The next legs of our trip were somewhat short. The weather was fair, the seas as well… mostly. All in all fairly easy trips…I like that.
We arrived at Dana Point YC the wind was high as we pulled into the harbor. That was unpleasant, not too scary but not fun at all. I went to the fuel dock and we fueled up for the next day as we planned on leaving in the morning. we made our way slowly against the wind to the YC dock and tied off. I went to look for the promised key, however the key we were expecting was not there. I made a couple of calls but it was never found.
The commodore was nice enough to come down to see if he could help, but to no avail. We made do what just having a place to dock for the night with shore power. The basics were enough.
We set off the next day. I found out later after sending the commodore a thank you note that, the key was left as promised but a member found it and took it inside!
We did not have to leave so early so we had a casual start with some Kayakers as escorts.
The next leg was another 30 miles more or less to Oceanside Ca. The entrance this time was peaceful we found our spot easy along with the key for the facilities. It was a comfortable marina, much more of a working class location than the upscale locations of Dana Point and Seal Beach.
However it was clean, we had wifi and power. We stayed there for tow days.
While out for a walk I came across another Iroquois. A sister to the ZenCat. That makes 2 I have spotted on this trip. I thought there was only maybe one still on this coast. so it was a rare find to locate two others.
I wanted a break and to wait for the wind direction to be better. Our next leg down to Chula Vista was to be longer.
We left at day break after a two night free stay. The dockmaster there was nice and helpful. (He also made a fair margarita). As were all we encountered so far on the trip.
We set off to San Diego/Chula Vista. There we planned to hang out for 3 days and prepare for the long trip to Ensenada Mexico.
Wow. Back in the early 70′s I went sailing out of Dana Point with a friend and later we dined at a nearby Mexican style restaurant. While waiting met President Richard Nixon (no kidding!) who had a home nearby in those days. My then-wife shook his hand, but I declined (damned if I’d shake hands with the bastard!). He seemed much shorter than I had imagined. Anyway, I have interesting memories of Dana Point to say the least.
Fair winds and following seas. My mother lived in Chula Vista in the 1930s.
By: Pandabonium on February 12, 2013
at 7:40 am