Hi Everyone!
We rounded Pt. Conception at 7 AM - Just 1 hour ago - and are anticipating arriving in Santa Barbara around 2 PM.
We left Morro Bay just after 10 PM last night (we couldn't sleep so we decided to leave early).
The hardest part of this 103 mile passage was leaving the harbor! The lights going out the Morro Bay channel were washed out by the street lights up by the big power plant at the head of the bay. Once we turned the corner and headed out the main channel - it was a bit easier - but it was nerve racking until we passed the breakwater. The moon wasn't fully up yet and it was overcast so there wasn't very much background light.
A few hours later, it was much brighter as the moon was higher in the sky - even though it was still overcast. We had no trouble at all on the difficult parts of this passage (between Morro Bay and Pt. Conception).
Interestingly the winds were light and it was a dead downwind run the whole way. We motored as the winds were too light to sail.
The strongest winds were off Pt. Arguello where it was briefly blowing 18 knots. Otherwise it was 8 to 12 knots the whole way.
Off Pt. Conception it was only blowing 4 knots! Quite a change from 2 years ago when it was blowing 25 to 30. OK, 2 years ago we rounded at the peak wind time at 4 PM in the afternoon and today we rounded at sunrise.
Right now we're motoring up Santa Barbara Channel with 1 to 2 knots wind...
We're officially in warm weather! Halfway between Pt. Arguello and Pt. Conception (10 miles apart) the overcast and fog lifted, the moon and stars came out and we saw a beautiful sunrise over Pt. Conception. This was our first observable sunrise since leaving the bay area. All the other mornings were foggy and overcast.
It's now noticeably warming up! It's time to stow the dorkey hats and long undies. If the weather is anything like our cruise 2 years ago, we won't need them again!
Warmest Regards,
Bill and Mary
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