Santa Cruz to Moss Landing and Monterey

From Santa Cruz, we decided to take a quick look at Moss Landing, a place I had frequented while going to high school in Salinas back in the 70's, so we motored the short 16 miles over to Moss Landing and tied off at the guest dock and had a quick look around.

Even though it had been more than 30 years since I had been here, Moss Landing had changed little in the intervening time. I guess the presence of the Power Plant and the smell of all the Fisheries has kept development to a minimum in this area. The coast to both sides of Moss Landing is all sand dunes, and probably also limits the amount of building that goes on. After a quick look around Moss Landing, we departed for Monterey.

Just outside the Moss Landing Harbor we put up the sails and had one of our best legs thus far on the trip. The winds were nearly perfect, and after a few tacks getting out, we were able to sail a close, then beam, reach all the way to Monterey. With the winds at about 15 knots, Mandala had no trouble keeping 4-6 knots of boat speed the entire way. It was absolutely beautiful, and we didn't start the motor until, just outside Monterey Harbor, when it was time to put the sails down.

We took a slip at the Breakwater Cove Marina. At first we were a little concerned about it's location, not being on Fisherman's wharf, but as it turned out, it was the best location in Monterey! We were only a block from a Free Trolley stop, and right next to Cannery Row. And although a little rustic (only one shared bathroom, and two shared showers), the Marina staff (Dianne) were very very nice, and overall we loved it there.

We took the opportunity to do laundry (hauling about 40 lbs of clothes 3 blocks to a laundromat in town), and had a wonderful dinner, including bottles of Veuve Cliquot at the Blue Moon restaurant on Cannery Row. Every night the Sea Otters would come into the harbor to feed, there was an abundance of Birds, and we even got to watch the Coast Guard doing parking drills in their several boats berthed just a hundred yards or so away.

Seal playing in the harbor

Images of Moss Landing