I feel we really took advantage of our week docked in this beautiful city nestled between beach and mountain.

After the festivities of the 4th, we wanted to get a hike in as we heard there were some great views from the mountains and take a little break away from the ocean. We decided on seven falls, not too far outside the city. It still was a bit of an adventure to get there. We took the bus from downtown to the botanical gardens then had about a 3 mile trek up to the trail head. Not a road really meant for pedestrians but we made it. Once on the trail it was supposed to be a 4 mile out and back, but there was a bit of a wrong turn up to Inspiration Point. Once back on track, it took a bit of scrambling through a dry creek bed (this was our first clue that the 7 falls were more like 7 drips) but we made it to the end where the 3 pools were supposed to be. The pools during the rainy/wet season are supposed to be fun to swim in and cool off. I felt it best at the time to leave the swimming to the salamanders and the pools to the dragonflies. After our hike and since we failed to stop for additional change for the bus, we decided to hike it all the way back to the boat. Have I mentioned Dave runs 50 mile races for fun? (mile is not a typo)

Mom and Dad Krisch came up for a visit, arriving Sunday. They helped with some provisioning (yes, new oars!, groceries, and replacement of a blown flippy floppy) and delivered our mail. We had great eats, a great visit, and a tour of the maritime museum right in the harbor.

Since we've finished a few big chores on the boat (and when I say we I mean Dave's beautiful new lifelines), played tourist in a great town, taken advantage of the laundry and the showers...I believe we're ready to get back sailing! Cojo anchorage and Point Conception here we come.

On our first full day in Santa Barbara we went to the West Marine in search of parts for new lifelines. They didn't have what we needed, so they put in an order to arrive the following morning. Once we got all the parts, it took me a few hours work, but it was well worth it. They look great and should be much safer than the old, rusting ones we had on the port side. As another plus I can now say I know how to do the locking Brummel splice!

Tuesday evening, still in our first full day, we went downtown for the excellent Santa Barbara farmer's market. It was all farmers and none of the fluff that we see at other markets.

Wednesday night was date night. We had a lovely grown up dinner out stopping at a few of the great spots along State Street.

In our last post, we invited anyone to join us for 4th of July in the harbor. Amy took us up on the offer. Carolyn reorganized the boat to make space for herself in the v-berth so that Amy could use her berth. It was cozy - or cramped, depending on how you look at it - but it worked.

We had a very American menu of carne asada burritos to cook on our two burner stove. They turned out pretty good. Thank you Santa Cruz Market for the great eats!

We watched the fireworks from the dock with the company of several thousand other boaters in the marina. As the Harbor Patrol promised, we had a fantastic view of the city fireworks. In the photos, you might be able to see the reflection of the fireworks on the water. I couldn't decide if it was better to watch the show in the air or off the water.

The morning after the fireworks we showed Amy the town. She treated us to full American breakfast at Beachbreak Cafe (including a BBQ burger). Fully satisfied, we did a little shopping on State Street (we now have spare sunglasses) then we toured Stearns Wharf. It was rumored this was where the dinghy dock was if we were to anchor instead of staying in the marina... can you imagine climbing from the dinghy up to the pier? It isn't something I would do carrying 30 pounds of groceries.

Thanks for the great visit Amy!

Yesterday Crazy Love left Ventura Isle Marina in Ventura Harbor after an 18 hour stay. We headed for Santa Barbara - 22 miles distant - in 10 knot South winds and were doing 5+ knots by 10:30am. After making solid progress under spinnaker, the winds died on us. That made me sad. We flipped on the one cylinder Yanmar and motored toward Santa Barbara at four knots.

We pulled into the beautiful Harbor at 6pm. Carolyn went to the Harbor Police office to check us in and I watched the commercial fisherman unload the day's catch at Navy Pier. When Carolyn returned, I got the good news - they had a slip for us and the fees are only $0.90 per foot per day. That made me happy. Carolyn paid for 8 days, so we will be here until at least next Tuesday.

More good news - the Fourth of July Fireworks in Santa Barbara are launched from the beach on the other side of the marina, so our boat will be the perfect place to view the festivities. Does anyone want to join us Thursday for fireworks? We will supply the beverages.

