And thats about the way I felt this morning.
Half Moon Bay has been kind of gloomy over the last week or so that we have been here and this morning was no different except we had a visitor. and probably one of the least expected where we are now. As I looked out the side window, I saw a strange sight come around our bow, and damn that boat looks familar, and as it should, as its another FIRST 42, by the name of Coyote, on their way to Santa Cruz decided to pull into the anchorage and do a spin through the anchored boats. Coyote, you've lifted the grey skys and made my day..
R3 at Anchor and Coyote bound for Santa Cruz
Just over 10 years ago while sailing down the coast from the North West, we happened to see a sight we'd never seen before, And I guess you would call it the annual migration of the "Jellies," Jelly Fish to be exact but we like to call them jellies.
And It was on that trip that we saw the little buggers, By the thousands you could say and enough that we got a really good look at them. Little purple things a couple inches long but what was strange, they have a little sail atop their body, to catch the wind across the water I would guess.
We would pull into port for a night or two but as soon as we started out, we'd see them again, and at first up north, they were in large pods a couple hundred yards across but as we sailed further south we found smaller and smaller areas of these little purple sailing jellies and often wondered where did they come from and again, where are they going.
So over the last few years we've almost forgotton about them until today, while doing a couple chores in the cockpit while anchored in the bay, out from under the back come floating a purple jellie, and another, and another..
I yelled to Ramona, get up here, you gota see this........... And you should have seen her face, as it was like an old friend had come to visit her. so we both sat there on the back of the boat, smiling at each other and pointing at the Jellies, and talking of memories of past.
Or at least that is what it seemed like In meeting Pete Petersen of the Presidio Yacht Club.
As it was almost a year before, that I had meet him at the temperatory position I held at the West Marine store in Marin City, north of San Francisco.
I had the privalige of working with his son, Kevin, in the same department and it was through Kevin that I meet Pete.
Over the last year, Pete and I have had a number of conversations from Sailboat re-fits to racing, and it was durring one of those conversations that I found that Pete belonged to Presidio Yacht Club, One of San Francisco's Finest organizations.
It was then that Ramona and I decided that the Presidio Yacht Club was the one club we would like to represent durring our travels. The people, the place and the legacy of the Presidio Yacht Club are one that we are proud to be part of.
And to soon did we have to say Good-Bye to our newly found friends , as the re-fit on our boat was done and it was time to move on.
But with us in our travels, we'll fly the Burgee Proudly, and take with us the memories of the friends we made at the PYC
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Its a normel occurance amoung cruisers and something we all try very much to avoid but it does happen. And thats to turn back for some reason to either add to or modify which you already have. We'll its happened to us and we hope its not to much of an off-set. Having already done the re-fit on the boat and all systems checking out ok, we were on our way to salt water and sailing. And then it happened, While in the Oakland area, setting the anchor, The chain had been played out and the tension was applied, Ramona slowly brought the RPMs up to set the anchor and at about 2000 RPM, it broke lose..... Not a good thing while anchoring. So it was on the phone to order the new style "MANTUS" anchor. Something I had planned on but not just yet. Because the anchor is being shipped Fed X, We needed an address and the closest one would be Ramona's brother Andy, back up in the delta from where we started, and to make things worse, while returning to the delta area, We recieved a call from a friend asking if we would make him a boat cover while there. So the anchor should be here in a day or so and the boat cover built withing a week so we will be off again, and this time, we'll make sure we cut the "BUNGEE CORD" before we leave..
Most Tides are looked upon in either a flood or ebb, or comming and going but its here on Seven Mile Slough in the California Delta where we see the Tides in a different way.
For the last year, We have been tyed to a dock here on the slough doing the re-fit needed to continue our Adventures south to Mexico, and durring this year, Our major concern was either the work we were doing to pay for the new gear, or doing the work itself on R3.
So much so that much of the area in and around the marina we are keeping R3, has been by-passed.
But Now as We've pretty much finished our work on the boat, and our outside jobs have come to an end, We're spending the days relaxing in the cockpit and taking care of minor issues.
And its now that we've noticed what the tides bring to us, as the water rises and we float higher in the channel of the slough, the sights over the levee, the farm lands, the cattle feeding in the fields, and off in the distance, the Hi-Way running east and west, trucks and cars, all going somewhere,
And not a one, thinking or caring who we are or where we plan on going over the next few years.
I wonder if I should care myself about those people in their steel cages, in their work-a-day lives,
Or should I just smile, wave, finish my cup of coffee, and get this boat ready to leave.....
Well, this chapter has almost come to an end, as the re-fit has gone well, and the boat it ready to leave, And I'm wondering if I am as ready as the boat is.. So much so that I find I'm comparing myself to others that have gone before me, their age, physical strengths, and knowledge, and I soppose like most I'm over thinking everything, but the thoughts are still there, and I wonder, Can I Do It? So I'll close this chapter of my life, the one that I'll lable "dreamer" and cut the lines, throu the fenders to the wind, and ride that horse, the one we call anxiety, explore the unknown, let my mind drift, and enjoy...............
The morning is cold here in the California Delta with a layer of mist hanging over the area, And the day begins its life with the sounds of birds and creatures of the water. The muskrats and beavers have already started their day.
Standing here with a hot cup of coffee in hand and looking out the window of our boat, I feel a slight tug on my pant leg.
As I look down, I see my grandson, with sleep still in his eyes,
And he asks the question,
Granpa, Can We Go Fishin Today?
Now Life Just Dosent Get Any Better Than That..
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