Elkhorn Slough - Moss Landing

Finally - we've found a coffee shop where we can plug in our computers.
We came into Moss Landing 1st October having enjoyed a great sail from Santa Cruz.
Moss Landing is recognizable by 2 huge chimneys - 528 feet high, which are part of a steam powered electrical generation plant - the 2nd largest facility of its kind in the world. So even though visibly its definitely incongruous to its surroundings, its actually not hurting the wildlife at all.
Speaking of wildlife, Elkhorn Slough which surrounds the yacht club at which we are moored is a beautiful ecological reserve, and there are 2 marine research ships working out of Moss Landing.
We took the dinghy into the slough yesterday and saw many beautiful creatures. The birdlife is getting much more interesting and we wish we had a book to help us identify the different species of birds we are seeing. I think we saw egrets yesterday, a beautiful slender heron like bird - smaller and pure white. Also some medium sized beige colored birds with very long pick like beaks - very similar to kiwis.
Our favourite creatures are the Sea Otters - quite different from the River Otters we are used to shooing off our boats on White Rock Pier.
These otters are not interested in boats - have no fear of them - and roll around from their fronts onto their backs eating, breaking shells with stones, preen themselves with their hands, and are generally so gorgeous you want to pick them up. In the early evening they pair up and roll around playing/fighting each other. There are so many of them near our mooring.
I'll put some pictures on next time I get to the internet - didn't download them from the camera yet.
We've checked weather and have decided to leave tomorrow - to get into Monterey for the next couple of days - there's a weather system moving in until Monday that doesn't look too good.
We'll go to Elkhorn Yacht Club's social evening tonight and glean as much information as we can from the locals about places to go in Monterey.
The people we have met here are very helpful - in fact everywhere we have been this has been the case.

Comments

Anonymous said…
So good to hear from all of you as the adventure continues. I love the sea otters too. The ones on the west coast of Vancouver Island north of Clayuquot Sound are very shy. As soon as I got the camera out they would dive under the water. You are about to go down my absolute favorite part of the world. Big Sur to San Luis Obispo! Big surf(Tony watch out!) beautiful sunsets and lots of beaches. Take care your almost to the tourquoise water!
Love & Hugs
Dick & Anne
October 4, 2008 at 11:20 AM
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