We spent an extra day in Santa Cruz getting the alternator bolt repaired. The old bolt head had sheared off and left the body of the bolt threaded into the mount that is also part of the engine’s thermostat. I tried an “easy out” that was designed to remove screws and could not remove the old bolt—so we contacted the local boatyard when they opened and they got us right in. Amazing what a machine shop with all the right tools can accomplish. In about ten minutes, they were able to remove the bolt. This was the ideal time to replace the thermostat, since the yard had to remove the thermostat. Lots of words to say, “this became a maintenance day.”
The next day we planned to go to Monterey. However, the “weather guessers” were calling for 25-30 knot winds from the NW, so we figured that the last half of the trip would likely be boisterous, along with beam seas that come with 30 knot winds. So off we went expecting some excitement. Instead the trip was beautiful, 12-15 knots of beam reaching. The winds actually got lighter as we passed the half way point on Monterey Bay. We clearly have much to learn about weather forecasting and making our own estimates of likely conditions.
We are spending the day restocking the boat. By the way, Monterey has an amazing Farmer’s Market each Tuesday afternoon. It was two city blocks of merchants, just a few blocks from the marina, and is the place to get your fresh produce. Jill also managed to find a music store, from which I had to drag her after an hour.
We will take off early in the morning for San Simeon. This is an amazing little anchorage just below the Hearst Castle and we plan to spend a day or two before continuing South.
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