Oct 21: California is great!

 

Most of my time has been related to cruising or working on Fran's boat. I love it! When I returned from our last trip, I noticed my rattlesnake plant was doing very well. My wonderful neighbor, Aida, takes care of my plants when I'm gone. They clearly like Aida. Here is the plant folded up for the night. (I turned the light on for the picture.)

Here is the plant during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Teardrop Plant

 My Teardrop plant is also doing well. I'm pleased to report that after my last visit to Rebecca, (I rescued these plants from her) she now has all artificial plants. Good thing. I don't have any more space for more plants!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I have been thinking about getting an air fryer/oven/toaster. I just happened to be checking it out and saw Target had a Cuisinart for 60 % off. Two left. I snagged it and I like it. It works great and is much better than heating the whole oven to bake.

 

Air Fried Chicken thighs

Craig and I went to the marina to help a friend who was going in for open-heart surgery. (She is doing great.) Her boat was fine, but the kayak had been sitting in the water for a long time. The bottom looked like a coral reef!

 

 

We cleaned it off and put it on the bow of her boat. The ocean critters and algae move in quickly! 

As I was driving back home, I saw a lot of smoke. There were several wildfires in the east, but this looked pretty close. I could smell the smoke. Fortunately, it stayed well away from my place.

 

 

 I bought some Goldfish plants that attract hummingbirds to my balcony. They are very cool plants and the hummingbirds love them. 

This little guy on the railing is a regular. Very fun to watch the hummingbirds hovering from blossom to blossom.

I decided to rearrange my bedrooms. I had originally thought that it would be nice to have a larger office/project area but decided my bed and dresser were just too large for the guest bedroom. So I switched them. It worked out well.

Now as I sit at my desk and can look out over a beautiful view and see my hummingbirds.

It was time for our major 10-day cruise with the Dana West Yacht Club (DWYC), to San Diego Harbor. The cruise was fabulous. Great weather and great people.

A wonderful thing about Yacht Clubs is the reciprocal agreements. We were able to stay at 4 yacht clubs at no charge. Yacht club members always show appreciation by using the yacht club restaurants, and bars!, which were wonderful. Boaters are very welcoming and friendly.

Our first stay was at the Coronado Yacht Club. It was about a 7-hour cruise, and we enjoyed a beautiful cruise into San Diego Harbor. This is a fish eye view of the harbor. To the left (west) is the harbor entrance and the ocean. To the right, you can see the Coronado Island bridge. To the east is a dead end. The bay toward the front, bottom of the picture, is our first port. The second is beyond the east side (right) of the picture, and the third is all the way west. The harbor is huge.

 

 

 

 

 

 I was mostly interested in getting tied up to our dock, plugged in and set for the night. Fran was mostly interested in dropping the dinghy and cruising through the huge harbor. We were both happy with the outcomes. We had a wonderful sunset dinghy cruise and then had a late dinner at the yacht club.

Fran with her martini in a fancy glass. She never 

spilled a drop.

Fran told me that the bridge, which the Navy ships pass under to dock, is designed with sections that will float if it were to be bombed. That way the ships could still exit the harbor. The sunset was amazing and we returned just before dark.

Coronado bridge to the right

We ate dinner here. Very enjoyable.

 Coronado was a fun place to ride our bikes. As usual, Fran wore me out with a 15-mile ride. Not too bad, but the ride back was into the wind! We saw a lot of birds.

Long beaked Curlew and Willets

 

 

 

 

 

Our next port was Coronado Cays Yacht Club. We couldn't get slips, so we did a raft up anchor. Our boat was the largest, so I was the lead boat. The current and wind were tricky, so it took a second attempt, but I finally believed we were secure. The other three boats moved in and tied to us. I thought everyone should put out an anchor, but I was the new guy, so! Sure enough, after a half hour, we were drifting into the wall. We took another anchor out with the dinghy and dropped it. Plus, another boat put its anchor out. Then all was good.

There was a boat rental place that offered Gondola rides.

Fran enjoys sitting on that little bench on the bow. She makes a good bow ornament, always smiling.

Kevin and Brenda

Our friends Brenda and Kevin drove to Coronado and joined us for cocktails on the boat.

 

 

 

 

Coronado Cays Yacht Club Bar

Then we joined the other boaters at the yacht club for dinner. The yacht club was very nice.

 

Fran, Carol, Bob, Sandy, Debbie and Rick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because we had the largest boat, we hosted the "Eye Opener" the next morning. It is a tradition for the yacht club. Bloody Mary's, Mimosas (Orange juice and champagne), pastries and fruit. Typically, people would all just sit in their dinghies, and we would pass everything out to everyone. But there were only four boats, so we ate on the boat.   

 

 

 

It was a great couple of days, and we would head to the San Diego Yacht Club next.