Looking at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Steamer Lane
Rather than spend another day waiting and worrying about the techie turning up to complete the Autohelm...we took off in our rented Chevy Cobalt south on the I-880 to Santa Cruz. This is at the north end of Monterey Bay.
We did find out before we left that Customs in Oakland could see us within a hour notice to organise clearance from the US. That would allow us the option of departure fairly quickly after getting a good weather forecast. So lets hope that Autohelm goes in quick and works, so next week we can be on standby for departure!!
Back to today's drive..... our first stop 1 plus hours drive south was Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, now celebrating 100 years of entertaining Americans at the beach. Like Coney Island. It was pretty expansive and full of fun arcades, a wooden roller coaster built in 1923, 35 other rides and features. Shame that it doesn't open till 1st of May!!! There were guys working on rides and signs being painted all in preparation...but only one little inside putt putt arcade open for business. It must be huge when it's in peak season as the whole area is surrounded by Motels!
We drove around to look at the Marina harbour and ended up at Crows Nest Restaurant an upstairs downstairs beachfront/harbour front grill. The hangout for surfers and sailors alike, with the walls adorned in surfboards, signed surfboards, pictures of surfing and sailing....our sort of place! Chrissy enjoyed her crab cakes and Geoff and I enjoyed burgers and a wonderful view out to the ocean we will soon be sailing. From here we drove north along the rugged coast to the Mark Abbott Memorial Surf Museum at Lighthouse Point. The famous Steamer Lane surf spot is here and surfers were out riding two point breaks to the south of the Lighthouse amongst the kelp beds. You could see Sea Otters out there lolling about on their backs chowing down on mussels. The surfers were wearing full steamer suits and caps and the wind was blowing a cold 20+ knots. Keen boys I tell you. But the surf looked pretty good and it was nice to see clear ocean water after living in murky bay water for two months!! We watched the surfers for awhile until we felt too chilled and then continued our drive north.
The coast line is rocky cliffs and pounding seas, small beaches and wind carved sand cliffs. It's not a very friendly looking coastline, unless your a sea lion or a sea otter! There are plenty of wind swept beaches with keen kite surfers or wind surfers, but not too many beachgoers about. We visited the Pigeon Point Light Station on the cliffs overlooking a particularly nasty headland and outcrop of surf pounded rocky outcrops. It stands 115' high and has been in continuous operation since 1872. It is now in a bad state of repair and you can only walk around the exterior, but it is also surrounded by fantastic views, native seaside plants and flowers and a Fog Horn Hut. Where to save ships from wrecking on the shores during regular fogs, they have been sounding Fog Horns since the 1800's. It is a fascinating spot that is also a Hostel.
From here our last stop further north up along the Highway 1 was the little township of Half Moon Bay, where the ultimate in bad boy big surf comps is held....Mavericks!!! Not that we could see any bad boy big surf today....but we did see the harbour and protected anchoring area, which will be handy if we need to stop in after departing San Francisco. The drive up to this area is right along the ocean front cliffs and is well worth it. It's another beautiful part of the San Fran area that has pleasantly surprised us.
Our drive home saw Chrissy cross her fourth Bay bridge the San Mateo, this is one long bridge, 11 kms crossing the south bay from west to east. We were home by around 6pm to find that the Autohelm looked nearly finished??? So Geoff will have to phone the techie tomorrow and see what the story is. Hopefully all is go?
We did find out before we left that Customs in Oakland could see us within a hour notice to organise clearance from the US. That would allow us the option of departure fairly quickly after getting a good weather forecast. So lets hope that Autohelm goes in quick and works, so next week we can be on standby for departure!!
Back to today's drive..... our first stop 1 plus hours drive south was Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, now celebrating 100 years of entertaining Americans at the beach. Like Coney Island. It was pretty expansive and full of fun arcades, a wooden roller coaster built in 1923, 35 other rides and features. Shame that it doesn't open till 1st of May!!! There were guys working on rides and signs being painted all in preparation...but only one little inside putt putt arcade open for business. It must be huge when it's in peak season as the whole area is surrounded by Motels!
We drove around to look at the Marina harbour and ended up at Crows Nest Restaurant an upstairs downstairs beachfront/harbour front grill. The hangout for surfers and sailors alike, with the walls adorned in surfboards, signed surfboards, pictures of surfing and sailing....our sort of place! Chrissy enjoyed her crab cakes and Geoff and I enjoyed burgers and a wonderful view out to the ocean we will soon be sailing. From here we drove north along the rugged coast to the Mark Abbott Memorial Surf Museum at Lighthouse Point. The famous Steamer Lane surf spot is here and surfers were out riding two point breaks to the south of the Lighthouse amongst the kelp beds. You could see Sea Otters out there lolling about on their backs chowing down on mussels. The surfers were wearing full steamer suits and caps and the wind was blowing a cold 20+ knots. Keen boys I tell you. But the surf looked pretty good and it was nice to see clear ocean water after living in murky bay water for two months!! We watched the surfers for awhile until we felt too chilled and then continued our drive north.
The coast line is rocky cliffs and pounding seas, small beaches and wind carved sand cliffs. It's not a very friendly looking coastline, unless your a sea lion or a sea otter! There are plenty of wind swept beaches with keen kite surfers or wind surfers, but not too many beachgoers about. We visited the Pigeon Point Light Station on the cliffs overlooking a particularly nasty headland and outcrop of surf pounded rocky outcrops. It stands 115' high and has been in continuous operation since 1872. It is now in a bad state of repair and you can only walk around the exterior, but it is also surrounded by fantastic views, native seaside plants and flowers and a Fog Horn Hut. Where to save ships from wrecking on the shores during regular fogs, they have been sounding Fog Horns since the 1800's. It is a fascinating spot that is also a Hostel.
From here our last stop further north up along the Highway 1 was the little township of Half Moon Bay, where the ultimate in bad boy big surf comps is held....Mavericks!!! Not that we could see any bad boy big surf today....but we did see the harbour and protected anchoring area, which will be handy if we need to stop in after departing San Francisco. The drive up to this area is right along the ocean front cliffs and is well worth it. It's another beautiful part of the San Fran area that has pleasantly surprised us.
Our drive home saw Chrissy cross her fourth Bay bridge the San Mateo, this is one long bridge, 11 kms crossing the south bay from west to east. We were home by around 6pm to find that the Autohelm looked nearly finished??? So Geoff will have to phone the techie tomorrow and see what the story is. Hopefully all is go?
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