Wednesday – Thursday, 4-6 April 2018
After several days of “sea trials”, criss-crossing the Bay between downtown San Francisco and Sausalito to calibrate our onboard computer equipment, we are finally underway, again passing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge — this time outbound. The 12-13 knot wind is south-westerly and, once clear of Point Lobos and Seal Rocks west of San Francisco, we are able to set sail for a few hours until the wind dies down. We are now four on board, for the captain’s wife, Linda, joined us last week, together with their three Italian greyhounds. This means each of us (dogs excluded) only has to do a three-hour watch. Mine is 3 to 6 o’clock in the afternoon and the same time in the wee hours of the night.
With San Francisco we are also leaving the sunny weather behind. Under cloudy skies Monterey Bay comes into sight in the early morning. We see a couple of humpback whales not far from the harbour mouth. Pincer-like, two breakwaters protect boats at their moorings or docks from all but easterly winds. We are able to secure a slip for SV Amante and go exploring along the quaint historical waterfront of this town that once was the sardine capital of America.
John Steinbeck in his novel Cannery Row, tells of “the exploits of a band of bums” in a working-class area with bordellos and flophouses. Today this is a tourist mecca with a pedestrian and bicycle trail running from the marina past Old Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row dotted with restaurants, galleries and gift shops, all the way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and beyond.
Another famous artist who lived in this area in the 1940s was Salvador Dalí. I can’t resist visiting the Museum of Monterey which houses a permanent collection of the Spanish surrealist’s lithographs, etchings and a few sculptures. Later I also pop into a couple of galleries featuring local artists’ works, tour the well-known aquarium with it’s many interactive displays and water exhibits, and indulge in a decadent sundae at Ghirardelli Chocolate that would have been enough as a lunch for two (in fact the server brings me a couple of dessert spoons).
Photos: 1.) Harbour seals crowd a navigation buoy at the entrance to Monterey harbour. 2.) Old Fisherman’s Wharf; 3.) Monterey Bay Aquarium; 4.) Cookie bits sundae with whipped cream, cookies and hot fudge.
