We spent an extra day in San Diego to resolve the oil pressure problem. We called a mechanic and soon determined that the oil pressure sending unit was bad. Our good friend Gavin Morris, the broker who had handled Darlin’s sale ten years before lives in San Diego, we have maintained contact, he is a Kiwi, and wrote and iteresting book about his life at sea “ Before I Forget, My First Seventy Years”, worth reading. He met us at the Blue Wave Bar and Grill, we had a libation and discussed old times, then dropped him at his house, and had the use of his car for a day. We had a great prime rib sandwhich, accompanied by a small earthquake at the Fiddler’s Green restaurant. Valerie, the bartender is a great host, she remembered us from the trip south when we spent a week at the Shelter Island boatyard. The next morning we got the replacement oil sending unti and a few groceries. When installed the new oil sensor worked perfectly. Gavin picked up the car at 9pm, we went to bed early.
Wenesday Departure 0700
All systems nominal. We planned to run a straight course west by northwest, splittting San Clemete and Catalina Islands – to a point about thirty miles offshore and then turn north to Pt. Conception. As we crossed between the islands the winds and seas began to build. We held our course, running for almost 18 hours and the seas and winds worsened. There is a ships bell on the aft deck, it clangs occasionally in moderate seas when the wave sets hit an especially rocky cycle. It was claning constantly! We were now north west of St Nicholas island, about thirty miles away from our turn point. We had been beaten up for the last ten hours and the weather forecsast had worsensed – with small craft advisories in effect. We decided to turn nroth east to the duck behind Snata Cruz Island and head to Santa Barbara.
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