West Coast -Sept. 30, 1998

 

Position: West Coast -Sept. 30, 1998

On Sept. 12 we joined SeaQuell in Sausalito. We were happy to return and find all was well. We did the wine country plus a little sight seeing and then set out to contact old friends. With persistence John found his best man at our wedding, Marvin Rasmuson. We had lost contact with Marv for more than 15 years so it was good to have a short visit with him. We hope to see he and his wife Marney again before leaving California. On leaving Sausalito and San Francisco we sailed along the coast enjoying the beauty of the of the cities skyline. The thrill of passing under the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge will long be a very special memory.

Next stop was Monterey to visit with John's college roommate, Frank Klimowski. Frank stayed with us overnight and then took us to visit his 40-acre ranch of Redwood trees in Los Gatos. Those redwoods do get big! Frank then drove us to Monterey where we enjoyed their famous aquarium and to Pebble Beach where we watched the golfers trying to play championship form while playing their expensive round of golf. A great day with a true friend.

SeaQuell met us in Monterey and we sailed to San Luis Obispo. We drove to San Simeon to visit the Hearst Castle and Ranch. This Museum, donated to the state by the Hearst foundation, is filled with a priceless collection of worldwide antiques. The tour gave an excellent peek at the lifestyle of the wealthy and famous people of the early movie, media and newspaper worlds. It is worth the trip to see how the rich and famous lived as guests of Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies.

We continued south joined by numerous families of dolphin. Next stop was Santa Barbara where June went to high school for a few months in 1944 during her Dad's assignment at Patterson Air Base. Our next stay was the Channel Islands Marina in Oxnard a very picturesque and enjoyable Marina. On leaving we spent a rolling night in the Channel Islands where they were removing all the wild horses. While in the Oxnard marina we changed chefs with Sophia leaving for England and Karen Murphy from France joining us for the rest our summer.

Next stop was Alamitos Harbor in Long Beach. In Long Beach we stopped to see the Queen Mary and the new Long Beach aquarium. It is much smaller then Monterey's Aquarium but is much more specialized in tropical Pacific exhibits. One of the best we have seen. We visited the new Getty museum. Another outstanding recommendation to anyone visiting the area. The Harry DelMuro family joined us for dinner one evening on SeaQuell. Harry is no longer with us, but was a long-time friend with whom I had worked while at Dumont TV in the early 50s. It was nice to have his family join us.

On Sept. 30 our brother in law Loren Jorris and wife Maureen sailed with us and stayed overnight. How great it is to see family and friends we miss! June had never met Maureen so we had lots of family history to cover.

Aug. and Sept. are great months for sailing down the West Coast. The weather was good with little rain, the seas were calm and the wind was from the northwest along with the current pushing us south. The afternoon breeze was ideal for day sails with local guests.

End of log for Sept.

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