Friday
October 1, 2004

Our trip began on Friday evening when we stuffed the last of our gear in the Cherokee, kissed our kids goodbye and thanked our good friends for staying with them for a few sweet days. Since we were celebrating our eleventh wedding anniversary on this trip, we started it with dinner at Al Dente, a very funky bistro just a block from the Santa Cruz Harbor where Namequoit is berthed. The place was jumping when we arrived, with loud music booming from the enormous wall mounted loudspeakers, and the Einstein look alike chef Lucio Fanni dancing maniacally to the beat as he cooked. As we looked around, we noticed that just about everyone in the joint was dancing: the cooks, the waitresses, the dishwasher and even several of the patrons, a number of whom seemed to be in various states of costume. We enjoyed crab stuffed cannelloni and pasta with Italian sausage, washed down with a good merlot. The food was terrific, the people watching was outstanding, the loud dance beat was infectious, we soon found ourselves having more fun together than we have in a long time. Before long, our plates were cleared and we were out on the floor rocking to the music with everyone else.

It was nearly midnight by the time we got settled in to sleep in Namequoit's cozy cabin, but a combination of exhaustion and good wine lead to a fast slumber. We awoke to sunny skies and dew drenched decks, with the sound of outboard motors as our alarm clock. Our dock is conveniently located just a few steps from the restrooms and showers, which see light use since there are no live aboard slips nearby. Plenty of hot water was available to wash the sleep from our bodies and the warm heat lamps kept the chill off while toweling dry.

Saturday
October 2, 2004

We cast off and motored to the south end of the harbor where we tied up briefly while Nancy scampered off to get us hot coffee and muffins, and I checked the fishing report and bought some bait. We enjoyed blue skies, light breezes and 65 degree temperatures as we motored past the jetties and out into the bay. We followed a course that would take us across Soquel Hole, a deep underwater canyon on the way to Monterey, where we would do a little late season salmon trolling enroute. The 200 horsepower Mercury was loafing along at 3900 rpms and we quickly covered the 8 miles out to the hole. This was Nancy's first time fishing with downrigger gear, so I gave a brief tutorial while I shut down the main engine and fired up the 15 horsepower Merc. Namequoit's kicker is rigged with electric start and remote shift and throttle, and I installed a Panther Marine steering tie bar so the boat can be controlled from the console while running either engine. This makes operating the boat while trolling a simple task, and it facilitates fishing and skippering at the same time. We steered a course that would keep us heading toward our ultimate destination of Monterey Harbor. The crossing distance is just over 25 statute miles, and we wanted to be making ground in that direction so we wouldn't be caught in the middle of the bay when the inevitable 15 to 20 knot winds started blowing. We didn't have a scratched bait in more than an hour of trolling, and the finder wasn't showing any baitballs so we decided to pick up our gear, finish our crossing, and try our luck with the rockfish on the other side.

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Click the pictures for a larger view

Our home port: Santa Cruz Harbor

Click Here for the Santa Cruz Harbor web site.

This map shows the general location of Monterey Bay

Nancy is all smiles as we get underway