Morrow Bay to Santa Barbara (around Pt. Conception) - Oct. 15th

We're on our way around the much feared Point Conception... motoring with flat seas and about a 5kn headwind - not too exciting, but I guess that's a good thing. We're on our way to Santa Barbara (if we can find anchorage), then Ventura or Redondo Beach (again, if we can find anchorage). The plan is to try to make it to Disneyland from there, then head out to Santa Catalina Island for the Lattitudes and Attitudes (magazine) cruisers party, then to San Diego. It's 6:30am on Oct. 16. I've been on watch since 2am. There's no moon and high overcast (no stars), but fortunately NO FOG (hurrah!). Visibility is at least 10 miles or more. A bunch of ships have been coming out the Santa Barbara channel then turning to go either north, south or west... it's unnerving to have just figured out which way that behemoth is going at 20 kn or so, then have it change course nearby. Sometimes there were up to 4 at a time to keep track of. There are also a bunch of oil derricks around - lit up like small cities that look like something out of Star Wars, but when they're far away they still look like a ship much nearer. At least it kept me entertained, and I didn't even think of nodding off. Thank goodness for radar - we're using it quite frequently to confirm direction and speed of various things that are bigger than us. It also came in REALLY handy for the last couple weeks when we were mired in fog. Now that we're around Pt. Conception the fog should be nearly gone. The water temperature increased from 54F to 62F in the last 90 miles (and it'll keep getting warmer!). There sure hasn't been much wind. We had one good blow since leaving San Francisco, but unfortunately we were anchored at the time and it was trying to blow us onto the beach in Monterey (35kn N wind and 12ft swells makes things uncomfortable). The anchor held well, and we got a space in the marina just as it was getting dark. Praise God! There is currently a small (non-aquatic) bird sleeping on the seat cushion beside the salon table, and a very large dragonfly asleep hanging on a wire near the nav station... it's like a floating zoo! They showed up last night just as it was getting dark - I guess they got disoriented in the fog and decided we looked like a better option than a water landing. The bird flitted around for about half an hour trying out various perches, including the top of both Kellie and Ellies heads! Thankfully the camera was handy! It then went below and promply fell asleep on the settee. The dragonfly crashed around in the cockpit for awhile, and was hard to not step on (we'd run out of fuel in one tank and stalled the engine - I had to bleed the injectors, so had my mind on things other than not trodding on large insects. We're considering trying to pick up a crewmember for the San Diego to Cabo (or La Paz) leg. Kel has been aprehensie about having the energy to sail and teach when we're making passages. This, and the last one (overnighters) have gone well, so maybe she'll get into the groove. It's been a big adjustment for her, and she's not having much fun. I'm really hoping that it'll improve with the weather... it was getting both of us down to be cold and damp all the time. Yesterday afternoon was a good morale boost - big whale tales and birds and dolphins and sea otters and a dragonfly to top it all off... the kids both agreed that it was the best day yet!