Morro Bay to Marina del Rey – What Are Those “Fishing Vessels” Ahead?

We left Morro Bay mid-morning on October 19^th. The sky was clear and the sun was bright. We had about 5.5kt of wind out of the west. We were able to enjoy a nice sail for about 5 hours until the wind shut down and we succumbed to using the “iron jenny” (i.e., engine) to make some headway. Our rule for sailing is that we let weather drive the decisions but in this case we were on a bit of a schedule as we were picking up Jeff’s younger brother, Doug, in Marina del Rey on October 23^rd. At midnight on the 19^th, we rounded Point Conception, the last of the “worrisome” capes on the California coast. After rounding Point Conception, Michelle was on watch and began to notice what appeared to be very large, well-lit fishing boats. Sheg was having a hard time figuring out what these vessels were and what direction they were traveling. There were no discernable navigation lights, they did not appear on AIS, but they were seen on radar. After a couple of hours trying to decipher what she was seeing (even using binoculars) and watching as the “vessels” got closer and looming ever larger, she awoke Jeff. Jeff was equally perplexed but stated “they look like oil rigs”. After consulting with Uncle Google, we learned that there are 27 oil platforms off the California coast! Shame on us for not knowing this fact. Once we realized that we were not going to be run over by the oil platform, we maintained our course and left all but the last one to starboard. We arrived in Santa Barbara and set our anchor at 07:45 on Wednesday October 20th.  

                                                                    Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo          

                                                                Oil platform at night

                                                                Just North of Santa Barbara

                                                                    Marina at Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is known as the “American Riviera.” We don't mean to be negative or offend anyone who calls Santa Barbara home but, honestly, there was not much about Santa Barbara that enticed us to stay longer than 2 nights. The nicest people we met were at the "mercado". Most of the locals did not want to make eye contact and almost no one smiled!  There was no convenient place to land the dinghy and the marina only allowed us 3 hours as a “courtesy” to run some errands. They told us if we needed to use the marina the next day, we would have to pay the daily rate for a 20 foot slip. Ummmm, no thank you! The anchorage was also very rolly so after an oil change on Friday, the 22^nd, we pulled up anchor and headed for Marina del Rey by way of Anacapa Passage (between Santa Cruz Island and Anacapa Island). 

                                                         7 Oil Platforms off of Santa Barbara

                                                        Anacapa Passage at dusk

We had mostly good sailing but the winds shifted and at 22:00 we furled in the Genoa and dropped the main. The sea state was unsettled and we had to cross back over the shipping lanes while playing the game of “dodge the cargo ships” with the 40 or so cargo ships that were idling outside of Long Beach waiting to be unloaded. We pulled into the Burton Chase Park Guest Dock in Marina del Rey at 05:00 on October 23rd and settled in for a few hours of sleep before Doug was to arrive.

                                                        Cargo ships seen on AIS

                                                    Marina del Rey after tying up to guest dock

Doug arrived early afternoon and we made a run to the grocery store and West Marine. Saturday nights are, apparently, party nights in Marina del Rey. There were several party boats slinking through the harbor with a lot of dancing and laughter on board. We opted for dinner out at TheWarehouse. The food was good and the ambience was even better. Unfortunately, when we went to head back to the boat, the dinghy outboard wouldn’t start. After several attempts and help from an “old salt” on the docks, we determined that we were going to have to row back. BUT, in our haste to get to dinner, we forgot to put the oars into the dinghy! Doug and Michelle walked back to the boat to get the oars while Jeff waited at the yacht club with the dinghy. Jeff rowed us back to the boat….it was kind of like a gondola ride but without the singing. 😊

                                                                Dinner at The Warehouse

                                                        Burton Chase Park in Marina del Rey

When we returned to the boat and settled in for the night, Doug asked us what the noise was that he was hearing in the boat. We told him we didn’t know but that we first noticed it after tying up at the dock in Marina del Rey. We put the sound out of our minds and turned in for a good night’s sleep as we had a few big days of sailing ahead of us. 

Tune in to our next post to find the answer to the mysterious noise question!