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Monterey, an extended stay
We came to Monterey to stay for about a week and thoroughly explore and enjoy it. We ended up staying three weeks. Not by choice, but due to personal health issues. Despite being forced to explore Monterey's terrible health system, we still found an opportunity to sample a lot of sights and experiences in and around the town.
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Making it all on our own
Our arrival to San Francisco Bay marked a transition - our dedicated crew, Drew and Steve, were leaving us and we were about to continue the journey on our own.
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Looking through a weather window
After we celebrated, slept, and recovered from our first 2-night passage to Newport, the spirits got higher and we felt we are ready to go out and face the ocean again. But then we came to the startling realization of the main problem of our overall strategy.
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Ocean sailing
After taking a few days to cover Straight of Juan de Fuca, we rounded the Cape Flattery and turned south. We entered the Pacific Ocean and started our ocean sailing.
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Cutting the lines
We cut the lines that tied us to the docks on Sunday, August 29th, and left the Port Townsend on our journey south. Ola did the cutting. It was a day we will for sure remember.
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Life in transition
In two short months we transitioned from a family of three, living in a suburb house, going to work and school and living what is essentially described as "normal life", to the two of us living on a boat, with no house and no car, and both our kids half a continent away.
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Qué vendrá ‘s Internet Setup
Having a simple to use and reliable network connection onboard has been high on our list. The number of interconnected devices seems always to be growing and we wanted to make sure that the navigational and boat data can transit between them. We also wanted to have a simple way to provide internet access to all onboard computers, phones, and tablets without reconfiguring all of them or without buying the multitude of SIM cards in every place we go to. The document below describes how we went about it.
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Watermaker Installation
Qué vendrá came with already installed Spectra 150 MPC watermaker. The watermaker is installed in the aft cabin (port side) under the bunk. Originally, it has been of unknown working quality, but we managed to get it started and working. The below document describes a few remaining challenges remaining with the installation and how we are tackling them. This is an embedded Microsoft Office document, powered by Office.
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An uphill travel
The day finally came – all that was to be stowed away was stowed away, the systems tried and checked, all ready to go. Our hired captain (John) and the crew (Bones) flew in on Saturday 5/23 and together we wrapped up the last few things. The most important was the installation of the AIS system, to help us avoid other ships and be seen while underway, especially in busy shipping lanes around LA and San Francisco. A quick run to a local Kroger store to get food supplies (2 full carts) and we were ready. Departure was set for around noon on Sunday, May 24th. Right in the middle of a busy Memorial Day Weekend. The start was a bit rough. We were departing at the tail end of a strong high-pressure system, that has been pushing wind and waves from the north. It was supposed to be calming down, giving us a window to hop around Point Conception…
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Sorting the stuff out
In May the COVID situation seemed to get reasonably under control for me to take some courage and fly down to LAX and stay on the boat. The flight was actually an interesting experience in itself – the airport was eerily empty, no travelers, minimal staff, no lines, everything closed, yet the planes flying. There were about 20 people on a 200-seat plane. We all boarded with the reverse row number – highest row numbers first – and not with the first-class-first order. Everyone was asked to wear masks and there was no food service or any kind of service throughout the flight. But I had a full row to myself and it was a short flight, so overall a good experience. I think I would meet more people on a trip to a grocery store than on that flight. This was the first time I had used my maximum luggage allowance – 2 bags of 70 lb each Once…
