March 2006 | Morro Bay

Date: 2/12/06

Engine hours: 1.0

Weather: clear 70 degree's

Fuel on board: 10.5

Wind: less than 5 knots WNW

Fuel used: 1.0

Water conditions: bay calm

Miles traveled: 5

Ocean, mountains, rich rolling hills and then there’s this beautiful harbor and the magnificent Morro Rock. What a place to spend a relaxing few days catching up on the reason I build SkiffAmerica. This bay is not large but it has all the beauty of the central California coast in one place.

Morro Bay is very shallow at low tide , but no problem with SkiffAmerica as I motor to the south end of the bay in two feet of water. I returned to a slip for the night and had a great dinner at Burger King, just kidding, at the Flying Dutchman 701 Embarcadero Blvd, Morro Bay, CA 93442

Morro Rock, which towers 576 feet at the entrance to the harbor, was named by Juan Cabrillo during his voyage of discovery along the California coast in 1542.

Many years ago I visited Morro Rock and followed the path to the top, it was a great hike and the top view was really worth the climb, sadly you can no longer climb the rock. You can see Peregrine falcon nesting and sea otters sometimes rafting in the channel if you are lucky.

Morro Bay is a great place to enjoy nature. As an estuary, where freshwater meets salty ocean tides, Morro Bay is teeming with wildlife. Morro Bay is a small estuary of about 2300 acres, fed by Chorro and Los Osos Creeks and is protected from the Pacific Ocean by a lengthy sand spit.

Lagoons and wetlands were once common along the southern California coast, but almost all are now Marina's or filled in land. Morro Bay is a rare and one of the last example's of a bygone environment on the Pacific coast. It reminds me of the Texas coast I enjoyed growing up.

Knowing the tides is important on Morro Bay and here is a great link to a web site that I have used to keep my keel wet. http://www.mobilegeographics.com/