Last week  we took off on a 4 day cruise with our friends Jill and Barret from S/V Lady Eileen, a Baba 30. They were down in California from Puget Sound visiting family and we invited them to go on a cruise with us to Mission Bay. We loaded up the boat and set sail on Wednesday around noon. Out in San Diego Bay we hauled up the sails and slowly sailed out the bay past buoy 3.

There are kelp beds to the west of Point Loma so we stayed well offshore to avoid them, but still managed to get a big piece stuck on the rudder skeg and it slowed us down by about a knot.

We anchored in the northern part of Mariners Basin called Bonita Cove. The bottom was mud and had good holding. We put out 65 feet of anchor rode in 20 feet of water.

Wednesday we launched the dinghy and went ashore to the beach. Barret was the only one adventurous enough to swim in the ocean.

We went out for lunch at a nearby restaurant and went back to the boat. Barret wanted to swim back to the boat and I decided to swim too because the water in the bay was much warmer than the ocean. Barret and I were 3/4 of the way back to the boat before Natalie and Jill got the outboard running. We put Sully down for his afternoon nap and enjoyed jumping off the boat and swimming around exploring the shore nearby.

After swimming the girls took showers and we got ready for a bonfire and BBQ on the beach with my buddy Erick. He brought the wood and we brought hot dogs and sausages to grill. Sully played in the water and hung out on the beach blanket while we made dinner.

Before long the fire was dying down and we decided to head back to the boat for the night. The next day we hauled the anchor up and sailed back to San Diego Bay.

Before we knew it we were back in San Diego Bay, anchored at the La Playa anchorage near Shelter Island. Eric and Jaime from S/V Coconutz came to join us for dinner and we hung out until late in the evening.

The next morning we stowed the dinghy on deck and motored back to Fiddlers Cove so Barret and Jill could start the 1,300 mile drive back to Washington. Jill and Barret, it was great having you aboard and we look forward to cruising with you again!

Below is our trip on http://thekeel.com/. The site is done by fellow cruiser Eric Kaufman, formerly of S/V Rebel Heart, and is designed to share where you’re going and explore where you’ll go.