I am not superstitious, but I believe in the existence of supernatural things.

Last week was the company's annual summer vacation, and I planned to use this week to complete the final leg of the sea journey from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to San Diego, which is the stretch from Los Angeles to San Diego.

I divided the sea journey from the Golden Gate Bridge to San Diego into six segments:

Golden Gate Bridge to Half Moon Bay, a two-day-one-night journey.
Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, a one-day journey.
Santa Cruz to Monterey Bay, a one-day journey.
Monterey Bay to Avila Beach, a three-day-two-night journey.
Avila Beach to Los Angeles, a three-day-four-night journey.
Los Angeles to San Diego, which is the final leg of this journey, covering 200 nautical miles and taking three days and four nights.

I spent several weeks preparing everything I needed in advance. On the evening of June 30, 2023, Friday night, I happily set off for Los Angeles.

To my surprise, just two miles onto the highway, I heard a "bang" sound, and the tire blew out. It would have been fine if it was just a flat tire, as it could easily be replaced. However, upon inspection, it didn't seem like a simple flat tire. It looked like something had forcefully damaged the rim of the wheel, causing it to have a gap and deflate.

This became a major problem. I needed to replace the entire wheel, and that required ordering parts, which would take some time. It seemed like my wonderful plans for this week had to be canceled.

When my wife saw me return, she rushed into my arms like a little bird and exclaimed joyfully, "I have someone to spend the holiday with."

But I suspected that it was divine intervention preventing me from going. It seemed like fate wanted me to stay at home and accompany my wife. Otherwise, how could such a strange incident, like a wheel rim being damaged in a way I had never heard of before, happen right at the moment I was about to leave?

It was strange, and I felt puzzled.

But my heart was already set, like an arrow on the string, and not launching it caused me extreme discomfort. I decided that the next morning, I would take the damaged wheel to a tire repair shop and try my luck. If it could be fixed, I would set off again. If not, then my enthusiasm would die, and I could peacefully stay at home with my wife, enjoying good food and watching fireworks on Independence Day.

My wife couldn't understand my persistence, so in order to convince and comfort her, I said, "It's like when you women want to buy a handbag. If you see one you like but can't buy it, you feel restless and can't eat or sleep well until you have it."

I continued, "When I come back, I will treat you to delicious food. You can have whatever you want, without considering the price."

The next morning, on Saturday morning, the tire repair shop wasn't open yet, so I waited outside the shop. I wanted to be their first customer. After they inspected it, they said the wheel wasn't severely damaged and just needed a repair and a new tire.

So, around 9 o'clock in the morning, I set off once again.

Unexpectedly, before even getting onto the highway, the tire was punctured again. What kind of situation was this! It was no longer just an accident, but it seemed like something was deliberately making things difficult. Could it be that fate really wanted to prevent me from going out? But once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. So, I called the people from the tire repair shop, they replaced the tire again, and with my wife's constant reminders to stay safe, I hit the road once more.

This stubborn decision to continue the journey led to some bizarre incidents later on.

Picture 1
This was the planned sea journey, covering approximately 200 nautical miles:

Picture 2
In the middle of the night, the tire blew out on the highway. I'm experienced in changing spare tires, so I managed to fix it in less than twenty minutes. I slowly drove back home, feeling puzzled.

Picture 3
Perplexed, I wondered how this gap came about.


Picture 4
Feeling frustrated, I drove home, uncertain if this journey could be completed.


Picture 5
The tire repair shop technician replacing the tire.

Last time I went from Monterey Bay to Avila Beach, so this time I plan to travel from Avila Beach all the way to Los Angeles, covering a distance of 210 nautical miles over three days and four nights, compared to the 120 nautical miles I covered over three days and two nights last time.

Ever since my last three-day, two-night trip, I have known that I don't need to sleep on shore or anchor close to the shore. I can break up my sleep into short periods of a few seconds or tens of seconds, waking up immediately in necessary to check the surroundings and then going back to sleep if it's safe to do so. This cycle ensures that I have enough sleep while also allowing me to maintain control of the kayak.

Only by solving the sleep problem can I continue to sail alone without stopping for days and nights without feeling tired.

Sometimes I don't even really fall asleep, just resting my eyes. I listen to the sound of the waves around me and let my body sink into a state of half-sleep. Occasionally, I open one eye and scan the surroundings with my peripheral vision before sinking back into this half-sleep state to conserve energy. At that moment, I'm like an old monk in meditation on the kayak.

Having mastered this skill, I'm more confident in solo drifting on ocean.

Before setting off, I did my homework and knew the limits of my abilities. This type of sea condition should not be a problem. The following picture shows the infamous Conception Point, where many accidents have occurred. I paid special attention to the weather forecast here before departing.

I am planning fishing for next weekend, wondering whether have the same interest guy to go together, below is my plan:

1) At Oct/8 Saturday 05:00am arrive SC harbor, 06:00am leaving harbor to Monterey Bay, the distance is 22 nm, will reach the destination   about sunset time, trolling salmon or tuna all the way to love point. I knew the chance will be very slim to zero, but who know
2) Camp on the kayak at love point area, next day the Sunday, trolling halibut to the south side of Monterey, and at afternoon landing at Pebble Beach, then call uber to SC, drive car to Pebble Beach, load kayak and go back home
3) I will use AI or TI for this trip
4) the whether is very good for next weekend Monterey

Anyone is interest to join me?