Foreign oil? Who needs it!
These are just 3 of the many oil rigs we passed during our trip
from Point Conception (just North of Santa Barbara) to San Diego.


Sunset at Marina Del Rey.


What we do while cruising #1.
People often ask what we do everyday. Well here's one thing we do -
hit the local library for free internet access. This usually means taking
a number and waiting for a computer to free up, then quickly reading
and answering emails before our time runs out. Gone are the days
of being PAID while surfing the net!


Good ol' crazy Venice Beach: Home of hundreds of T-shirt shops,
body builders, surfers, rasta men and one goofy guy who plays Hendrix
songs on a guitar with an amp strapped to his back while ride roller blades.


For all our friends at Litho Craft.
Our printing even shows up at Venice Beach.


Still life at Venice Beach (not all Californians are crazy).


One of the many marinas within Marina Del Rey.
Notice the color of the sky. It was grey for most of our visit
between Santa Barbara and San Diego.


Self portrait of The Skipper and First Mate at Santa Monica Pier.


What we do while cruising #2.
Look at and buy baby clothes! In every town, in every mall,
aside from visiting West Marines, future grandson is top priority.


What we do while cruising #3.
Without a car we seem to spend alot of time waiting
for local mass transit. In this case, we waited over an hour for a bus
that was supposed to run every 20 minutes. Of course, this DID give
us the chance to watch 18 black Range Rovers drive by.


The Skipper in front of his favorite store in Santa Monica.


Fun with birds! This is how we had to decorate our dinghy
everynite to keep the seagulls and pelicans from decorating it themselves.


While in Newport Beach, we were visited by our friend
(and Nancy's Abacus co-worker) Mary Vance. She drove us to
Laguna Beach and a bunch of stores where Nancy
could look at baby clothes.


Newport Beach harbor. The interesting thing is that this
is a HUGE harbor with THOUSANDS of boats, but hardly any marinas!
Most boats are kept on mooring buoys, which is how Gumbo Ya-Ya tied up.
Notice the sky: blue - a very rare event during our stay.


A shot of Balboa Island in Newport Beach harbor.
This is the most expensive piece of real estate in the U.S.
Lots that sold for $500 dollars 60 years ago now start at 1.5 million.
Most houses have private docks with huge boats that are
never used tied to them.


Some friends we made on the way from Dana Point to San Diego.


Some more friends we made on our trip so far.
We first met Dayle and Gary from the Victoria, BC-based sailboat
"Forever and Ever" in Morro Bay and have been bumping
into them in most harbors since then.


The Police Dock on Shelter Island in San Diego Bay.
No, we were'nt arrested - this is just the place that transient
boaters are allowed to tie up for a maximum of 10 days.


Because Gumbo Ya-Ya would be leaving for Mexico
at least 2 weeks before the majority of the cruising boats in San Diego,
an impromptu going-away party was thrown for us on the dock.
Apparently, alittle too much tequila was
consumed by a few attendees.


This is "Buddy" - a night heron who fished off the dock
every night alongside Gumbo Ya-Ya.


For our trip from San Diego to Ensenada we entered
a one-boat regatta called the "Gumbo Cup". This is the crew from
that race (Bob Browning, Bill Molina, The Skipper,
The First Mate, and Mike McDermott.


Another shot of the Gumbo Cup crew while underway to Ensenada.

The huge Mexican flag located at the center of
downtown Ensenada. This is the landmark we used in order
to identify where the marina was.


Gumbo Ya-Ya being hauled out at Baja Naval Boatyard
in Ensenada. This is where our boat will be spending
3 weeks having the hull painted.


The Gumbo Cup Crew (minus the First Mate) standing
in front of Gumbo Ya-Ya in Baja Naval Boatyard.


And one final shot of Gumbo Ya-Ya "on the hard" in Ensenada.
This is where Kurt will remain (to oversee things) while Nancy
visits Korum, Sara and Jherek in Seattle.