Boy, are we making tracks! It definitely paid to wait. By day-
break, we were passing Point Buchon. The current is with us, the swells are with us, and what little wind there is is with us.
We had thought we might make Morro Bay by 3 p.m., but by noon we were almost to Point Arguello, well past Morro Bay. Then things started going awry.
We turned off the engine so Roy could pour more diesel into the tank. Unfortunately, he underestimated how much was left in the tank, so a quart overflowed.
After the mess was cleaned up, we ate lunch on the foredeck. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We were gliding peacefully along at two knots with just the mainsail up when we saw a big container ship bearing down on us. We changed course to get out of its way and ended up much farther out at sea than we had intended to go.
After the ship had gone by, Roy went down into the engine compart-
ment to change the oil--a messy job under the best of circumstances, and much more so when big swells are rolling the boat from side to side. A wave hit at the wrong moment, and a bucket of black, gooky, used oil dumped on the deck. Roy spent most of the afternoon cleaning up the mess.
We decided to go to Point Conception and spend the night in the Cojo Anchorage. Roy lowered the main and unfurled the headsail. I started the engine, and, with the swells pushing us, we zoomed towards the coast at more than 7 knots, but we were so far out, it took several hours to get there. It was dark when we approached Cojo. I was at the wheel but couldn't figure out where the anchorage was, even though I was watching the radar screen, so I woke up Roy, and he took us in. Dropped anchor at 8 p.m.
There isn't much protection in Cojo Anchorage. It's wide open to the ocean and the western swells, so Jofian kept rocking back and forth. We slept like tops.
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