95 degrees....it's November right?

Hmmm...let me think about this. It is November and it is nearly 100 degrees on the coast today...am I upset by this? ...I am just wondering...what horrible thing did I do to deserve this kind of treatment??.....haha! Love It!

So we have called the Mooring office once again to extend our permit for another 3 days. After which we may stay 3 more or go ahead and get a new permit to anchor on the city front. This area has some strict rules about anchoring.....and they are as follows ( to the best of my knowledge):

When we first got here, we were offered a "special event" free anchorage permit because we were part of the Baja Ha Ha fleet. It was around the corner from the permited 72 hour anchorage here in Glorietta Bay. It was good until the 31st of October even though most were leaving on the 25th with the parade of boats. Ourselves and one other boat named "Emerald Star" have had lets say "delay of departure" and we stuck around. The 28th or so, we were met by the Harbor Police demanding we move our vessel within an hour, or be towed and ....well you can imagine. The communication between the Mooring office and the local police is quite poor and even with the permit they were insistant that we were quite wrong...so our little fleet of two made quite a little stink and were able to get everyone on the same page within 24 hours and could than breathe a little easier and go to shore without fear of coming home to no home!!

So with that, you just can't freely anchor anywhere here like with San Francisco or Half Moon Bay or even Santa Cruz for that matter...everything requires a permit. We have never tried to "pull a fast one" on anything so we have been very mindfull of the rules and so far so good. The permits need 24 hours notice. You get 3 72hr permits in a 30 day period. Than you must get a 30 day permit and move to the designated "Cruiser" anchorage. You may get 3 of these 30 day permits within a years time. These permits require a vessel inspection...the same drill you would get by coast guard...and off you go to drop anchor. There are no immenities, just a free anchorage. So worst case scenario for those of you wishing to winter...you can easily obtain 126 days here for free.





It really isn't bad at all, you just have to stay on top of it. I heard a lot of stories from other cruisers about coming back to find their boats have been confiscated by the police as a derelict vessel...and they were only walking their dog! As you know if you have been a boater for a while that these stories and other extreme tales of terror spread like the plague and are seldom true...but just in case...if you pull in to this bay, you'd better have a permit!

Well it is noon, and it is getting HOT! Stewart just put some wax on his board and they are fed and ready to head to the beach. The dogs are pretty much lifeless and are sprawled out on the couches belly up! I am going to make up a to go pitcher of iced tea and pack some grapes...oh the local grapes are to die for! Huge long finger looking green grapes that are almost crunchy. It's like candy, or crack, either way I can't get enough of them!!

I know the fog will roll in eventually, but in the meantime....."it's time to go catch some gnarley waves and hang ten Bra!" haha.