California Sunset

To articulate the past weekend in a few paragraphs will be difficult.

On Thursday we sailed down to Mission Bay with Chris Pike and Troy Grasinger, two guys Chad worked with at Union Bank of California. The 19 hour sail went well, and early morning porpoises and pilot whales made for some good sightseeing.

We met up with friends in Pacific Beach to relax, hang out on the beach, and watch an upcoming band Inside Switch (www.myspace.com/insideswitch) record their first album. We left San Diego Saturday evening with a crew of 7: Myself, Chad, Patrick Tell, Christina Damiano, Sejal Patel, Tony Crowell, and Nate Barnard. Sejal and Christina whipped up some amazing chicken stirfry, Nate and Tony kept watch like nighthawks, and Patrick crewed like a seasoned sailor. We arrived in Emerald Bay at 8am for breakfast on the boat and dighy assembly.

Todd Miller telescoped the crew's arrival from his castle overlooking Emerald Bay. We breached the shoreline at noon. In true Miller form, the beach was lined with activities and beverages. Joselyn Miller introduced Makai to her new best friend, a 3 month old english bull dog named Twiggy. The two battled tit for tat the entire afternoon as we reunited with old fishing friends from an Annual Sea of Cortez trip that Joselyn's father had chartered for almost two decades. A short sail partially convinced the elite athletes and adventures of Southern Californina we are ready for our voyage. The evening continued with a feast and toasts of farewell and blessings up at the castle. Armed with platnum patron and a dighy of 7 (including Makai) we shoved off for the Broken compass at 9pm. The darkness cloaked a small breaker on the way out which nearly swamped the tender and crew. Wet, cold and exhausted the crew pulled anchor and endured the 6 hour trip back to San Pedro.

We couldn't have imagined a better weekend.