October 20, 2012, Saturday.

Anchored in La Playa Cove, San Diego. 
Dark and quiet, early morning, water like glass.  Boats and ducks floating quietly.  Boats all pointing one way, ducks the other.  A hot cup of chai and my warm fluffy bathrobe.  Peace.


The event of the day is the cruisers party and barbeque.  Oh and by the way, it is at Downwind Marine which is coincidently having a huge sale.  It is fun to start meeting others who will be sailing with us.  Surprisingly most of them are old guys like we are, not the young kids I was expecting.  At least some of them are as new to sailing as I am which makes me feel better.  I drift around, listening to conversations while Alan shops, again.  I discover a couple that was anchored next to us in Avalon.  She is a master gardener and missing her garden, too.  Ran into another woman that I met at the Women’s Sailing Convention last year. 

There is much discussion of where to stay next week.  We are only allowed to stay in our free anchorage on the weekends.  During the week we either need to anchor way down by Coronado and take buses to get here or move to a closer marina and come by dingy.  There is a new marina just around the corner which has been recommended.  It is very close to the activities but it is still under construction and there is no plumbing.  If there was a huge price discount we would be more tempted but it costs almost as much as all the others.  Several others are mentioned and the discussion of where to dock a dingy keeps coming up.  There are no public docks, just yacht clubs and marinas.  It seems that the city would put in a couple of public dingy docks along here to encourage sailors to come ashore to shop and eat.  We finally decide on Cabrillo Marina, even though it is a long dingy ride away.  The draw is that lots of the other cruisers are staying there and that  it is right next to the Sheraton.  Marina fees include use of the pool and spa and a discount in the restaurant.  Might as well indulge one last time.

Back to the boat early.  The rest of the afternoon and evening are spent sorting, organizing and tossing papers.  Finally we do not need all those lists and articles of good ideas.  We are here, we have the boat, we are going!