Azimuth is ideal for crews of 2-4 people, although the late 70’s ads boast sleeping 6. Thanks to our COVID vaccine shots along the way in Stockton and Monterey, we are open for hosting! Henry and Allen joined us in Santa Barbara for a jaunt out to Santa Cruz Island and back.
My last couple posts have described some of the Type II fun we’ve been having, and this past weekend was a welcome dose of Type I. We cooked fantastic meals, played cards and a sea anemone jigsaw puzzle, took the maiden voyage on our paddleboard, and generally lazed around in delightful weather.
Allen arrived earlier in the week and joined the runaround – grabbing a new mainsheet, hoisting Scott up the mast for a rig inspection, refilling fuel and selecting fresh food at the farmers market. Sharing the routines and rituals of living aboard has always been a delight of mine, and was even sweeter after a year plus of isolation on board. He also got my road bike Sunny back in commission by replacing a tube, and solutioned a couple rusty components. Huzzah for crafty friends!
Henry drove in Thursday and partook in another round of errands — and more importantly, another round of tacos at Lilly’s). We headed out mid-morning on Friday for an easy sail over to the island. Henry and Scott scoped out a dinghy landing for hiking, and the next day we made our first landing in the surf. We picked our wave, the guys jumped out, and I hit the kill switch and tilted the outboard as we landed on the rocks. Three cheers for hard bottomed dinghies!
After some rock scrambling, we accessed the mostly-sand beach and dusted off the frisbee skills we gained on the quads of three different universities. I took my first swim of the trip and soaked up the feeling of having made it to this island in the ocean.
Back in February, Henry was ordained via the internet to officiate our wedding and Allen juggled flower girl and catering duties. Scott and I were deep in boat projects, rainy season, and the dual anticipation of going voyaging around a continent and committing to each other til the end of this life. What a gift to have these friendships that can hold the complexity of all those words I just typed, plus the sheer fun of running around in the sun.
Santa Cruz Island is ~20 miles offshore and located on the Pacific tectonic plate. We noticed some differences in the rocks and tons of neat shells. Later in the trip, we will cross over the Coco and Caribbean plates.
Our collective weekend reading list:
– Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Ashley)
– The Anthropology of Turquoise by Helen Malloy (Henry)
– Seven Eves by Neil Stevenson (Scott)
– Sophie’s Choice by William Styron (Allen)
Sailing Azimuth 