Location and Mooring: Newport Harbor (33 36 527N, 117 54 470W); four nights at anchor<\/p>\n
Pulled into the very large harbor that is Newport and had the large guest anchorage to ourselves. Little did we know all the yacht clubs use the anchorage for their almost daily mini small-boat regattas. Free Luff<\/em> acted as a mark for many of the events, but only got hit once.<\/p>\n Surfing was, as usual, on the docket. Unfortunately, the conditions called for a “very poor” forecast. But Rand went for it anyway.<\/p>\n The harbor is set up with a handful of public docks that are scattered about and marked with blue and white pilings. Very handy for making land-based forays, during which we saw some interesting solar applications (nice!).<\/p>\n Prior to leaving SD, we\u2019d purchased a 12V charger for the computers, only to have it work successfully all of three times, then stop working altogether; so we ventured up to the mall (yes, the mall) in search of an Apple store that could provide salvation. But the Apple store was a bust \u2014 we ended up ordering two different chargers from Amazon and having them delivered to Santa Barbara, where we were planning to go in the next week or so.<\/p>\n Then came time for work (at Starbucks \u2014 no wifi in the anchorage) and chores. We located a laundromat, where Jody did one huge $6 load in an industrial-sized washer and them promptly came down with the flu, again.<\/p>\n While Jody lay in bed for 3 days, Rand connected with Jay Long, who was in town visiting his ill father, and Steve and Pam aboard Barramundi. He also managed to visit Minnie\u2019s, West Marine, and do some grocery shopping, too. Once Jody was up for it, it was time to move on.<\/p>\n Newport \u2014 what did we learn about ourselves and\/or observations:<\/strong> After getting the flu for the fourth time in six months, we learned that Jody needs an immune system boost \u2014 either that or she needs to stop doing laundry.<\/p>\n\n\t\t