The first leg of this journey is complete. On August 31st, 2 weeks after departing from Seattle, Rod guided Quijote into a single slip last evening, just long enough after dark to make it a bit of a challenge. Friendly neighbors took a line to help get us settled in.
The motoring from Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island, was an uneventful crossing of about 14 hours. I defrosted the fridge, fulfilled my four hour helm watch and tossed together a weird-but-good-enough concoction for dinner for all of us.
It’s after dark at the end of our first of many days here in San Diego. The guys cleaned Quijote’s topside this morning while I made oatmeal breakfast and read more of ‘Becoming’. It’s too damn hot to clean down below with all the windows and hatches closed.
Rod and I grocery shopped this afternoon. The closest reasonable grocery store being over 2 miles away, we hitched a ride with Kevin, his brother Russ, and Russ’s’s wife Kathy. We then took an Uber back to Quijote.
We’re at a very nice marina, for a hefty monthly fee. Quojte will depart here November 4th. Kevin left today and will return at the end of October. The rest of us will be departing on various dates, with me being last to leave on September 17th to join my friend Tina, on a 3 week road trip of the Southwest.
After enjoying a juicy grilled burger and a slice of pie during sunset, I write these words listening to distant sounds of voices, music, and a chorus of crickets. A fingernail moon has been slipping towards the horizon till it has finally disappeared. It will be 2 months before we are underway again. Although I’m looking forward to the road trip, then seeing Emily, Chris, my dad and others, I’m also counting the days to be on the water with Quijote again.