Day 527 & 528 Anything but alone.

Friday dawned with cloudy overcast skies but the other boats in Pelican Bay took off leaving us alone in the anchorage. About 1000, a power boat came in and dropped their anchor over near the cliff wall on the South side of the bay. The skipper launched his big dingy and took a tour of the anchorage and came over to visit for a while. As we chatted, he told me that more boats were on their way from Santa Barbara as the local yacht club was having a rendezvous at Pelicans Bay that weekend. Oh Boy!!! Lots more boats were on their way. Seeing the first sailboat on the horizon, we grabbed our second anchor and made plans to set it behind Zephyr so that she would hold her place in the water and not swing around causing panic in the anchorage. We were just about set to deploy it when the first sailboat showed up and motored past scoping out the place for a good place to drop their anchor. They looked over and were a bit concerned that we had no second anchor out and made it quite plain that they REALLY wanted us to get it out. It would upset their weekend if we didn't.

Scott(nice guy), the owner of the first boat that had come in, told us that at least 6 or more boats would be coming in by late in the afternoon and more on Saturday. Heck, we thought the anchorage was crowded when there were just three boats in here. Scott came over and volunteered to take our stern anchor out and drop it in a good place so that we wouldn't drift and swing. The second boat that came in were obviously happy that we would put out another anchor. Scott said he would come back in help us get the anchor up on Sunday when we plan to leave. As I said, a nice guy. In talking to other boaters here, the first boat sets the tone of the anchorage and since we were first(yea us!), it all depended on us. As long as we would set a second anchor, all would work well for the rest of the boats. One man told me that sometimes, the first boat won't and just goes below and doesn't come up on deck and drifts all over the bay. That can really affect how the rest of the boats can anchor in the anchorage.

Throughout the day, the boats just kept on coming. We sat back and watched as they would come gliding through the bay looking for the best spot to drop and then maneuver themselves into the proper angle and let loose their anchor. Many dropped their stern anchor and motored forward to the spot where they would drop the bow anchor and then dropped it and pulled backwards to set it. As long as you have lots of line off the stern, it works quite well. By 1700, we had 12 boats in the anchorage with more scheduled to arrive on Saturday. Some that showed up didn't belong to the yacht club but chose to anchor here anyway as it is one of the most popular places in the islands. Dingys zipped all over the anchorage as one boat would get settled and go help the next one in to set his anchor of get tied off in a good spot. Big dingys and small dingys. They were everywhere for the afternoon. The evening ended with dingys jumping from one boat to the next socializing and drinking. A good time was being had all over the place. They settled in by 2000 and the place became quiet.

Saturday dawned cloudy and overcast again. It felt strange having no Sun at sun up. By 0900, more boats started to arrive with sailboats and power streaming into the anchorage. Some left as it got crowded since they weren't part of the yacht club, but as they left, others arrived. We finally ended up with 22 boats in the bay.

One sailor stood out as the trouble maker of the group. His boat was right in the middle of the bay and he just "knew" that a power boat had over ridden his stern anchor line and were "sawing" through his line. Other members of the yacht club descended on his boat in their dingys and hemmed and hawed about the line. The boat behind him had come in while he was out kayaking with his wife or he would have kicked up a snit earlier when the other boat showed up. The men pulled it up, checked his anchor. Nope--the other boater wasn't anywhere near his line. The men in the dingys took the stern line and moved it a few feet farther over and dropped it so it could be reset. He yelped about the power boat for the next couple of hours. He wanted him to move so there was no way his anchor would be in harms way. At that time, there were already close to 20 boats in the bay and space was getting quite limited and it was only about 1300 when this was taking place.

We launched Puff(dingy) and put on Dragon(outboard motor) and took off for Prisoner's Harbor to see how many boats were in there. About 7 in total. During the week that we were gone, the National Park Service pulled up the small dingy dock beside the wharf so there was no way to get ashore other than to pull your boat up on the rocky "beach". That's where we had spent last Friday and Saturday night in the big winds. The winds during this Thursday, Friday and Saturday night were just about calm. It was like being back at the marina. A bit unnerving to be just sitting still while at anchor.

The last three days have all dawned cloudy but the Sun pokes his face out just about lunch time so the afternoon if quite delightful. This afternoon(Sunday) we are off for Oxnard for a few days. There is a storm coming in on Monday and we want to be tucked in safe and sound plus we have laundry to do. The priorities of life rear their ugly head again.