Day 507 Into Still Water Cove at Pebble Beach.

All three sails up and flying.  The Genoa(reefed in) on the left, the forestaysail in the middle and the main on the right.  We were flying along just fine.
The Garmin at the top shows our course while the screen at the bottom left shows the wind information from the masthead unit.  The bottom right screen shows the autopilot at work steering us at the proper angle.
When we got into the cove, this is what we found on the end of the DuoGen.  Actually, this is only about half of what was on it.  I'd cut some off before I took the picture.  I'll have to check it more frequently in the future.
Into Still Water Cove at Pebble Beach Country Club.  That's the club house and wharf.
The famous cypress tree at Pebble Beach.
More big houses at Pebble Beach.  I can't imagine what they cost. 
Another boat at a mooring buoy in the harbor.  (don't forget, you can click on the pictures and see them larger)

We upped the anchor this morning at 1100.  As we headed out the clouds began to break and the Sun began to shine.  Of course by mid afternoon, it had clouded in again and the clouds had begun to drop.  We were in a small patch of sunshine.

By 1300, the winds had begun to increase to the 15+ knot range and were finally from a direction that would speed us on our way.  So out I went on deck and got the sails ready for flying.  Up went the mainsail.  Then the Genoa at the bow.  Off we went well into the 6+ knot range.  We started heeling over until the rail on the port side was just below the water line.  Into the 7 knot range and climbing.  I put the DuoGen in the water behind the boat.  This is our electrical generator that drags in the water behind the boat.  Next, we engaged the Robertson Autopilot.  This is our main autopilot that controls the boat as we motor along.  It can be changed over to "wind mode" since I had wired in the information stream from our wind indicator at the top of the mast. 

All the work that we've done was coming into play.  The DuoGen was making all the power we needed to run all the electronics--depth sounder, knot log, wind indicator, autopilot, Garmin Chart Plotter and the two computers we run when we are out that have our navigation programs on them.  The wiring of the wind instrument into the autopilot and the setting up the autopilot to use that info to steer the boat.  Zephyr was now sailing all by herself!

As the wind increased, we shortened the Genoa up to only 50% and raised the forestaysail sail.  We now had two sails at the bow of the boat instead of just one big one.  We heeled less and were moving faster under better control.  Zephyr was balanced perfectly.  We continued on till 1500 and then the wind died to a speed that would no longer allow us to make satisfactory progress toward our next stop.  So, down came the sails and on came the engine.  The fog was beginning to take over again and we wanted to be at anchor before it made our next stop hard to get into.

We pulled in and dropped the hook at 1630(36 33.798N  121 56.568W)and settled in.  All around us were BIG houses and lots of green grass to play golf on.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy and overcast so it lost some of its beauty.  It does have some beautiful white sandy beaches though in this bay.  The first we have seen.

Yesterday, I made the comment that we had seen few wildlife on our trip.  Today, we came upon a pod of at least a half dozen whales just before we entered Still Water Cove at Carmel.  They were a good half mile away but they were heading south so maybe we will see them again.

Another 32 miles farther south.  Tomorrow, off for San Simeon and the Hearst Castle.  It's a long day of sailing since it's another 70+ miles down the coast.  We'll be up and leaving early in the morning. 

I heard from one of our friends that also had their boat worked on at Sea Marine in Port Townsend.  Apparently, the Attorney Generals Office for the state of Washington has filed 23 criminal charges against them(Sea Marine) and they will be in court shortly with a closing soon to follow.  After the way they(management) treated us,  I'm not surprised.  I do feel sorry for the people that work there though.  They are just victims of BAD management.  You can't treat customers that way and get away with it.  It will come back and bite you.  Many people with boats(as well as cars) get very protective of their toys and will protect them and go after people that try and harm them.  It was just a matter of time before it caught up with them.  

The anchorages for tonight as well as last night are quite rolly.  It's definitely something we are not used to.  They aren't as protected as we are used to but I have a feeling that that is the way the majority of the harbors will be all the way down the coast and we will just have to get used to it.