Skookum Traveler: Morro Bay (CA)

In early November last year, we held a memorial in Safford, Arizona, for Don and Clarice, my dad and stepmom. We lost them both in 2012. We sent half of dad’s ashes to the wind in Safford last fall, and I’d saved the rest for Morro Bay. It’s where the two of them launched their schooner, Destiner, in March 1964—fifty years ago—after spending three years building her on a cattle ranch in nearby Cayucos. I thought it fitting to mark the milestone and the christening by sending the rest of dad’s ashes out to the Pacific.

Dad and Clarice after he finished restoring this PT-19.

I needed to finagle a ride out to the entrance of the bay, so I wandered into the Morro Bay Yacht Club on Friday, May 2^nd, to see if I could meet anyone who might be able to help. I’d noticed that the yacht club was having a weekly happy hour that night, which might attract a few local sailors, I thought, maybe even an old-timer who might have known Don and Clarice. As it turned out, the old-timers weren’t quite old enough, but through pure luck I met a lovely couple from San Diego who had just sailed into the harbor that day. (Don and Clarice lived aboard Destiner in San Diego back in the ‘60s.) We somehow hit it off, and before I could even drop a coy hint about my need for a maritime lift, Jenny and Russel were already offering to take me out the next morning. Wow.

Russel calculated that an early morning ebb would help send Dad out to sea, as opposed to an incoming tide that would risk getting him all stirred in with the oily gunk and detritus floating around the docks (which is not to suggest Morro Bay is a particular mess, but it is an urban boat harbor). Very thoughtful. I met them dockside at 8 am on May 3rd and boarded Watchfire 2 in the light fog. A half-hour later, we were letting dad go at the entrance to Morro Bay. Jenny scattered wildflower blossoms, while a few seabirds and a harbor seal joined us for the brief, though perfect wake. The fog rapidly burned away, and close by, Morro Rock stood out stout and proud in the warming morning sun. The whole, easy affair could not have gone any better.

As a young man, my dad had dreamed of going solo around the world, just like Joshua Slocum. Well, now he had his chance, even if we'd sent him off without a boat.