Arnold and I had a good night's sleep while the boat lay ahull drifting toward the north at about half a knot. The wind had abated somewhat but the boat rolled a lot because of the bit swell.
We went to bed last night with the plan to get up at 5 AM and set sail at 6 AM to take advantage of a moderate breeze that was supposed to die out in the middle of the day. We happened to wake up at 3 AM and decided to sail before dawn and were under way at 5 AM. The conditions were excellent with a 15 kt following breeze and a clear night giving us a superb view of the lights of the city.
At about 10 AM the wind died down and we started up the engine to motor the last 9 miles. Once again there were crab pots everywhere. Even in the shipping channel, which is only about 1/3 mile wide, there were plenty of crab pots. The other concern was the big swell which I feared may give us some trouble, but turned out to not be a problem.
With Arnold monitoring the chart plotter and my doing the steering we found our way to the police jetty at noon with no problems. Soon after we tied up Arnold mentioned the heat which made me aware that I was hot. Off came my wool seater, cotton pullover, and nylon skivvy that I had worn for 11 days. It was good to be once again among palm trees and wearing a T-shirt. We visited the office where we were given 10 days accommodation that though not free as the book had stated was very reasonable. (Noel was to tell us later that the marinas around here are quoting $3 per foot per day. For example, Pachuca's 41 feet that includes the monitor wind steering would cost $123 per day.)
We were assigned slip no. 7 and when Arnold and I walked over to see it I was amazed to see Noel and Jackie's "Pyewacket" in the adjacent slip. I made haste to Pyewacket where unfortunately I woke up Jackie's parents Roy and Valerie from their siesta in the cockpit but was soon speaking with Noel. I told him that I had expected him to be half way across the Pacific by now (slight exaggeration) and Noel explained that they had taken their time in getting to San Diego and were now hosting Jackie's parents who were visiting from England for two weeks. They plan to head for Mexico soon, as are we.
Noel cast off my lines for the move of Pachuca before going for his shower and Arnold was waiting in slip 7 to make my lines.
When Noel returned to Pachuca I asked him where the shops were, mentioning that Arnold and I were down to the last bottle of beer and before we knew it Noel presented us with 8 cold cans of Budweiser. Soon he returned to Pachuca with two more and joined us for what must have been 90 minutes of a splendid bull session under in the bright sunshine. Jackie joined us for the last 30 minutes of it when she returned from a shopping expedition. For now this corner of the San Diego Police Jetty is Australian.
After that we had our first showers in 11 days, then ran electric power to the boat and finally filled up our dry water tanks.
Arnold recalls San Diego as being a relaxed and laid back city. We certainly like the vibes in this jetty, which because it has a 10-day limit of stay is full of boats and crews on the move. The place seems to have a certain vitality to it.
However, the facilities are not too convenient. The shopping, laundry, and internet are in the order of 3 km away. The bicycle will be useful for this. There is supposed to be a bus service and Arnold will look into that tomorrow.
Ten days sounds like a long time but it will run out fast and we must be disciplined in doing the things that must be done while we are here.
One of the new tasks that popped up today will be a new depth sounder. The Navman sounder started to act erratically today, reporting depths of less than 1 meter at times. Even in this slip I have seen depths ranging from 15 meters to 5 meters.
Our decision to stand off last night and make our entry today proved to be extremely wise. We made our entry rested and relaxed and enjoyed the sunny weather and moderate winds. Had we entered yesterday we would have been tired, in peril from the high swell, and terrorized by those rain squalls with their fierce winds. I'll try to remember these benefits next time I have a similar decision to make.
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2 comments:
I am so glad that you are safe and sound in SD. I had a "H" for each of you in clebration of your extreme but sucessful voyage down the Pacific coast. Who would have ever thought the weather was as it turned out to be for you two? Job well done! Enjoy a rest well deserved.
You made it! Great news! Enjoy San Diego!
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