A black-footed albatross makes a fly-by off Cypress Point, Monterey Peninsula.

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Safely docked at Pier 39, lures galore, multiple nearby gyms, and three Magikarp in the Nearby tray. Nice.

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Achievement: Ulnlocked. 🙂

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Closer…

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Balaenoptera musculus, largest animal ever to live on earth, coming by to check us out. I’ll post video later, but here are some gifs courtesy of the mobile app.

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Approaching Half Moon Bay. I joked with my dad and Dottie yesterday that conditions couldn’t get much better for our trip.

I stand corrected. Today is better. 🙂

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We sleepyheads got going a little late today: hook wasn’t up until 0608. Anyway, we’re off. Goodbye Santa Cruz; I hope to come back and spin the pokestops on your pier some day.

Next destination, with luck: the Golden Gate.

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Birds and whales and Pokémon, oh my!

I’ve discovered that one difference between passage-making on a sailboat and on a powerboat is that on a powerboat there’s more time for sightseeing. Today the wind was light and southwesterly, which was ideal for the longest leg of our trip past Big Sur, the Monterey Peninsula, and Monterey Bay.

There was so much to see! Images above:

– The fog lifting to reveal Point Sur.

– A flyby by a black-footed albatross off Cypress Point. I saw more albatrosses today than I’d previously seen in my entire life. They’re amazing!

– A badly framed shot of a humpbacked whale sounding. There were humpbacks everywhere.

– The huge flock of sooty shearwaters we plowed through in Monterey Bay. We also saw pink-footed shearwaters, rhinoceros auklets, common murres, red-necked phalaropes, some kind of murrelet, pigeon gulliemonts, Forster’s terns, western gulls… The birdy highlight for me, though, were the aforementioned albatrosses.

– My dad steering us into the anchorage in Santa Cruz.

– The view of the pier IRL.

– The view of the pier in AR. Ahhhh! There are raids happening right now just a few yards away!

It’s okay. I can wait. The plan for tomorrow is another crack-of-dawn departure and the final leg of our trip. With luck we’ll soon be at the West Coast mecca for boaters and Pokémon players alike. Wish us luck!

Closer…

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Up and out at 0530 today. Visibility is poor so I can’t see the big slide that buried Highway 1, but like Doc said to Marty and Jennifer, where we’re going we don’t need roads.

I think I figured out why Pokémon only sporadically gave me mileage yesterday: the boat’s speed is right around the cutoff point. Yesterday we were being slowed by the leftover swells. Today it’s smoother, such that we’re going a little faster (around 6.5 knots) and I’m getting no egg or walking buddy mileage at all. Looking forward to getting back on land so I can play.

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Safely anchored in San Simeon Cove. Hearst Castle is hidden by the clouds, but the new Pokémon gyms are active! We don’t have any plans to go ashore, and we intend to leave tomorrow at crack of dawn, so no chance to play for now. But still, closer… 🙂

Seadra is still a little short of evolving to Kingdra. I was able to pick up a few Horsea candies en route, but it’s a much slower accumulation than while walking. Not sure why that is.

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So far this morning I’ve seen Sooty Shearwaters, playing sea lions, and a mola mola. Diablo Canyon is ten miles to starboard, but it’s too foggy to see more than a few hundred yards.

Update: It’s now somewhat clearer, though still too murky to see land as we close with the coast heading in toward San Simeon. Just saw a group of humpbacked whales! 🐋🐋🐋😍😍😍

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Fun fact: If you’re heading north off the California coast on a boat that travels at about 6 knots and you’re within sight of a cell tower you can play Pokémon Go. You don’t catch anything and can’t spin any pokestops, but you can totally clear out your eggs using the infinite incubator. And my walking buddy is gonna be ready to evolve into Kingdra before we get to San Simeon.

Anyway, greetings from three miles off Point Arguello at 0440.

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