Destination Leo January 22 -23, 2013

We are headed into Santa Barbara to pick up Wayne Hansen, owner of Descanso. We left out of Monterey mid day, motored through the night sharing watch. We saw many more oil platforms now. They are lit up like cities at night.  These now became our traffic, watching them go by. In the afternoon we see many more whales and dolphins.  Many grays spout in the distance.  I've never seen this so clearly in my life.  Trying to see this from shore is much more difficult. 

Late in the afternoon the smell is very distinct. It woke me from a nap at one point, odor like creosote. I came on top to see what was wrong only to find the water having a sheen of oil everywhere. We were in the middle of the ocean. The sea lions sunning were floating in the midst of the oil slick. Chris says "naturally occurring" leaks from the earth.  I have a hard time swallowing this as humans punch holes in the earth extracting it.  Platforms are creepy looking, like machines called "A.T. A.T. Walkers" from Star Wars. Portia later tells me that the design for the movie came from the oil rigs. We are on a stretch of the coast that, again, is stunningly beautiful. Rolling hills, cliffs and what appears to be a beautiful university campus along the shore line. I imagine out loud that the smell must be strong on shore, Chris says yes when wind conditions are right. There goes paradise.

Air and water clears.  We move into the fueling dock at Santa Barbara to have Mr. Hansen join us. Wayne had come to Santa Barbara by train and was up very early to make the 6 hour journey. This didn't dampen his enthusiasm when he saw his recently acquired motor yacht.

Fueled and on our way, Wayne now joins us as crew prepared to take watch dividing up our chores through the night. I enjoyed my time with him while sitting on his left as we motor past Catalina island in the dark. He has many stories and I love to hear them. Wayne had been invited back to visit an updated PT boat by a good friend. He says the big change was all the electronics and women being present giving them full credit and found them to be very competent at there jobs.   He did ask aloud how many of the hundred and fifty or so on the vessel could actually shoot a star (navigate by stars) and only two was the answer. More lost skills with modernization.

This is a man of the sea who has made his way in life on boats. A career in the military, he speaks of his 4 tours in Vietnam and this long standing participation on the majestic world of sailing.  His true love is sailing.  He describes his purchase of the Descanso as turning to the "dark side", motor yachting.  He shared with us as we entereded the San Diego Bay in the early morning hours that he owns several sailing yachts, with several more in the marina previously owned by this strong enthusiatist.  He has been very active in the Americas Cup and was more recently an advisor to ESPN during the event giving him the best seat in the house.  When I asked for his photo for the blog he declined, telling me with a twinkle and a smile that he is "in the wittness protection program".  When we arrived at the San Diego Yacht Club for breakfast with Wayne where my son, Donovan joined us, it was quite apparent everyone knew Wayne.  Wittness protection?  Funny, Wayne. Thank you for the wonderful breakfast and one of the most enjoyable journeys in my life ~ cruising on the Descanso.


Next stop....Leo's place! Woof.