Steve and Kathie Smith sail out of bay
by Steve & Kathie Smith

15 Aug 2001-We didn't get out of Vallejo as soon as we thought we would, We finally left on August 7th, and have been meandering down the coast. We got our first snail mail today. We're staying at the Morro Bay Yacht Club, & they said they would hold mail for us. So son Gregg mailed us a big envelope full.

The cruising has been good. Going out the Golden Gate, we had some cross swells for a couple of hours, and I got seasick, but as soon as we turned South, it got a lot better. Our first stop was Half Moon Bay, and we stayed there for another day, just because we weren't in a hurry. Then Monterey for 4 days to visit with my friend Jack. He loaned us his car for a day, so we ran errands, did laundry, and some shopping. Left Monterey on Monday, and cruised 90 miles to San Simeon Bay, dropped the anchor and spent the night. Tuesday morning there was a lot of fog, so we waited til around 11 to leave for Morro Bay. A short cruise (about 3 hours) and we arrived here. Tomorrow we go around Point Conception and to Santa Cruz Island, then to Catalina. Outside of being seasick the one day, my health has been good. I think even the cats are getting used to the boat rumbling when we are underway. (That doesn't mean they like it!)

The slower pace of the cruising lifestyle is great. If we don't get something done today, then we can do it tomorrow. If the weather looks iffy, we wait another day. We are meeting a lot of nice people, and hope to catch up to some of them again farther south.