Long Beach, Sunday 9/10, 33 degrees 45 min N, 118 degrees 09 min W. (Ginger)

Wednesday we decided that we would leave our Cat Bay anchorage Thursday morning and head over to Isthmus Cove for a snorkel on the lee side of the island. Really this was just moving the boat closer to the action as we would be in front of Two Harbors instead of having to walk 5 minutes across the isthmus to get there. So, we got the boat ready for ocean travel, stowed gear below, got the dinghy deflated, folded, stowed and ready for the trip. One last “tall ship moment” presented itself Wednesday night as the Tole Mour arrived and anchored right next to us. By now it is no surprise that this is of great interest to someone aboard Marcy! So we spent the evening in the cockpit, sipping port and watching as the crew took the guests up the rigging to do sail handling drill to furl the lower topsail. It was easy to tell the crew from the guests as the crew confidently climbed the rigging and positioned themselves aloft. As the guests started climbing and getting directed out the yards it was a long process to get everyone situated. They dropped the sail and then collected and gasketed it in place. It looked like fun to be up in the rigging.

Thursday morning as I was doing yoga on the foredeck several passengers from Tole Mour went for an early morning swim with much splashing and screaming. That was the first morning we’d seen anyone else up that early, it was nice to have some early morning company in the bay for a change. We hauled the anchor at 7:30 and left just after the tall ship they headed south we headed north. It was a cold foggy morning and it felt good to be on the move again. It had been over a week since we’d been on the ocean and it took about 1 minute to get into the swell and start to feel that familiar “why did I eat a whole cup of cereal” feeling. We motor sailed into the wind and swell to the north end of the island and happily rounded the point and sailed back down wind. We arrived at Ismthus Cove at 11:30 and anchored in the southeast corner of the bay. There were already a couple of boats close to shore so we were anchored in 80 feet of water just outside the mooring field. After lunch and a short nap we contemplated pumping up the dinghy or kayak to go snorkel. We were in a really windy spot and it didn’t appear that the wind was going to stop any time soon, after a brief discussion, we decided it wasn’t going to be a snorkel day so we hauled the anchor and headed to Long Beach at 3:30 PM. We decided the rough night ahead at Isthumus Cove was worse than the possibility of entering the breakwater at the port of Los Angeles after dark. We sailed across on a broad reach and made good time until we got to within 2 miles of the breakwater. The sun was setting the low clouds had been around all day and were promising to block out the moonlight so we started the motor and cruised into the bay. The cranes along the port were beautiful in the low sunlight and the approach turned out to be straightforward and easy. We only encountered one big ship underway on the whole trip, right at the breakwater entrance. We entered the bay and went straight to our anchorage behind Island White.

Island White is an “island” named after an astronaut. The island is actually an oil-pumping complex, which has noise abatement cement walls around the perimeter. They shine lights on the walls at night and they also turn on a waterfall for 2 hours every night 8P – 10P. It’s really unusual, kind of a Disney experience!

Speaking of Disneyland - so close, but yet so far. I’ll try to make it brief and not bore you with all the details. A friend offered to sign us in to Disneyland as she works there! Yay! (OK, one of us was happy, one was dubious but definitely willing to go along. It is an experience and he should go there once!) We made a date with her to meet at the sign at 9:30 Monday morning. I spent a number of hours researching all the possible options and scenarios. Currently the boat is anchored 40 minutes from any dock by our small outboard AND, much as I’m trying to be easy going these days, the guy at the local West Marine told me this was only a weekend anchorage. Leaving the boat anchored all day and into the evening after the weekend made me uneasy even though I was unable to find anything in print on line about any weekday limitations. There are no dinghy docks here just restaurant docks with 2 hour time limits so I would have worried about both boats while we were gone not to mention a long trip back to the boat in the dark. Let’s get a slip! The local marina is full until 7:30 Monday morning when their office opens and they might be able to get us in. Only 2 hours to get a slip at the marina and get to Disney 45 minutes away. No rental cars within walking distance of the marina, the local cab company not sure if her driver could find a specific dock if called to pick us up, we could take the bus but the first bus we need leaves a mile from the marina at 7:35AM and there’s a transfer after a few miles so the whole thing hinges on getting that first bus. It would have been fun if it had worked out but all the complicated arrangements were starting to make me as stressed as talking to check cashing companies at work! This trip isn’t supposed to be about stress for a tourist stop so we’re passing on the Disney experience and hopefully we’ll get to see Heidi in San Diego later.

Besides the Disney research we’ve been to the tourist area of Long Beach on Friday, Alamitos Bay and Seal Beach on Saturday and just hanging out at the boat working on a few projects today. Peter finished removing a bulkhead today and sawed off all the bolt ends that have been threatening his forehead in the galley. This morning was quiet and beautiful and we spent a great morning on deck reading the paper we picked up yesterday and doing computer stuff. Occasionally, on deck we pick up the free wifi that the city provides in a “free zone” so we have enjoyed that. It’s really a luxury to have internet access without putting the computer in the dinghy and heading ashore. It was a good stop and we’re looking forward to Dana Point tomorrow.