October 10, 2013 Monterey, California

We awoke early last Saturday morning to an unusual easterly wind blowing down the channel between Alameda and Oaklands.   The air was shrouded in smoke – not smog - because of a fire in the Stockton area and you could smell it in the air since the day before. As the sun made its appearance we motored past the freight shipping terminals, making our way around a massive freighter being positioned in the channel by two powerful tugs.  The sparkling sun reflected off the hi-rise windows of downtown San Fransisco as we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge and back into the open ocean after two terrific weeks in the Bay area.  We left knowing we would definitely return in the future, probably by land.

Leaving Alameda - passing a freighter at sunrise

Good bye San Fransisco

The warm easterly wind made sailing south easy and enjoyable and we were in Half Moon Bay, a small resort town, by early afternoon. 

Jim chillaxin

We dinghied into the marina and strolled around under the hot sun then spent the afternoon reading in the cockpit, swatting the swarms of kelp flies that plagued us.  Jim was driven down below for relief while I covered myself with mosquito netting, determined not to let them ‘beat’ me!  We left early the following morning, taking a few of the pesky flies south with us.

We motored in calm conditions for towards Monterey, finally putting up the head sail for an hour before arriving.  We anchored in front of a sandy beach next to Loon, single handed by Francis, whom we had met in San Fransisco while anchored in Aquatic Park.  We were lulled to sleep by the gentle waves and woke early under sunny, warm skies again.  By 10:30 we were on our way into the harbour to explore Monterey, being met at the dock by Cameron, our other single handing friend.  We hadn’t seen Cameron since Eureka so we had lots to catch up on over lunch.   Not only was Cameron at the docks but hundreds of loud, large sea lions were also there. 

Monterey Harbour

Vocal sea lions lounging in the sun

Monterey coastline

In fact they had their own special dock where they lay side by side and on top of each other sunning themselves.  We quickly found out how annoyingly loud a mass of sea lions can be as the grunted, howled, and growled at each other around the clock, just a fact of life for those at the marina!  Anyway the harbour master gave us well laid out maps, showed us where the expensive restaurants were and told us where he would eat himself.  With Cameron guiding us (he had been there 3 days) we wandered down the main part of town until we found a great little café that specialized in Mexican fare and huge breakfasts.  Monterey seemed to be a conference centre town with many upscale conference hotels and spas spread over the few blocks of downtown and along the waterfront.  Designer stores, jewellery stores, wine tasting stores and a Trader Joe’s rounded out the area.

We took an afternoon walk along ameandering waterfront bike and pedestrian pathway wound through park-like squares and along the shoreline.  We passed families picnicking, buskers playing guitars, visitors on 4 person surries (2 side by side seats front and back pedalled like a bike) exploring the area, a group of young mom’s jogging with babies in strollers and business people with brief cases.  Clearly the walkway was very popular and the preferred way to get around the area. Along the walkway, a mile south west of town was Cannery Row.  Cannery Row was originally the area of the largest sardine processing plants in all of California.  A hundred years ago it was a thriving port with many Asians, Mexicans, Philippino’s and Russians making up the massive work force needed to move, clean, pack, seal, and ship the sardines, often working long hours in damp, cold and crowded factory-like conditions.  Near the original Cannery Row three small cabins had been restored showing a glimpse at the living quarters for the single cannery workers.  The city has done a great job of identifying places of significance with murals, statues, information boards and old enlarged photographs.  Monterey, and especially Cannery Row, were highly featured in movies of the 40’s and 50’s and stars like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe spent time there along with many other famous movie stars looking for a getaway. Now Cannery Row is a mix of upscale boutiques, expensive hotels and spas, bike rentals, pricey restaurants, lots of antique and novelty stores.

We decided to rent bicycles the next day and had a wonderful time exploring the coastline south of Monterey where such famous communities as Carmel and Pebble Beach were located to the south.  The bikes gave us much more freedom than just walking and we enjoyed looking at the rugged coastline, breaking waves and sand dunes that went on for miles and miles. 

high wind and waves along the coastline

Seabirds don't mind the wind and waves

A sand castle competition on the beach at Monterey

We ate our packed lunch on a log at a beach park then rode back inland via numerous well manicured gold courses.  We stopped in the scenic Pacific Grove a few blocks away from the water then meandered back towards Cannery Row.  We didn’t make it quite as far as Carmel or Pebble Beach but close!  By the time we walked back to the harbour we had ridden about 13 miles and walked 6 miles in two days.

The next day we made our way back along the waterfront and Cannery Row to the world famous Monterey Aquarium.  It was an expensive day with admission costs running $35 per person plus lunch in their seaside cafeteria but well worth it.  Seeing the massive indoor living kelp forest, standing with just glass between us and octopuses, sharks, tuna, squid, jelly fish, sardines, mackerel, hundreds of other types of sea life, water foul, sea birds and crustaceans was amazing.

Kelp forest at Monterey Aquarium

Octopus

great viewing

There is a fish in there... well camouflaged

 



 



stingray

 

The blue painted background presented well in both photographs and videos and we took lots of both!

jellies come in all sizes and shapes

This one lit up with, about the size of a light bulb.  Amazing!

 



sardines swirling around in a school

Art made out of discarded plastic - a graphic picture of waste

The artist created a huge wall of discarded plastic to make a point! Point taken!

 

 By mid afternoon we wandered back to Falcon to prepare for an overnight passage to Morro Bay, 105 miles to the south.  We headed out near 6:00 p.m. only to encounter massive 15 foot swells just outside the harbour and almost no wind to sail by.  Jim realized that it would be an extremely uncomfortable night so we quickly turned around and headed back towards the beach and anchored instead.  Flexibility is key and not having deadlines works well for us.  We rested on Thursday and pulled up the anchor just before dusk.  We had no wind but no swells either and motored calmly through the night.  We each took 3 hour watches, sleeping in between. I even made popcorn to munch on during my 4:00 a.m – 7:00 a.m. watch. Though we couldn’t sail, the repaired autohelm made the night passage all the better.