I feel like I start every post saying something like this, but Monterey was really nice.  Everyone at the marina was really friendly, we had clam chowder and local beer at fisherman’s wharf (delicious), bought fresh seafood from the local fisherman, rode our bikes on the bike path and throughout the town and enjoyed the marine life.  There are a lot of really large sea lions, harbor seals and otters living in the harbor and the marina.  Otters are particularly attractive (in my opinion) because they have little hands, they use tools and are very expressive.  They are also quiet, as compared with the Sea Lions (lots of loud barking).

Our trip across Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz was interesting yesterday.  The weather reports that we used under-reported the wind strength by a lot, so we had a lot of wind across the bay and had a brisk sail.  We pulled into Santa Cruz small boat marina at about 4 pm and got assigned an end-tie on the main channel.  My wonderful cousin Danna and Aunt Annette, who live in Santa Cruz, came to meet us at the harbor and treated us to a Chinese dinner that was fantastic.  What a treat!  We’ve spent today catching up on laundry at Danna’s and doing a lot of grocery shopping.  Things are great.

Cousins!

Entering San Cruz marina

Lovely bike path in Monterey

My new pal

A race was happening as we approached Santa Cruz harbor – those are spinnakers in the distance