Brad and I had been itching to take the boat out for a post refit shakedown. We had planned to leave for Catalina on Saturday and spend a week exploring the island, but the boat had other plans. We discovered our windlass had an issue when we cranked up 300ft of chain and heard a strange noise. Needless to say, Brad began investigating and realized our windlass needs to be replaced. That botched our Catalina plan and took up a few days of our vacation. But before you start feeling sorry for us, we did have a great alternative plan brought to us by our friend and rigger, Chris. He suggested hanging out at Mission Bay and using a lighter anchor that wouldn't require a windlass to retrieve (just a strong Brad).
We took care of some last minute provisioning, cleaning and projects and set off Thursday afternoon. This was our first trip of the season, and our first trip with the pups! To say I was nervous was an understatement, but the pups proved me wrong and were just fine. For the first leg of the trip we kept them down below so we could move freely in the cockpit and not be distracted. We took the opportunity to fuel up just before leaving, and attach the new dinghy to the davits. 
I steered while Brad hoisted the main and we motor sailed to Mission Bay in just a few hours. The conditions were great and the sea was calm. 
As we rounded Mission Bay and came through the entrance, Brad started going over the game plan. First we would circle and get a feel for the anchorage, see what's available and make our move. I was at the helm and he was at the bow with the anchor. I haven't had much experience steering the boat at slow speeds and in an anchorage before so naturally I was a bit nervous. Brad and I have done this scenario before on our BVI trip a few years ago. He guides me right where he wants and instructs port- starboard- reverse- neutral- forward- throttle- idle, etc. All I have to do is listen- and not get things mixed up. 😜
Our anchoring went off without a hitch and we both took a sigh of relief and began getting everything squared away to be on the hook for a few days. We took the pups to shore in the dinghy and snagged a few photos of our girl on anchor. She sure is beautiful! 
The girls did great in the dinghy and looked adorable in their life jackets. 
We spent a lot of our time carting the girls to and from shore for potty breaks, play time and swimming. We even discovered that Zorra is a hell of a swimmer! I thought we would all take a swim together so I plopped her in the water and zooooooooom she took off straight for shore! She doesn't find swimming as relaxing as the rest of us. Lesson learned!
We kept the girls in the cockpit during the days and moved them below for bedtime. This was our way of combating the extra sand they tracked in- and they were much cooler out in the breeze on deck. Occasionally Zorra would remind us she was keeping an eye on us…
The sunsets were gorgeous and we took full advantage of viewing them from the deck. 
Time seemed to fly by and before we knew it, Saturday had arrived. All we had to do was tidy up, pick up the anchor and head back out to sea. Once again the anchoring went nice and easy and we were out of there. Whew! We motored out of the channel and hoisted the main. The conditions were light so we decided to unfurl the genoa and get in some real sailing. We cut the motor and were once again reminded that we have quite an amazing boat. She sails like a dream and cuts through the swells like a champ! 
We had such a great vacation and really enjoyed spending time on the boat with the dogs. We have a list of things that need attention but I think we are happier that the list is much shorter than it has been in the past. We are making progress! 👍🏻
