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This article is featured in latitude 38 july 2002
Dear friends,
Yesterday was the most amazing day of my life and it's all thanks to the wonderful people at Lighthall Yacht Charters in
Santa Cruz. I set out on a two day charter departing Santa Cruz Harbor on Monday morning, after a night spent resting aboard, Lighthall's 42' Catalina sail boat, Leading Edge.
 Scott and Krista Lighthall, co-owners and operators of the sailing charter company, had
taken me for my first sails a few years ago, introducing me to the leisure sport and teaching me how to sail, and were the first people I called when I wanted to take a couple of days off and head to Monterey
the leisurely way while touring the peninsula to enjoy the views and unwind before tax day. We even scheduled in time to try my luck at a little Salmon fishing.
Although going directly from Santa Cruz to Monterey is under a three hour voyage by sail, we started out early and I asked my gracious skippers if
Salmon fishing was really something we could do and their response was to shop into action and ready the boat for some trolling and prepare a pole to
go into the water off the back of the boat. Within 30 minutes we had the first bite and before 11am I had my two fish limit on board and we returned
to sailing up the coast while snapping pictures of some of the local wild life and enjoying a few drinks and a wonderful lunch cooked aboard and served
fresh and hot. As interesting and wonderful as the trip into the Monterey Harbor was, things really became interesting the next day when we departed Monetary, after a wonderful dinner the night before and restful
morning around the harbor while sightseeing the way of someone experiencing Monterey for the first time should. I don't know that I will ever drive into Monetary by car ever again.
We departed the harbor late morning and decided to head to Moss Landing and do some more sightseeing by water before heading back to Santa Cruz; I thankfully was able to again convince the Lighthalls that maybe this
Salmon fishing thing was worth another attempt. Both Scott and Krista thought that I probably should make another attempt and although Tuesday was a slower morning I had just as much fun while enjoying the
wonderful coastal views and experiencing the waters first hand. When I had landed my first fish of the day I decided that I really needed to do more
sailing and less fishing, and the Lighthalls happily cleaned the boat up, and we set sail for Moss Landing. On the way, something caught our collective eyes almost at the exact same time; Killer Whales!
 The porpoises were approximately a quarter mile away and it looked like they
were actually swimming over to us, a total of 7 of them. Scott shut the boat down and I grabbed my camera and headed for the bow. They were still quite a distance away but every time they popped up they were
a little closer until finally, almost out of nowhere they were all around us. The largest of the group decided to check us out before all the others moved in but after swimming directly for the boat and
then under the boat and surfacing again shortly thereafter directly behind the transom, the back of the boat, and I watched Capt Scott fly almost a
foot into the air when that Killer Whale spouted a mist into the air no more than two feet away from the back of the boat. The porpoises graced us
with there presence for several minutes before heading back to their own sea journey. I asked my hosts if we could follow them and both captains
graciously explained that this was the most amazing sighting they have had and that these creatures of the deep were probably on a migratory path or
on their own destination sailing event and that we should just cherish those awesome moments and allow them to leave us the way they found us, filled
with curiosity and love. I would recommend Lighthall Yacht Charters to anyone who is looking for that, extremely affordable, vacation getaway in the middle of real life.
The Lighthall's love of sailing and of people shines through on every sail and their gracious hospitality, sense of awareness, knowledge of the local
environment, and hilarious sense of humor makes them my number one choice for an experience of a lifetime that can be had close to home without breaking the bank.
Cheers,
-Alex Fielding
** Two pictures enclosed; Scott Lighthall pointing to Whales off the side of the sail boat. The other is a whale surfacing two feet from the back of the sail boat and saying hello **
P.S. Lighthall Yacht Charters (831-429-1970) has a small fleet of Catalina sail boats ranging from 30' - 42' feet and they teach sailing as well as
charter boats. I actually learned to sail after attending a mixer sail (where anyone with any level of experience can attend for a very small price tag) a few years back.
Krista was my instructor and I've made a point of both sailing, via charter as I did this weekend, and bare boating (where you just rent a boat and
take it out) as often as I can fit in my schedule while driving over the hill to my home in Los Gatos.
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