Here’s the latest from James Ellingford, the retired Australian businessman and dedicated cruiser, who’s now in Los Angeles on Pendana, his Nordhavn 62. It’s a collection of pictures he has taken since he and his wife Claire and their two daughters left Sydney in April, 2015, to start a six-year circumnavigation. As you can see, Ellingford is an accomplished photographer.
The pictures trace the Ellingfords’ voyage so far as they crossed the Pacific to Alaska and then worked their way down the West Coast. The last leg of their trip took them from San Francisco to LA, and started with a heart-stopping moment when the boat’s low water alarm went off. It was the first time the alarm had ever sounded, and they were in a narrow channel leaving the marina in Richmond, across the Bay from San Francisco, at the time. “Let me tell you, it was somewhat terrifying,” Ellingford wrote on his blog. Fortunately, he was able to quickly bleed some air from the water pump and solve the problem.
After that, the Ellingfords had an easy cruise down the coast, with the wind and sea behind them. They ran into some fog (no surprise there), but Ellingford said he was astonished by the amount of wildlife they saw: whales, dolphins, sea lions and birds. They even passed a sunfish that he thought was 8 feet long and 5 feet wide. For a treat, take a look at his pictures here: http://www.pendanablog.com/pendana-nordhavn-62-blog/2017/09/24/Classic-Photos-of-Our-Trip-So-Far
