For some reason, sailing in to California brings with it some heightened excitement for us. Expecting to see David Hasselhoff on the beach somewhere (not Pammy, ’cause she’s in Ladysmith). This is not as far fetched as you might think, as the beach at our first N-Cali stopoff is already filled with surfer dudes and has a laid back air that Oregon and Washington lack. Water is still pretty chilly, but the sun seems warmer and the sunset looks cooler!
The trip from Coos Bay to Crescent City was a little shorter (115 miles) but still an overnighter, and with some really big swells (10′ and larger) and intermittent fog, it was a harrowing night. Sunrises have started to look REALLY good, as generally it means “we’re nearly there”.
We sailed downwind for almost 12 hours of our 19 hour trip, and in addition to the fog, had crab pots to dodge and a near miss with a humpback whale (it surfaced no more than 50′ from the boat and scared the crap out of me). We heard, rather than saw some massive waves as they caught up with us that night, and we learned (the hard way) to stow EVERYTHING inside the boat. We’re still both hating these night passages in case you hadn’t figued that out!
The fuel problem I mentioned in the last post became more serious, with the engine struggling to make any power at all (but not quitting completely) so I spent what seemed like hours (probably less than 30 min in reality) down below with my head in the engine bay, disassembling the fuel filter for the first time! Seasickness hit me quickly down there (rolly seas, the smell of diesel etc…) so I gave up and we motor sailed the rest of the way to Crescent City. I later found pieces of plastic in the fuel filter housing but this required a complete teardown of the filter unit.
We spent almost 2 weeks in Crescent City – first week because we enjoyed the place and second week waiting for a weather window. We anchored in the protected bay for several days (sunset photo above is the anchorage), then spent the last few in the marina. Both were really pleasant, although it was disturbing to see & hear what the Californian government had done to the fishing industry there.
Crescent City to San Francisco
This was to be our longest journey so far, at almost 300 miles. This would be 2 days + 2 nights duration, but we were up for it after a long break at Crescent City.
Spoiler alert: we didn’t make it! We chickened out after a long night with 20 to 30 knot winds (behind us thank goodness) and more huge swells & waves that caused the boat to corkscrew and roll up to 20 degrees either way. A 24 hour rollercoaster ride! We were both tired and hungry so decided to duck into Bodega Bay in the afternoon of the second day. We averaged over 7 knots this trip, so really flying – whether motoring or sailing (we did both). I’m fairly sure that better sailors wouldn’t have needed to motor in these conditions, but the gear we needed to deploy was as yet untested, and 20-30 knots of wind with 10-12′ swells is not the place to be trying.
Tying up to the dock at Bodega Bay was one of those “marriage tester” moments, with a stiff (15-20kt) breeze blowing us off the dock. My Miley Cyrus nickname was re-earned as I approached the dock “like a wrecking ball” to avoid being blown off the dock. Louise got one dockline onto a cleat, but the stern still blew off and we made a good old mess of it, and probably put a couple of scratches on the paint…
Some friends of ours describe Bodega Bay as a great little stopover, but our memories of it are mostly negative because of the weather. Apparently the fish and chips are awesome there!
Despite the docking episode and the long night beforehand, we slept well and were off the dock and on our way to San Francisco early the next morning. The weather was stunning, and the 30 knot winds had died to less than 10. Blue skies and sunshine had us smiling again… We put the sails up and started messing with the Genoa pole that I had needed on the last leg (the pole helps us sail straight downwind in case anyone was wondering). The inpromtu rigging lesson was interrupted by a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the boat – our closest encounter with these beautiful mammals yet:
This was our best day yet! Until we broke the boat, that is…
Breaking the rig could’ve been very expensive (and dangerous) so I guess we got lucky. We did learn how strong our electric winches are, and that we should stop winching when they begin to slow down! for the non-sailors, the spring-loaded arm that supports the boom is called a “Boom Vang” and this is what we broke. A couple of thousand dollars and an extended stay in Sausalito (waiting for the new vang to be delivered) was the result.
830 miles sailed to date…
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