After we got settled in our slip, we went for a walk. During our walk we came across this giant tree. Turns out it is something of an attraction. It is the Moreton Bay Fig Tree. It is 120 years old and 38 feet in circumference.

While we are in Santa Barbara, we have several activities planned. For boat work, we need to replace a lifeline and I want to start installing the battery monitor. For more recreational activities, we are planning to go hiking, have a beach day and a nice dinner out. My parents are coming on Sunday, so we hope to do a little sightseeing while they are in town. Other than that we'll take it as it comes.

Hope all is well with everyone. Carolyn and I are having a blast.

For a quick stop on the way to Santa Barbara, Rosie and I had the pleasure of choosing between Channel Islands Harbor and Ventura Harbor. The harbors are separated by only seven miles and we were approaching Channel Islands by noon, so we decided to go to the farther marina and get just a little closer to Santa Barbara. There was very little wind yesterday, so we motor-sailed from 8am until we arrived at Ventura Islse Marina at 4pm. We checked in with the marina office, paid our $37.50 ($1.50 per foot per day), and headed off to the showers.

After some much needed primping - I always need primping, Carolyn not so much - we went in search of a cold beverage and dinner. On the way to dinner, we came upon a "touristy shop" that sells t-shirts, hats, and the all-important sunglasses. Since we had sailed all day without sunglasses we very much appreciated having a new pair. If only they sold oars...

A hundred or so yards away Rosie and I found a bar table at a Mexican restaurant. Three margaritas, a burrito, and a $50 dinner check later, we were off to bed at the impossibly late hour of 9pm.

For today's trip to Santa Barbara, we have an odd looking forecast. An odd looking, but very positive forecast. If the winds actually blow from the East, they will be almost directly behind us. That'll make for some nice sailing.

We called the Santa Barbara Harbormaster in advance of our arrival and they don't have slips available right now, so we will anchor until something opens up. Check-out time in Santa Barbara is noon and I'm writing this at 9am so we're hopeful that by the time we arrive, there will be something for us.

It has been a lovely stay in Paradise Cove. The foggy mornings burn off to be wonderful sunny clear days. The great egrets and cormorants have been fun to watch along the kelp. And at night, the bioluminescent glow is amazing.

Two days ago we decided to inflate the dinghy and do our best at a beach landing. The waves were crashing pretty hard and we were positive we were going to end up in the water. We watched, we timed it, and amazingly landed on the beach rather gracefully. After a nice long walk and a short rest on the sand we loaded back up and rowed back to Crazy Love. We enjoyed the day so much we felt it would be great to go back ashore again the next day.

Well apparently our first experience gave us a bit more confidence than it should have. Yesterday the surf was much tamer when we headed for the beach, we thought we had it timed just right... but about 10 ft from the beach Dave looks back, looks at me and says "we're going to get destroyed". Seconds later the wave hit us and we both were dumped with absolutely no grace into the water and washed ashore. We hung onto the paddles, the towels we brought along although soaked were still clinging to the dinghy, and we were at least smart enough to have left everything else at the boat..oh except for our sunglasses.. both pairs washed right off our heads...gone.

We recovered rather quickly, only a couple bumps and bruises and decided to continue with our walk along the beach. We pulled the dinghy up and tucked it close to the cliff wall and left it just as we did the day before. Who would want a 20 year old blue dinghy? Upon our return we felt something looked a bit different, the towels were thrown aside, the floor boards seemed to have been forced apart, and our paddles..hmm we left them in the dinghy right? Hoping some adolescents were just having a bit of fun with us we walked around in search, but unfortunately no paddles. At least they left the boat right? We didn't have many options... our ids, our money, our shoes.. all on Crazy Love. So we boarded, made an excellent entry through the waves, and paddled with our hands and arms back to the boat. What an excellent shoulder workout.

Today we're cleaning up a bit, getting the boat ready for sailing tomorrow.
We've learned a few good lessons here and we think its time to move on. We'll be making our way to Santa Barbara via either Ventura or Channel Islands Harbor (Oxnard).