Enjoying San Diego and fly home to Seattle

Monday – Sept 4 San Diego; Glorietta Bay

We are enjoying another day in Paradise. Doug took the bus to fly home while I stayed on Mariah. The short term anchorage in Glorietta Bay is so lovely: sandy beach, Hotel Del Coronado in sight, shops and restaurants all within walking distance. All this for free!! This is a cruisers paradise

Andy and Lena stopped by in the morning for a visit. I made my famous apple pancakes for my guests. Lena volunteered to do my laundry (2 weeks worth)- life is good:) Thanks so much Lena.

Tuesday – Sept 5 San Diego: Long Term Anchorage

I loaded my surfboard (long board) onto the dingy and ferried over to the dock and walk just 1 block to the beach across from the bay. I enjoyed surfing for 2 hours and had both dophfins and a sea lion swim by within 50’ – very cool. The waves were on the small side but better too small then too big.

Moved Mariah to the pump out dock for a wash down and to fill with water. Then motored to the police dock to register for long term anchorage within view of downtown San Diego. 

On the way to the police dock, about 5 tall classic ships sailed by in full regalia.

 There is also quite the military presence in the bay. I was buzzed by military helicopters and was passed by a warship. There is also an aircraft carrier downtown.

I moved and anchored in the long term area and was greeted with waves from other boaters at anchor.

I also noted a large fire in the distance in what appeared to be Mexico which was later confirmed.

Wed – Sept 6 San Diego: Long Term Anchorage

This was my designated work day. I worked on Mariah from 8 am to 8 pm packing the dingy and valuables away. I also did some surfboard repair and attempted to patch an inflatable kayak donated to me. I must admit that one patch was really ugly but hopefully it will hold air. I didn’t have time to test it though. 

Thursday- Sept 7  Fly home to Seattle from San Diego

Woke up and had my final “to do” list prior to leaving my faithful Mariah behind while I fly home to Seattle for work and family. I had to load my 2 backpacks and a big bag of trash into a tiny cheap inflatable kayak that I reserve for travel such as this because it packs down small for luggage. From the dingy dock, the moorage was only about a mile walk to the airport terminal but I hitched a ride on an airport shuttle which was airconditioned. 

This concludes part one of Mariah's sailing adventure. This was 2 months of sailing from Seattle to San Francisco then to LA and San Diego. We had great weather overall but a bumpy ride much of the time. I must admit that while I was fearful of the unknown at the onset of the adventure, the trip was a huge success overall. I have my family (especially my wife Vinnie for her support) and the following crew to thank for their contribution to the success of the voyage (Rhys, TR, Danny, Dave, Erick, Geoff, and Doug). The trip would have been a lonely and rough ride without the support of my family and enthusiastic crew. So again, a sincere thanks to all.

My task now is to work as much as possible and prepare for the second and final part of the adventure which involves setting sail for Mexico on Oct 28 and exploring Baja for 3 months and then return to San Diego and truck Mariah home to Seattle. So goodbye for now and fair winds to all. If you have any comments on my blog feel free to email me at kenpainter@hotmail.com. Hope it brought a little adventure to your lives. Cheers, Ken