Moss Landing to San Francisco

Our first clue should have been the thousands of Sea Lions in the Bay as we entered into Moss Landing. Then there was the terribly shifty and dilapidated dock. This dock was so narrow and poorly anchored that it rocked dangerously – a second person on the dock could launch the first person into the water. This is the same water that is filled with HUGE trolling Sea Lions (like 1000lb-ers).

As Lara was tying the boat up to the cleats her feet were crunching on the remnants of crab bodies and clam shells (left behind by the Sea Otters and Sea Lions that usually sit on that dock to munch their prey).

Finally the sign on the Dock confirmed the dangers at Moss Landing:
“Vicious Sea Lions on Docks!...Protect your Pets and Children”.

We hurried up to the Marina Office to find Thomas (who left his AA meeting – held on site) to check us in. When we asked about the Sea Lions, Tom said that Yes, they do bite people. However then usually leap out of the water after dark as an unsuspecting person is walking by smacking the person into the dock/water and take out a bite to protect their “territory”. Lovely.

Of course, for those of you who know Lara – this is just an invitation for interesting photography! She grabbed her camera and went deep into the older dock area to find a large Sea Lion to photography. It was getting dark. Jim was off getting the boat put to bed.

Lara: I cautiously moved from boat to boat looking for a Sea Lion. As she rounded one corner a Sea Lion huffed a huge puff of air which sent Lara scurrying back to the boat. So – no picture of the vicious Sea Lions and Lara lives another day.

Earlier when we took out the trash up at the Marina, Lara came upon a vagrant relieving himself at the side of the trash can. Terri and Michael found the nearby bar a scene out of ‘Deliverance’.

We called it a night and fell asleep dreaming about Sea Lions playing “Knock, Knock, Who’s there?” on the bottom of our steel boat!

So, one more 4:30am departure and we should be steaming under the Golden Gate Bridge in the mid-afternoon!

Entrance to Golden Gate Bridge

The wind and waves have kicked up however; it was another lovely cruise today from Monterrey (Moss Landing to Golden Gate Entrance). While the Sea Life sightings were sparse, Lara did see a Whale broach not far from the boat – Jim was napping. The Murray’s were at the back of the boat AND the camera was no where near close enough.

There were many buoys to dodge along the way which exercised Lara’s navigational skills. Take off auto pilot, engage Stand By, Dodge the Buoy, correct route, re-engage auto pilot.