From Anchorage to Harbor

See the satellite image of this route here.

How long does it take to get from the East Beach anchorage to the Santa Barbara harbor? The "Black Pearl" was anchored about 200 yards from Stern's Wharf when I began the task, gloves in hand:

...drop stern anchor line overboard with a float attached...warm up the outboard engine...pull up the bow anchor and 2 pounds of kelp...motor back to the stern anchor float and pull it up on deck... 40 minutes.

...motor around the wharf to the harbor...call the harbor patrol and get my guest slip number...tie up the boat and clean up the mess... 20 minutes.

That's on a calm day when everything ran smoothly! Unforeseeable events such as shipwrecks boats preventing the anchors to come up, mermaids sabotaging the propeller, and maruading pirate ships all need to be factored in.


On the this particular day a Tall Ship was entering the harbor at the same time, they fired a fake canon as they approached the wharf, as if aiming at the Black Pearl itself, scaring the heck out of me!

See the satellite image of this route here.

Concerts in the Park

Thursday evenings at the East Beach anchorage feature free music - we can hear the Concert in the Park live show without going anywhere. Gotta love the summertime...

The Mystery of the Stern Anchor

The dinghy loaded with the displaced anchor gear.

3pm. I receive a call from Miguel saying that my boat has moved in the anchorage. Since the Pearl is anchored bow and stern this normally would not happen; it appears that the stern anchor failed, and the boat was being held by the bow anchor alone. The explanation that came to mind was that one of the fittings came under - between the line and chain, or between chain and anchor. However, this is the most unlikely of days - a sunny hot day with no wind at all.


The Pearl was terribly close to the other boats in the anchorage, all set bow and stern. I start hauling on the stern line and it's heading in the opposite direction than I previously had it. Furthermore it was just dragging along the bottom so I was surprised when I pulled the anchor up - a small 20lb Claw anchor.

This was no anchor dragging event; the only explanation I could come up with was that a boat somehow caught my anchor line, dragged the gear 100 yards, and then proceeded to drop it. How that could have happened is difficult to visualize - maybe a submarine? Either way, it's good to be nearby and deal with fouled anchors immediately.

Jazz the West/East way

Miles Jay playing at Brick's Cafe downtown Santa Barbara with the Colter Frazier Jazz Trio. He spent over a year in Cairo, Egypt, recording a fusion of jazz and egyptian which came together in his CD "el 'Aysh wel malh" with the band he put together, named "Massar". Check it out here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/masar

Endless Summer dinner

The view from the Endless Summer cafe. Free popcorn, live music, happy hour 4-6pm with $4 burgers and $5 Fish Tacos; a to-go emergency dinner guaranteed spot!

Seals on the Docks

Boaters have a love hate relationship with harbor seals. They are cute and friendly, yet they have been known to take over docks and sink dinghies!