The thermometer hit 86 here on the coast today. It started in the middle of the night though, when i had to throw all the blankets off. Then just before light the shades began to rustle. It takes about 15knots to get them going enough to wake me, which they did. By the time I walked down to the boats it was in the 70′s and the wind was howling with 30 knot gusts. But it began to moderate by 11 and in a while, I was sitting on Imagine around 12:30 with a new Member when the wind dropped completely and began to swing around to the South. Just like that. The entire fleet was out today for the first time in a long time. I was happy to see a full house on such a glorious winter day.

Two tall ships have been in Ventura County the past two weeks. The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain spent a week at both Channel Islands Hartbor and Ventura Harbor offering school programs and public events. These grand ole dames of the sea are a sight to behold and I never tire of watching them. We went out and sailed amongst their mock battle last weekend and had a lot of fun. We were close enough to watch the entire process of swinging the yards to back wind the sails and turn the heavy girls onto a new tack. They were very slow to get back up to speed and our french girl did circles around them to be sure. The Chieftain actually left the West Coast for a presumed new life on the East Coast in 2005. But things didn’t work out. So she was used in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie before finding her way into the loving arms of Gray Harbor.

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