The next morning we headed back out into dense fog. This day we planned to turn the corner into the Santa Barbara Channel, after passing Points Arguello and Conception, both of which are known for dense fog, (touted as the foggiest area on the Pacific Coast) high winds and confused seas.

We passed the Diablo nuclear facility slightly visable through the fog…eerie... spewing steam and hot water into the ocean. This passage lived up to the foggy part but seas were again pretty calm… so we mostly motor sailed. rounding Point Conception late afternoon and back into blue sky and sun. For some reason our alternator regulator (controls the amperage into the batteries) began to act up along this passage… this will need work in Santa Barbara.

We also watched whales move in and around Eager Dreamer, some sounding and then jumping completely out of the water...

The fog cleared as we rounded Point Conception in the late afternoon, finally back into blue sky and sun. We decided to take anchorage in a small cove called Cojo that lays just east of Conception Point. Two other Baja bound boats joined us later in the evening. We had 15-20 kt. winds at the anchorage but the water remained calm (protected by the Point) and the holding was good. And another beautiful sunset!!!

The next morning was clear and blue so we picked the anchor and made our way, now east, towards Santa Barbara.

One of the entertaining things we have seen many times are the dolphins. They often travel in large groups (20 or 30 or more) and when they see the boat and race towards us to play in the bow wave. They will often play for 10 minutes or more before they trail off.


In this channel we also encountered our first series of offshore oil rigs. I find it interesting that the water was covered with oil for miles around here. Note: A 10 gallon spill from a sailboat is considered a major problem!!!






….We arrived at Santa Barbara late afternoon. This is another sailing town with a lot to see so we will likely spend a week or so here. We have a slip for only $30 / day which is a deal in such a location.

A friend of Eddie's (our parrot) stopped by to say Hey... More later