I spent two years living in the Back Bay. My anchorage was in front of the bird sanctuary, where blue heron, great white egrets, and cormorants come to nest. An appropriate spot since I came to Morro Bay to hibernate after college; I needed to escape the hustle-bustle and find out who I was. The "Tabula Raza" was anchored in a beautiful spot, with unrestricted views of the Rock, butted up next to the mudflats visible on low tide.
All good things must end. The Back Bay area got shut down; the deadline to move the our boats was March 31, 2006 - the day after my 25th birthday. The fact that my home of two years was being revoked was a big inconvenience, but in all truth I saw it as a blessing in disguise. The deadline forced me to get my act together, fix up the boat, so I could sail away.
I moved the boat to the temporary achorage at the front of the bay, not far from the Harbor Patrol office. This was the legitimate place to anchor for up to 3 months, at about $5/day. This was a huge jump from paying nothing in the back bay, but I managed :)
I looked at the Rock from my new vantage point and realized how close I was to the harbor entrance. Boats came in and out of the harbor: cruising vessels, commercial fishing boats, bigger ships. Instead of being isolated in the bird sanctuary, surrounded by crusty old fishermen and trashy liveaboards, I was meeting fellow sailors, learning about the community of cruisers. That helped me really motivate to leave.
If I was in the nest before, cozy in a warm comfort zone of free rent and easy living, now the mother goose was pushing me out to the edge, as she said, "you can fly now." I was a bit scared of course, but also excited, and set the 26th of May as my departure date.
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