As of June 30th, we have been cruising for a month and a half. Every day has been memorable, and time is gradually slowing down for us, as we strive to live each day more deliberately. There have been the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows, but as we like to say, even the worst day sailing is better than the best day spent in an office cubicle. We have met so many interesting and kind people; seasoned cruisers, helpful harbormasters, optimistic marine biologists, locals who know the area like the back of their hand, foreigners with tales of exotic locations. We would not have been able to experience it all had we not taken the leap and started cruising. Here’s to cherishing memories and looking forward to the future.
Anchorages ranked:
1)Catalina Harbor – Long anchoring time limits, extensive hiking trail network, warm weather, clear water, abundant sea life, informative nature talks by USC and the Catalina Island Conservancy
2)Fry’s Harbor
3)Scorpion Anchorage
4)Morro Bay
5)Pelican Bay
6)Cueva Valdez
7)Santa Barbara
8)Redondo Beach
9)Refugio
10)Monterey
11)Sacate
12)Lighthouse Landing – The most unprotected anchorage we have experienced, plus deep water made it excessively difficult to pull up the anchor (it took us an hour of heavy pulling and a close shave with nearby rocks). Aborted land voyage since we couldn’t figure out how to land the dinghy.
Favorite moments:
- Seeing masses of dolphins, whales and sea lions swimming together between Morro Bay and Point Conception
- Bioluminescent underwater lightning storm at Cueva Valdez
Number of nights anchored: 36
Number of nights docked: 4
Number of nights passage making: 4
Distance travelled: 494 nautical miles (San Francisco to Catalina)
Hours sailed: 48
Hours motored: 75
Cruisers generally live frugally and self sufficiently, but our exact costs of living differ depending on how simple we choose to live. For instance, how often we pull into docks, how often we eat out, or how willing we are to pay for pricey admission tickets. To give you a sense of where we are on this scale, here is how much we spent in the month of June. For reference, just rental of a one-person apartment in San Francisco is around $1200 per month.
Expenditure (June 1-30):
Groceries: $ 877.62
Eating out: $ 60.62
Docking: $ 83.00
Fuel: $ 62.27
Boat insurance: $ 80.66
Boat maintenance: $ 126.62
Phone bill, mailbox: $ 46.21
Official paperwork: $ 773.82
Admission Tickets: $ 18
Others: $ 79.17
Total: $ 2207.99
Full time cruisers we have met:
Monsoon 