Saturday was probably the best day sail I have had on A Cenoura. Here’s why: I set out with Mia and she did most of the steering out of the harbor and main channel and beyond while all I had to do was open up the sails. It took 4 tacks to get far enough away from the coast to just barely clear the Palos Verdes northern most point. It’s a lot of fun for me when the person I am sailing with is interested in learning everything that there is to do. We rounded the point and dropped the sails because there was very little wind and I felt more comfortable motoring in to anchor. After one attempt that the boat and swell didn’t cooperate, we finally had the anchor set and drifted back into a smooth patch of water. Smooth, relatively, until the wake of distant boat would come and bob A Cenoura up and down for a minute. While anchored, it was time for lunch and music while just watching some clouds move in for a couple hours, and enjoying the surrounding views of Lunada Bay. I think it’s pretty awesome to be able to sail over to such a secluded-feeling place and chill out for a part of the day.
On the return trip, it was getting dark and the wind was light and variable which just slapped the sails around so after a little bit of slow sailing I just ran the motor to get us back. That night was a “super moon” in which it is the time of year that the moon orbits closest to earth, so it appears very large. We had a glimpse of the huge bright moon rising over Palos Verdes to the east and the sun setting over the ocean to the west at the same time, while quietly under sail, and that could be hard to beat. Thanks to the calm sea state and autopilot I was able to get almost everything covered and put away on the boat before getting back to the dock. It was still warm enough at night to be walking around the deck just in shorts while putting into the harbor. Finally there’s a picture of how high the tide was, almost over flowing on the sidewalk like when the king tides happened.
On Sunday I got a few things done, a buddy came over and we met up with a group of my friends for a drink at the pier. I got Pita Pit for dinner before biking home and the employee came out and gave me a whole extra meal for free - awesome!