Really fun trip to Emerald Bay, which is a few coves northwest of two harbors.

The motor sail over was uneventful, still seeing some white steam smoke from the exhaust but only when the exhaust is sunk under water at cruising speed. As we passed another sailboat I noticed he had even more steam than I did. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s always been there and I just noticed this summer.

While the stern floats higher out of the water at slower speeds or in idle, there’s basically no exhaust noticeable. Now, is that because the engine has less stress or because the exhaust is above the water, therefore perhaps not steaming up the sea water that makes its way in when the stern is lower in the water?

We got there and took a mooring next to my dock neighbor Connor and a few away from Jim on Blue Sky also from my dock. Mia and I went snorkeling over to a cliff, to the beach, over to a reef, around and back. I got some GoPro video and photos that I’ll post more or later. Here is one of the bottom of my sailboat. The water was so warm that in the 90 minutes we swam around in just swimsuits, we never felt cold.

I cleaned the knot meter paddle wheel to get it to work again. We then relaxed in the 85 degree weather and did some diving and swinging off the boat. Around 5 we got in Connors dinghy and stopped by Jims boat for cocktails and stories. Then we all went into shore for dinner at the Boy Scout camp. The truth is that it was a Boy Scout weekend and for $90 a person you could get dinner Friday, 3 meals Saturday, and breakfast Sunday. We knew we wouldn’t be there Friday and also don’t have a dinghy to go to shore whenever we please so passed on this offer. However, the night before we left we saw our neighbors mike and Joanne who were supposed to be part of the $90 deal and at the island. I fortunately they were stuck at the dock because one of his carburetor stopped working. He texted the person at the island in charge that Mia and I will be taking their spot - super nice of them - so we were welcomed on land. Additionally Connor asked the yacht club members if Mia and I could join as guests and they said yes too, so it’s like we were double covered. Everyone is really nice, and we enjoyed are mashed potatoes, canned corn and chicken tenders like part of the team.

We also got a tour of a science center at the camp that had squid and sharks and things to see. We slept outside because the boat was rolling pretty bad whenever another boat motored by - which happened a lot from dinghies or fishing boats at night. So we woke up around 6:30 when the sun came up, the ocean looked like a lake. We made breakfast and absorbed more sun until about 10:30 when we decided to leave. The motor didn’t a start. I sort of rapidly pushed the start button until something clicked and it fired up just as it should. Phew.
We had an epic sail back across the channel for a couple hours. Really making good time and leaning a fun amount (for me). It felt special to have such perfect weather and see sailboats all sailing everywhere around us. It was awesome. Just as we got to the R10 buoy which is at the entrance to Santa Monica bay, the wind died. This time the motor fired up right away… Luckily…confusing boats.