Ventura Harbor

Last Sunday, we spent the day at Ventura Harbor. They have a huge marina where you can park your boat, or catch one to whale watch or visit the Channel Islands (a national park). There are also a bunch of restaurants where we didn't eat because they all take cash only and souvenir shops. One of the big reasons we went, however, was because a historically accurate replica of Christopher Columbus's ship the Nina was docked there. It is really a very tiny ship and it's hard to imagine actually crossing the Atlantic on it. The current crew have put in some modern conveniences like bunks, a kitchen and a modern compass. Plus they get to live in the hold area, while Columbus's crew slept, ate, etc. on deck all the time. The 1/18/09 pictures show our tour of the ship. There are also pictures of our afternoon at the beach near the harbor. It was super-windy...blowing sand up off the beach into our faces...but gorgeously sunny and warm and we all had a lovely time!

We found out while touring it that the Nina was leaving the next morning "at first light" and Chris decided it would be very cool to watch it sail out of harbor. So on Monday morning, he got up way before "first light" and headed out. The crew of the Nina interpreted "first light" somewhat less strictly than Chris did, however, and he ended up hanging out for several hours while they all stood around drinking coffee, getting groceries, then finally loading up a bunch of ice and getting under way. He was hoping to see the ship drop its sails and really sail away but it turns out she has a secret engine underneath and they used that even after they got out of harbor. Oh well. The 1/19/09 set of pictures are from the Nina's departure.

PICTURES 1/18/09
PICTURES 1/19/09