I love it when a plan comes together(80s reference.) Sampaguita did another overnight trip to get to Bonita Cove, Mission Bay, from Dana Point.

We had used up our five days anchoring allowance in Dana Point in our holding pattern as we wait for the Baja HaHa boats to leave San Diego. My understanding is we’re allowed three days here, which means I’ll move to San Diego Bay on Monday, the day they are scheduled to leave. That is unless the hurricanes have spooked them. But the Grand Poobah of the event seems committed to the date. Either way, I’ll have to move on and that’s the only place to go.

Regarding Dana Point, there was good and bad. Having five days was great. However, the Harbor Patrol is the Orange County Sheriff, and their conditioning and training has the young white men posturing and generally being unfriendly. They come around and flash their bright spot light on everyone’s boat to let you know they’re watching. It’s a put off to their profession.

Also, Dana Point has very limited shore access. I think they really just want you to pony up for a slip. The access was enough to go to the stores for provisions, but that’s it, so ironically they are limiting your ability to spend money on shore. Unless, I repeat, you pony up for a slip too. While I could use a shower, that’s a really expensive one. The rest of the time you are restricted to the boat. That said, it was fine as I don’t go to restaurants anyway and am good at keeping myself entertained. (And since it’s just me, being a bit dirty is fine.)

Though a high end community, they can’t hold a candle to Newport Beach when it comes to conspicuous consumption. But don’t think everyone who lives there is over-the-top. Once you get away from the shore and head to the Albertson’s, the Trade Joe’s, the Ralph’s, or the gas station, you see the regular people. Phew. As for Newport Beach, while mind blowing regarding wealth, they offer excellent shore access, goods and services, and a considerate civilian harbor patrol that even granted me an extra overnight upon request. I had no problem not washing my dishes, and thus, not discharging grey water as requested. (Not to be confused with black water, which is sewage, which you’re not really allowed to discharge anywhere inside three nautical miles of shore.) Mutual respect pays off.

As for Sampaguita’s overnight, it was only fifty miles, but I’ve developed a mantra recently. “If we can’t get there before dark, there is no hurry to get there before dawn.” Entering an unknown harbor at night is risky, not to forget the crab/lobster pot minefield that’s often at an entrance conspiring to foul your propeller.

We sailed off the anchor with the prevailing Northwesterly that had us doing four to five knots most of the way. With about ten miles left, the dark arrived and the wind faded. We rolled in a dead calm all night long unable to even heave to for mitigation. There were no boats within a few miles of me throughout the evening, so I was able to lay down, but sleep was mostly impossible with the rolling. I’ve learned to expect it. It’s part of boat life, which I enjoy, so I must enjoy that too, right?

When the sun rose, the wind did not, so we motored up and headed to Bonita Cove, where there was plenty of room. My plan was to get here in the AM, so as to hopefully get a freshly vacated anchor spot and beat the local weekend crowd. Success. It started filling in as I wrote this.

EVENT: I was passing a safe distance from Camp Pendleton, purposely outside the restricted area where there were no fewer than three military helicopters doing some sort of exercises, when I saw a can floating in the water. I was close enough to see that it was a sealed can of Pacifico. The wind was about ten knots and my pace was about four. I thought about it for five to ten seconds, before I committed to picking it up. I was on a broad reach when I tried to quickly tack around. That just put me in irons. So I fell back off and gybed around instead. The beautiful thing about a small boat is a controlled gybe is easy to do in even heavy wind, which this wasn’t. The sail, thus the power, is very manageable. I kept an eye on the can, like a proper MOB drill, powered up and beating, made my first approach. Not close enough. But my second approach was spot on and I was able to simply lean over the side and pick it up. That’s another thing about a small boat. Try doing that on a Westsail.

BOAT HACK: Cabbage lasts weeks without refrigeration, even in Southern California. Sampaguita does not have refrigeration and the chore of keeping up with ice has never appealed to me. Over the past ten years of living aboard I’ve learned the foods I can keep and those I can’t. So I just eat those I can. The FDA requires foods to have refrigeration labels, but I’ve learned those are suggestions to mitigate litigation. Many things are just fine. Part of my voyage south is adjusting to the warmer temperatures regarding food storage and that is going fine too. So forget the lettuce which will only last a day and accept cabbage as a substitute. It even costs less. Bonus.

OBSERVATION: The Salish Sea (aka Puget Sound and connecting waters) has plenty of Navy and military facilities. A huge boat yard, a nuclear submarine base, F-18 Growlers, and there is a weapons depot just across from Port Townsend. (Funny story. When I first arrived in Seattle and was reconning on Google Earth for expeditions in my 60s era Grumman canoe I saw Indian Island. I thought to myself, “They must be developing that area now because it looks like a bunch of culdesacs have been built.” Stupid me! I was to eventually learn those were not culdesacs, but weapons bunkers!) What we don’t have much of is military exercises on the water. But here in Southern California you better be listening to your VHF radio because several times a day I have heard something like “This is Warship XXX, at position XX° XX.XXX’ N, XX° XX.XXX’ W. We are conducting live fire exercises. Mariners are advised to stay 8 nautical miles away.” No problem! Or “This is Warship 72 (an aircraft carrier) at position XX° XX.XXX’ N, XX° XX.XXX’ W. We are doing continuous turns to port. All mariners are requested to stay well clear.” This one I watched. They did a good job.🤣 No matter how one might feel about this, national security and the defense industry are a big deal. Just ask the Ukrainians, or the Israelis, or the Palestinians, or the Iraqis, or the Afghans, or the South Koreans, or the Filipinos, or the Taiwanese. I haven’t even mentioned a country in Africa yet, but I’ll stop there.

“Securite, Securite, Securite. All stations, all stations, all stations. This is the United States Coast Guard Sector San Diego, United States Coast Guard Sector San Diego, United States Coast Guard Sector San Diego. Be advised. Out.”