SV Yohelah – Pacific Loop

We’ve tucked Yohelah into a marina in San Diego for a month. We’re going to go on a little road trip to see the Grand Canyon, the balloon fiesta in Albuquerque (and Lisa Stewart Gunderson and Debbie Cook), and my dad in Yuma. We’ll be back here in a week and then Rob will fly up to Seattle to see his parents. Then Leslie & Fred will come down here for a weekend and after that it’s time to get us and the boat ready for Mexico and the Haha.

Southern California has been wonderful. In Santa Barbara we bicycled and did some boat jobs, ran into friends from Seattle, and met some other folks headed for Mexico. After Santa Barbara we spent two days motoring and sailing out to Catalina. T2 (Teresa Lennstrom) and Linda came down and hung out with us for a couple of days. The Santa Ana winds were building when we were in Avalon, though, so we ended up sailing over to Long Beach. Carol Hasse (our sailmaker in Port Townsend) had put us in contact with Cherie, the owner of a Baba40 named Karma in Long Beach, and she found us a slip in her marina to hang out in for a couple of days. T2 flew back to Seattle and we headed south, sailing alongside Karma on a spectacular day down to Newport Yacht Basin.

We sat on a hook in Newport for 3 days and enjoyed the harbor, then did two day trips down to Oceanside and into San Diego. We stayed at the city dock for a couple of days until the marina had a slip, where we came today. Amazingly, about 40 minutes after we pulled in, a boat that was across the dock from us at Shilshole pulled into the slip next to us. Chris and Dani on Kinship are also Haha-ing south. Yesterday we spent the afternoon hanging out with some other folks from K-Dock at Shilshole, Leigh & Peter on Marcy.

Today on Yohelah we’re enjoying the Southern California fall weather and looking forward to our little road trip…..

San Diego is here

The forecast today was for an 80% chance of thunderstorms. The information center at the Grand Canyon advises you not to hike into the canyon to avoid being hit by lightning. And the ranger specifically told me the trail we had picked was the worst because it was on an exposed ridge with no trees. Rats again, since this was our only day here and the only chance to hike. So, of course, you know we did. Rob actually made the call to take the shuttle out to the trailhead and check it out. The bus was full of other hikers, so we liked our odds a little better. And the trip down a mile and a half and 1500 feet was marvelous. The storms were rolling across the canyon, but staying on the west and northern sides.

When we got to our turnaround point we looked back up the trail and realized the entire south rim of the canyon had disappeared underneath the oncoming thunderheads. We put on our rain coats and headed back up. When the raindrops got to be pea sized, we found an overhang to hide underneath for a while. The lightening rolled right over the top of us, and I realized I was greatful it was Rob’s decision to take the hike and it wasn’t my crazy idea this time!

The final to-do list is ready, and as always it’s long. But we’re scheduled to leave San Diego next Monday at 11:00 am with 181 other boats as the Haha fleet heads to Mexico. Hopefully hurricane Paul will weaken, pass by Cabo and not cause any damage. And certainly we hope Paul is the last of the storms in the Pacific this season.

We’ve had a busy busy time while in San Diego. Rob went to Seattle to see his folks and do some last minute shopping. Leslie and Fred visited for 3 days so we got to sail in the Bay and see the San Diego Zoo. The road trip was fun, and the pix from the Balloon Fiesta are marvelous. And it was nice to hang out with my dad a bit in Yuma, too.

Today on Yohelah we’re checking off the last items on the list as we get ready to leave the country and head for Mexico…….