18 Sep - Again it was time to move on today so we left our berth with CBYC and motored for about an hour across the massive Long Beach harbour.  Again we were lucky as there was no major traffic in this very busy port and we were tied up at our new home at Shoreline Yacht club by midday.  We then spent a frustrating few hours gettng transport sorted back to the UK and got some replanning done for our trip as we now knew when we needed to be back.  As we replanned we had to move our haulout and realized that it would become increasingly difficult to make Panama by this Christmas.  Having learnt that 'rushing' down the west coast was no fun we had some long, hard discussions and in the end decided that we shouldn't push ourselves so hard to get to the UK in the boat next year. 

We have now got a new tentative plan that we are working through that will see us spend the next six months (Oct 2025 - May 2026) getting down to around Costa Rica and Panama (this will allow us more time to explore Mexico), the following six months (May - Nov 2026) around Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia and the Galapagos Islands and then the next six months (Dec 2026 - May 2027) heading up to Bahamas before the leap across the pond now in summer 2027.  In the evening after diner, we walked across to the far side of the marina to look across to the RMS Queen Mary that looked beautiful all lit up.  Our plan tomorrow is to head over to look around her.

Queen Mary by night

19 Sep - After a leisurely start and a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs we caught a bus round to the Queen Mary.  As part of our entry fee we had a guided tour of the first class facilities which have been very well maintained by the city of Long Beach. 

'Picadilly Circus' - the first class shopping area 

The Stunning Art Deco main first class lounge

On the tour we also met someone who was staying on the Queen Mary that night and., ofter the tour she let us see her state room

Opulent first class cabin

before we went to enjoy a cocktail in the first class bar overlooking the bow of the ship. 

Having a cocktail in the first class bar

We then spent a good 4 hours walking aroudn the rest of the ship - it has been beautifually preserved with the same décor as it's heyday and we could have spent longer exploring the many nooks and crannies that are available.  Our investigations included getting into the engine room which was truly massive...

and a look down to one of the propellers as well as being able to walk the bridge of this wonderfully grand ship. 

In the evening we headed to the club house for their Prime rib night along with attending their annual meeting where we did a burgee exchange with the club.