Today we are all celebrating a ton of hard work and the successful completion of the Phase 1 (West Coat, USA) portion of the Voyage for Cleaner Energy! I cannot believe this day is here. I feel like the entire Voyage crew just ran a few marathons together. Today Robert gave his final west coast lecture at UC Davis and the sailboat departs soon for the Panama Canal delivery to the East Coast. The land crew is busy sorting out all of our gear in the biodiesel van and the boat crew is feverishly preparing for their trek down south to Panama. Sailboat 2041 has been docked in Santa Barbara for an entire week and we have received the warmest welcome from all the locals, the media, the many students and local businesses we have met during our stay. We could not have dreamed up a better place to “wrap up” Phase 1. Thank you all for the tremendous support! We have so many memories, connections and photos to share with you all soon! I want to personally thank all of the amazing passengers we had along the west coast. I remember each of your smiles so clearly. I remember how we laughed and laughed at the thousands of dolphins that played off the bow of the boat that one day near San Diego. I remember thinking our faces were going to freeze off near Seattle. I remember that amazing song Captain Mark made up on Cinco de Mayo – and Hannah’s guacamole! I remember all those balloons we rescued from the high seas. Thank you all for making this journey a success. We will be in touch soon.

Have a beautiful day wherever you are fellow travelers.

• Maura Fallon-McKnight (Comms)

A hot weather front has swept through California, with record highs in some places, we are all attributing it to climate change. It’s kind of a double edged sword…beautiful weather but at the cost of what? We have been waiting for the days at sea where we can sail along barefoot but with record highs come glassy seas and then sailing turns to motoring. Leaving Long Beach we were in for just such a day. We decided to split the fourteen hour trip to Santa Barbara in two and anchor at Santa Cruz Island for the night. No whales to speak of, no fish were caught, a few dolphins breached the water but left unamused at our imposing presence and not counting the pelicans seeking out a tasty meal, that was all the sea life that entertained us for the day. I got to witness climate change and the ever increasing state of our oceans all in one day…fantastic. Not to say the day wasn’t pleasant and beautiful- it was just enlightening as well.

Arriving at Santa Cruz Island last night we pulled into a protected bay where numerous other boats had the same idea. The sun was setting as we pulled in and we all got to share the night sky and quiet of the night. The nearly full moon cast a dull glow over the bay and only the brightest of stars were visible against the moonlit sky. I woke up to another beautiful, hot, calm day. I made some carrot raisin muffins and by the time everyone had awoke they were fresh from the oven.

We finally arrived in Santa Barbara mid-day to a very inquiring crowd. Within minutes we had people’s curiosities peaked. What a good feeling to have people see our boat from afar and seek us out because their interests are peaked. All day people came down to the boat that were walking or biking by, other sailors and boaters came down in droves and my personal favorite…the woman who kayaked alongside us out of curiosity. I got to talk about the farmer’s market, organic gardening and supporting local growers more than once so that was a success in my book. It’s our first day in Santa Barbara and we have a week to go. We will be here until the boat is ready for the Panama crossing which we plan to commence by the end of the month and so far so good. I think this will be a great place to spend our last week on the West coast.

Peace for now.
Hannah