We enjoyed the dry dry heat and some lounging by the pool. We had a fun ride (credit Turo) over the pass and into the desert. We noticed on the way back, the humidity went from 15% to 86% in just over 2 hours. It was instant sweat.
Now we are back in San Diego and at anchor in A-9 (i.e. the anchorage allotted to 'non-san diegoians') we are T-11 days to the Baja Haha departure Things are getting a bit hectic for some boats that are making last minute preparations. We are so thankful we got our paperwork finished as soon as we could. For us, while we still have a bunch of things 'to do' however we are mixing it up with visits with family, and just being 'San Diegoians'.
Our list of things to do now is short and sweet, and mostly those that are nice to have...not required. So basically, the longer we stay here, the more we buy frivolous things that we probably could have done with out (I really don't need another swim suit). Since we've been at this now for over 6 months, we are really in the swing of things. AND oh the sun! We could go tomorrow, or we could go in a week or a month. We are ready any time.
I can't remember if I wrote it already, but we REALLY are loving San Diego. We are in a "glass case of emotion" for this place. The only thing that could improve our current anchorage is not being anchored under the airport. The flights start usually at 6:30 am and go until midnight. Throw in the coast guard helicopters, the Navy osyprey --its a bit noisy around here!
That all being said, I think we'll very happily suffer through another week, and get to know our neighbors in the anchorage before we leave. Next week, stay tuned, and we'll share the events of the pre-haha. We've learned there are those that go on the haha--and those that avoid the haha. We are probably the ones that might avoid...but at this moment, joining a big group of people on a south bound trip for two weeks seems like fun. And why not?
Love Rick and Chris