Great fun in Marina Del Rey and Disneyland

Wednesday October 11, 2005 LOCATION: Newport Harbor GOOGLE EARTH COORDINATES: 33 36.582N,117 55.379W
We departed Ventura on a day when we knew that their famed Santa Ana winds were blowing offshore. They are known for their warmth and strength. We thought this would be a good time to get a good sail and a little more practice with stronger winds. We got what we wanted. What we didn't anticipate was just how high it would make the wind waves. The swell itself was not too large but since both them and the wind were coming at us from the side it created quite a busy and bumpy ride. As Bruce and I got the sails configured the way we wanted to deal with sustained winds of 25 - 30 knots and gusts up to 40, I realized I hadn't given the boys any sea sickness medicine and we were soon dealing with our first tossed breakfasts of the trip. Once those tummies are empty they feel much better, but they still laid low until the next distraction of the day.
A couple of hours into this 8 hour trek, we realized we were being chased down by yet another bird. The word is out after our last visitor that this is the place to rest. This creature looked much different than our last guest, in fact he looked more like a turtle flying in the air. He, quickly named Hootie, turned out to be an owl. A burrowing owl as best we can tell. He was exhausted and we figure he must migrate back and forth from Catalina Island. We saw a few others pass over us but none as tired as him. He ended up riding all the way into the harbor with us and didn't depart until after nightfall.
Once on the dock we were immediately greeted by a man who saw our port name and informed us he and his family were from Poulsbo, shortly there after we met another man from Portland, and another from Seattle. You never feel very far from home. The most exciting boat we met was one from Japan. They had traveled 32 days from Tokyo to Midway (Hawaii), from there they went to Seattle, then down the coast to here. We offered them some fish and abalone we had caught earlier and brought out our maps to talk with them. They will be taking the next 5 years to circumnavigate going east through the canal and around. I think they have a web site as well, so I will have to check it out and let you know. They were very nice to talk to and it was a bonus to realize we had the exact same boat. Knowing theirs made it across the ocean always helps to instill a bit more confidence in your own.
Aside from the dock, we didn't see much of the town except the usual, grocery store, laundry mat and of course, West Marine.
Saturday our friends the Elste family drove down from Modesto and we all descended upon Disneyland for two days of fabulous fun. The boys braved every ride we could throw at them. It was great fun and we are still all recuperating. We spent at least 15 hours in the park on the first day alone. whew!
Tuesday we readied the boat for departure the next day, wash it one more time, fill the water tanks, and of course, break something. The seam busted right out of our largest water tank. So we quickly ran back to West Marine, ordered one picked it up this morning, installed it and were off the docks by noon. The parting surprise of the day was Tristan's eagle eye actually spotted a small octopus right there off the dock in a couple feet of water speeding along the rocks. We were fascinated and left that beautiful harbor happy with our find. It has been a peaceful day of sailing most all of today and we will stop in Newport for a while.
until then, sail on
love lisa and the boys

Quick reminder for the Google Earth, just click and paste the coordinates exactly as we have them written there above. The google program can be fickle about how the coordinates are entered.