Monterey
Monterey Bay Marina
Sunday September 30th, 2012 – Monterey California
The day started out a little overcast, but quickly burned off to a bright sunny day. The locals said it was the first nice day they’ve had this summer. (I didn’t bother to tell them that summer was over.)
I walked up to the harbormasters office and checked it. They assigned us to another slip and we had to move the boat. They put our sixty foot boat into a fifty foot slip, so we stick out ten feet at the end.
This is an extremely picturesque harbor with lots of white sandy beaches. People were actually swimming. Monterey is a picturesque tourist town. When I was here fifty years ago the town was dying. Now it’s thriving on tourist dollars.
The town is a curious mix of Spanish/Mexican, Italian and American. There are park benches along the waterfront with the names and founding dates of California towns like Santa Barbara 1757, then Spanish crosses. It gives a real sense of history and culture. Most of the buildings are Spanish Colonial with stuccoed walls and red tile roofs.
Then there’s Cannery Row. I had to visit John Steinbeck’s ghost. All the canneries are gone now. In their buildings are now fancy restaurants, stylish boutiques and gift stores.
At the end of Cannery Row is the Monterey Aquarium. This is world class. Tom met a guy on the docks who had two annual passes he loaned us. Tom and Joyce went first while I still did some work on the boat. Then Dawn and I walked the couple of miles to the Aquarium where we were supposed to go in. I couldn’t. My knees and back were hurting so badly after climbing around in the bilge and then the walk that I couldn’t stand it. We met Tom and Joyce for lunch, then Tom and I headed back to the boat. I took mega drugs and climbed into my bunk.
Dawn and Joyce did the tourist shopping thing. Thom had been in Monterey a couple of weeks ago, so he stayed with the boat.
We met a family from San Francisco on their way to La Paz on a Hans Christian 43. We’ve become fast friends. We went to their boat for a glass of wine, then they came to the Victory for hors d’ouevres and wine. We ate, drank and talked for hours. We’ll see them again along our journey.
I was planning on leaving early in the afternoon. However, I had a family emergency at home and needed to be in cell phone range. So, I decided to stay in Monterey another night while things straightened themselves out. We'll leave this afternoon for Santa Barbara.
The day started out a little overcast, but quickly burned off to a bright sunny day. The locals said it was the first nice day they’ve had this summer. (I didn’t bother to tell them that summer was over.)
I walked up to the harbormasters office and checked it. They assigned us to another slip and we had to move the boat. They put our sixty foot boat into a fifty foot slip, so we stick out ten feet at the end.
This is an extremely picturesque harbor with lots of white sandy beaches. People were actually swimming. Monterey is a picturesque tourist town. When I was here fifty years ago the town was dying. Now it’s thriving on tourist dollars.
The town is a curious mix of Spanish/Mexican, Italian and American. There are park benches along the waterfront with the names and founding dates of California towns like Santa Barbara 1757, then Spanish crosses. It gives a real sense of history and culture. Most of the buildings are Spanish Colonial with stuccoed walls and red tile roofs.
Then there’s Cannery Row. I had to visit John Steinbeck’s ghost. All the canneries are gone now. In their buildings are now fancy restaurants, stylish boutiques and gift stores.
At the end of Cannery Row is the Monterey Aquarium. This is world class. Tom met a guy on the docks who had two annual passes he loaned us. Tom and Joyce went first while I still did some work on the boat. Then Dawn and I walked the couple of miles to the Aquarium where we were supposed to go in. I couldn’t. My knees and back were hurting so badly after climbing around in the bilge and then the walk that I couldn’t stand it. We met Tom and Joyce for lunch, then Tom and I headed back to the boat. I took mega drugs and climbed into my bunk.
Dawn and Joyce did the tourist shopping thing. Thom had been in Monterey a couple of weeks ago, so he stayed with the boat.
We met a family from San Francisco on their way to La Paz on a Hans Christian 43. We’ve become fast friends. We went to their boat for a glass of wine, then they came to the Victory for hors d’ouevres and wine. We ate, drank and talked for hours. We’ll see them again along our journey.
I was planning on leaving early in the afternoon. However, I had a family emergency at home and needed to be in cell phone range. So, I decided to stay in Monterey another night while things straightened themselves out. We'll leave this afternoon for Santa Barbara.
Settling down for the night at sea