Whale Tail and Other Wildlife

9-13-12 - Santa Cruz, CA - Day 73

We saw our first whale today!  At least we saw it's tail as it was diving.  Today's leg was from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, about 52 miles.  There are no pictures to prove this whale tail sighting so you'll just have to trust me on this one, but both Elizabeth and myself saw it.  Thankfully it was well in the distance as I have no real desire to see a whale up close, at least not while sailing on our boat.

A small bird, make and model unknown, tried to hitch a ride today. He would not take our offering of old bread, but he did seem interested in taking a nap. He was hanging out on our various lines for quite a while and then somehow he fluttered down below thru the companionway. After taking a poop on our couch he hung out in my clothes for a while then on Elizabeth's pillow. Knowing that would be a bad place to clean bird poop from she hustled downstairs and wrangled him up into her hands and release him back into the wild upstairs. He still hung out under the dinghy for a while before leaving. I suspect he was migrating from somewhere in the South Pacific and he had not seen land for many days so our boat was the first thing to land on before encountering the shore. So being very tired he landed to rest, but unlike all American birds he didn't like bread so he went downstairs to find something better to eat. That's my story at least.

Little Bird Hitching a Ride

Little Bird Hiding Under the Dinghy

Little Bird Pooping on our Couch

 

Little Bird in Bed

 

Little Bird in my Clothes

 

After all the wildlife sightings we made it to Santa Cruz and anchored out just North of the wharf there.  The wharf is huge and it seems like it was mostly built to sucker tourists into paying for over priced clam chowder.  I might not get any clam chowder out of the deal, but at least it's cool to look at. 

 

Santa Cruz Pier Left

 

Santa Cruz Pier Center

Santa Cruz Pier Right