Holidaying on the west coast of USA is as little a culture shock as any Eastern Suburbs boy could have overseas, and it well may be the jet lag that is causing it more than anything else, but this little black duck is feeling like a duck out of water. Not to mention we said a final goodbye to Curlew last week, not even a day before flying out of the country, which was absolutely gut wrenching.
Once again, we have said goodbye to our jobs and are deciding to see where the winds may take us… And as usual Annabel has landed squarely on her feet (with a flawless landing too i might add!) with the ideal role as a marketing guru based in West Hollywood.
Today I started on my quest to find a ‘local’, not pub, but sailing fraternity. I suppose I started at the top, with the CYC (California Yacht Club), a palatial club overlooking Marina Delrey in California. I will continue exploring the area but the fees are limiting to say the least. However they run the local sailing regattas weekly, equivalent to the Sydney harbour twilight series, aptly named the ‘Sunset series’.
I was tempted to hang around for tonight’s racing, but shyness and a desire for familiar surroundings sent me ubering home. And thats another thing, Uber in the States is relatively cheap, a 40 minute trip in a Uber X was only $20USD plus tip.
The plan is to head over next week with a view to hanging around for a crew position. If it is anything like Sydney, there will be some skippers desperate for crew.
I am not working at the moment so time is my asset, but I am continuing to build on our follower base and looking for a new boat somewhere on the west coast to play on. I am even considering deliveries to get to know the coastal cruising scene in the USA.
I will be doing a meet and greet at the Newport Beach In-Water Boat show this Saturday and also interviewing one of our followers for the first in a series of interviews on our fledgling (but growing) Youtube channel.
So I am putting the call out… Anyone with a boat that wishes to share their story and doesn’t mind having a camera poked in their face… Get in touch!
