My friend Anja has left after a few days visit here, she is visiting So Cal from London and is off to visit other friends and places. She is from Germany, lived 20 years in the UK, and is now looking to move to the states. She is a very interesting person and we had a good time talking about everything under the sun. Bummer she seemed to have caught a bug on the 12 hour plane ride here and was not feeling too well but was a real trouper and hung in there cheerfully.

After many months of putting it off, I finally got around to installing my automatic tiller pilot yesterday. This is a clever electronic gizmo that attaches to the tiller and allows you to set a course, and a little motor inside pushes or pulls the tiller as needed to keep that set course. Very cool. I have has this since before I even came down here but never got around to installing it. Other projects just seemed to be more pressing. Experienced sailors are amazed that I have been able to get around solo as much as I do without it, but I guess I just figured out ways to get by. (My boat happens to be set up very well for solo sailing, all the lines and controls are right there handy so that has helped…) Anyway, it is indeed neat. I used it yesterday coming from Dana to Newport (where I am now, headed out to points north..) For the first time was I was able to set the pilot and go below to fix a quick meal without instantly veering off course, and last evening I was sailing into the dusk and went forward to just stand at the bow, Titanic style, throw my arms wide and holler “I’m the king of the world!!” and feel my boat dancing across the water into the black, rising and falling smoothly with each swell. It was so cool I really hated to come back into the cockpit to steer into the harbor!

I spent a long day on the water yesterday, winds were light and variable and I was still a few miles off Newport when it got dark. Always before when this has happened I have powered up the motor and chugged on in, but last night I wanted to see what it was like to sail at night. I know Newport harbor well enough that I had no concerns about coming in after dark. It was an exquisite evening as the sun went down, Catalina island was all a-glow to the southwest and it looked like I could just keep on going and be there soon. A nice wind picked up and I was making 5 knots into the glow. I knew it would be a dark night with no moon, but I must admit I was surprised how dark dark is out there! After the sunset glow faded, the blackness in that direction was complete. There was absolutely no line on the horizon dividing inky black sea from inky black sky and if I kept going I could have easily bumped in to Catalina without even seeing it! As I made my final tack towards Newport the lights of the shoreline made good landmarks and I followed my GPS right in. The jumble of lights on shore did make it a bit confusing. Harbor entrances are always marked by red and green lights, with red on the right of the channel as you approach, “Red Right Returning” is the mantra of the sailor coming home…. And I was amazed at how many other red and green lights there were all over the placed! And not traffic signals from the coast highway either. Just all kinds of lights all over the place. If I was coming in for the first time without a GPS it would have been a miracle of dead reckoning navigation to have found the harbor entrance. I would have thought the maritime commission would regulate that there will be no other red and green lights anywhere near a harbor entrance. (maybe they do in other harbors where many other sailors come in for the first time from distant places .)

I was hoping to make a total sailing day with no motor used to get to the anchorage but the tide had turned about an hour before I made my entrance and was running out very strong. The wind was right on my nose coming up the channel, and I did not have enough speed or energy to fight it. In the good old days I would have had to lay off shore until about 4 AM and follow the tide in (and hope there was wind at the same time.) but I confess I was tired and wanted to get in anyway. I let the motor help me on in and it was nice to let the tiller pilot steer while I lowered the sails. Ahh the comforts of modern life! Wouldn’t you know it I ran out of gas right as I approached the anchorage area! ARGH!!! I dropped the anchor right there in the channel real fast to hold myself from drifting back out to sea again, filled the tank (yes I had plenty, it was just in spare tanks ), then pulled up anchor again and motored over to my spot for the night. It was about 10:30 when I settled in for the night.

I would like to get more experience night sailing. I will prefer to have a crew mate along to allow me to sleep a bit, and it would be nice to be more offshore where there is not so much to run into!