Day 2
Georgie and I had the first watch last night as we cruised past Orange County to the east and Catalina Island to the west. Following the little icons on the radar screen mesmerized us as we checked out the AIS (Automatic Identity System) info on the various vessels out there with us. Lights ablazing. the Carnival Firenze roared past on their way to Ensenada. The full moon rose, a bright orange sky pumpkin that the black clouds were eager to engulf. All the while, chatter on the radio warned sailors about the Oceanside Pier fire.
And despite my full set of wet weather gear (I just had to try out my sallopets - a fancy word for waterproof overalls), my toes froze.
When the moon hits your eye, like a big pumpkin pie….
San Diego followed Santa Barbara’s lead and welcomed us with positively English skies. Luckily the folks at the San Diego Yacht Club were much sunnier, letting us shower, swim in the pool, and eat at their restaurant. Thank goodness for Grandad Brooks’ insistence on “procuring” a Santa Barbara Yacht Club “burgee” or pennant for Leona: SDYC requires all visitors to fly their club colors.
We met Kyle the agent who is helping us navigate the customs form paradox. We can’t leave till the Coast Guard stamps the paperwork, but there doesn’t seem to be any exisiting paperwork for boats our size. Kafka, anyone?
The USS Michael Monsoor kindly escorted us to the yacht club.
While waiting for the paperwork, we each took care of some Very Important Things. Jeff corrected the wiring on the stern thruster so that directionally challenged pilots know that left and right really mean left and right. David Ubered to Best Buy to purchase a mini projector with the intention of having bi-weekly movie nights. Georgie and I attended a Restorative Yoga class that really should be titled Guided Napping: we were stars at achieving the Nap State.
The weather has thrown us a little curveball, so to avoid striking out at our first at bat, we are going to sit in the dugout and enjoy the hospitality of the SDYC for the night.