Monterey Bay

There is no place to anchor in Monterey. Full stop. The protected bay behind the breakwater is so full of mooring balls it is hard to even navigate through the boats. The moorings have even begun to spill outside the breakwater. We considered anchoring out here, but it is directly open to the weather, so we decided to head to the public dock where we could finish a few more projects. We spent two nights at the Marina ($0.80/foot) and were surprised how much swell there still was. The lines creak and groaned as the boat pulled away then bounced back into the dock. Monterey is a pretty good place to hang out and get stuff done. There was everything we needed within walking distance – dog park, grocery store, marine store, dive store and an awesome playground. We had a pretty busy day of chores our first day. The new inverter was installed, the satellite phone antenna was removed from the mast (where is was getting too much interference from the rigging) and the wifi booster was installed on the spreader instead. The next day we visited the totally amazing Monterey Bay aquarium. At $40 a ticket admission isn’t cheap, but it is worth it. They have three amazing ‘big tanks’ that were unlike anything we have seen before. One tank had tuna that looked to weight several hundred pounds. They also have some really unique displays that merge art with science.

Great playground – she didn’t stop moving

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We took our leave of the Bay late in the afternoon and headed off for Stillwater Cove.