Prepared hides were taken onto Bostonian ships in California which sailed up and down the California shoreline, arriving and trading at these cities perhaps for four months at a time. The crew stored purchased hides at the bayside anchorage of La Playa in San Diego Bay until tens of thousands of hides had been gathered over a period of a few years, now having obtained an expedient and suitable count for the return journey. Some round-trip ventures could take as many as three years for one ship.