Buoy haul-out is full – no room for all the extra sea lions milling about
South of Monterey, there are a couple good anchorages along the central California coast that we hoped to visit – Stillwater Cove off Pebble Beach and San Simeon just north of Cambria. While both of those offer good protection from the prevailing northwesterly wind and waves, they are completely open to the south. With a decent-sized south swell generated by Hurricane Rosa off Mexico, those south-facing spots weren’t good options any longer.
Beautiful Big Sur coast from 5nm offshore
No problem – we just planned an overnight sail to Morro Bay, about 100 miles south. Leaving Monterey in mid-afternoon, we were treated to beautiful evening light on the dramatic Big Sur coastline. Winds were northwest 15-25, and Madrone flew straight downwind at 7-8 knots wing-on-wing. With no moon but clear skies, the stars seemed extra bright and the Milky Way painted a white swath nearly from land to the horizon.
Sunrise view of Morro Rock as we entered Morro Bay
In the Pacific Northwest, many bays have shallow entrance bars that are generated by river outflow. Morro Bay is the southernmost bay with a similar setup. Conditions as we approached were very mild, and even then we could see how the entrance could be hairy in bad weather.
The welcoming Morro Bay Yacht Club
There are very strong tidal currents and not a lot of room in Morro Bay, so it’s not ideal for anchoring. Luckily for us, the Morro Bay Yacht Club maintains six permanent mooring buoys in front of their facility, and they graciously make these available to passing boaters for a reasonably fee regardless of yacht club affiliation (or not, in our case). With showers, laundry, and a safe dock for dinghy landing, we’re happy to accept the hospitality.
