The trip from Monterey to Moss Landing was uneventful except for the waves that hit us directly on our beam (side of the boat) and made for a bumpy, mildly uncomfortable ride. But the sky was blue, there was the possibility of seeing whales and we were on the road again (even if it was in the wrong direction)! It only took us about an hour and a half to motor into Moss Landing, we arrived in the afternoon on May 24th to find our side tie in the Elkhorn Yacht Club harbor.
As we approached the side tie, I wondered about Damien’s plan of action. There was definitely room for our boat, but not a lot of room for error. And he’d need to swing Brizo around, Ace Ventura style and squeeze her in sideways. It’s best to stay quiet in moments like these, let the skipper come up with his plan and then nail it with my dock line handling. I try to keep my two cents to myself unless I see a major issue or a much better way of doing it. In this case, there was only one option. Spin that aft around and drift Tokyo style into the space.
As Damien started spinning the boat, one of the yacht club members, Steve, came running down the dock to give us some assistance. It was great to have some help and so nice to see a friendly face, but really, Damien had already got the boat in the spot and Steve helped us tie her up. Steve showed us around the yacht club and introduced us to some of the members. This yacht club is the most welcoming and friendliest yacht club we’ve experienced. They have a great piece of land and a lot to offer their members.
Turns out, the otter tours in Moss Landing are even better than in Monterey. There was a mama otter and her baby in the marina that would float around the boat cracking their clams and kissing each other’s faces. At night, the mama otter would tuck her baby up onto the underside of the dock as she went out to fish. It was as adorable as it sounds.
Moss Landing is even closer than Monterey to our old home base, so we were lucky enough to have my sister, Amy, and my nephews come down to hang out with us on the weekend. It was less than a month since we had left, but much too long to have not had a sister hug. We took full advantage of Amy and asked her to take us back to Monterey to pick up a box we had had delivered to the harbor office and to Costco. So we went on a short drive and ran some boring errands. When we got back, the yacht club was hosting a make your own burger night at the club. This was our first of a few make your own burger nights; my nephews thought it was the best thing ever.
The next day, we took a dinghy ride up the river and encountered an otter wonderland. They were everywhere, a true otter paradise. You otter have been there. Ha! But seriously, they hang out in the kelp beds, just enjoying their clams. They aren’t too bothered by people in the kayaks or dinghy’s floating up the river to check them out. It was super fun, but a little cold and wet (sorry Jesse!).
We hung out in Moss Landing for a week, just enjoying ourselves, and getting a few projects completed. I pulled out our sewing machine, an awesome Sail Rite machine, and got to know it by making a cover for our beautiful cockpit table made by our talented friend Anthony. That table is so incredibly special to us.
Monterey had room for us again on May 31st, so we cut loose and made the short trip back to Monterey.
