The Adventure North
After our Aniversary romance cruise to Catalina Lisa and I returned to Marina del Rey to iron out a few wrinkles in the electonics. With the help of our neibor who just sailed in a few days prior, and with whom we had shared a bottle of wine. We got everything working. The fact he is an electrical engineer gave me some confidence that he might know what he was doing. Thanks Jim.
We left on June 9th and headed West along the coast to The Channel Islands Harbor just east of Ventura. After a quick layover and fuel stop in the Channel Islands Harbor we left and headed due west to spend Lisa's Birthday in the Beautiful town of Santa Barbara. One of our Colorado friends has a condo here where we stayed for 2 days. When we arrived at the dock we were greeted by John, a good friend of Robert and someone Lisa and I now consider a friend of ours. John and his son T.J. were fantastic hosts and we spent a good part of one afternoon chatting over a couple of beers. Thanks Robert, for the introduction. Lisa and I had dinner at a fantastic restaraunt called the Enterprise.
June 12th John got up at 05:00 so that he could take us back to the boat and help us to shove off This would be our last day of sailing west. We arrived at The infamous Point Conception around 14:00 and decided as the weather was still OK and there was another sailboat going around that we would also go ahead and go around the point. Point Conception is Nicknamed " The Cape Horn of the Pacific". Point Conception wasn't so bad, in fact we picked up some welcomed companions for about 10 minutes as the largest pod of Dolphin yet joined us, and surrounded us, they were everywhere. After we started around the next point, Arguello it was just as we were told point Conception would be, Breezy, about 25 knots on our bow. The swells were also larger, and now from a couple directions. the next 10 hours prooved to be quite a challenge until we found refuge in a cove on the lee of point Sal. We dropped anchor there for a few hours and tried to get some sleep before pulling anchor again at 05:00 and heading North to Morrow Bay. Morrow Bay is an old fishing village turned coastal tourist town. The people here are extremely nice, and very helpful. Lisa and I have spent 3 days here and will be pulling out early in the morning for San Simeon Bay. There we will anchor for 1 night then spend a long day at sea as we head up toward Big Sur.
If you click on any picture there are captions, but you can only see them when you click on individule pictures
We left on June 9th and headed West along the coast to The Channel Islands Harbor just east of Ventura. After a quick layover and fuel stop in the Channel Islands Harbor we left and headed due west to spend Lisa's Birthday in the Beautiful town of Santa Barbara. One of our Colorado friends has a condo here where we stayed for 2 days. When we arrived at the dock we were greeted by John, a good friend of Robert and someone Lisa and I now consider a friend of ours. John and his son T.J. were fantastic hosts and we spent a good part of one afternoon chatting over a couple of beers. Thanks Robert, for the introduction. Lisa and I had dinner at a fantastic restaraunt called the Enterprise.
June 12th John got up at 05:00 so that he could take us back to the boat and help us to shove off This would be our last day of sailing west. We arrived at The infamous Point Conception around 14:00 and decided as the weather was still OK and there was another sailboat going around that we would also go ahead and go around the point. Point Conception is Nicknamed " The Cape Horn of the Pacific". Point Conception wasn't so bad, in fact we picked up some welcomed companions for about 10 minutes as the largest pod of Dolphin yet joined us, and surrounded us, they were everywhere. After we started around the next point, Arguello it was just as we were told point Conception would be, Breezy, about 25 knots on our bow. The swells were also larger, and now from a couple directions. the next 10 hours prooved to be quite a challenge until we found refuge in a cove on the lee of point Sal. We dropped anchor there for a few hours and tried to get some sleep before pulling anchor again at 05:00 and heading North to Morrow Bay. Morrow Bay is an old fishing village turned coastal tourist town. The people here are extremely nice, and very helpful. Lisa and I have spent 3 days here and will be pulling out early in the morning for San Simeon Bay. There we will anchor for 1 night then spend a long day at sea as we head up toward Big Sur.
If you click on any picture there are captions, but you can only see them when you click on individule pictures
6/17/2011
As planned we pulled away from Morrow Bay, CA. at 05:00 and started North for San Simeon Bay, where we dropped anchor around 11:30 am. The fog was very thick as we searched the coast in vane for a glimpse of the Hearst Castle. Around 14:00 the fog cleared and we were finally able to see the magnificent castle sitting high on a mountain overlooking the Bay where we were anchored. The swells were soothing and rocked us all night long, until we pulled anchor again for our longest day yet as we set sail for Monteray CA.
6/18/2011
We Finally bought some fishing gear and I tried a bit of trolling as we motorsailed North against building winds and swells. I decided trolling wasn't going to work, as we had so much distance to travel and the swells were working against us, so away went the rod.We made it as far as Pebble Beach before the swells grew to a size that I felt a bit uncomfortable so I decided that we were going to stay in Stillwater Cove at Pebble Beach. They might have a beautiful golf course, but the cove is NOT a good place to anchor. The entire cove is choked with kelp and the bottom is very hard, after 3 attempts at setting an anchor and using a couple different anchors and methods of anchoring, we gave up. We saw an empty mooring ball and took it. While trying to anchor we got a bunch of kelp wrapped around the shaft and the rudder so I had to jump in and cut it away. Talk about brain freeze.
6/19/2011
The next morning we had to go back out through the kelp to get out of the cove, the mornings are very cold, and I was dressed apropriately, but I soon shed my warm clothes for a cold wetsuit that hadn't dried from the night before. Again I had to jump into the icy water and free the prop. I went and bought a dive hood the next day. Lisa took the helm in moderate swells from Pebble Beach to Monteray, about 3 hours, Lisa docked the boat for the first time in a strange habor, and did it like a pro. We are both learning alot as we go and Lisa is amazing as her sailing experience has been very limited before this adventure.
We arrived in Monteray to find the marina is closed on the weekend, found that very strange. I went up to the fuel dock and talked to a worker that was able to take my information and give me a key to the gate and a slip for the weekend. While in Monteray we had a visit with one of Lisa's Jet Center buddies, Michael. Great fun and another beautiful city with a lot of history.
6/20/2011
Happy Fathers Day.
Slept in til 07:30 the latest I've slept in months, I must have been tired. Got a welcomed call from Lauren, then Lisa, Michael and I went to the Monteray Aquarium. Very cool. While at the Aquarium watching the Sea Otters I got a call from Kristian. Great Father's Day.
If you click on any picture there are captions, but you can only see them when you click on individule pictures
As planned we pulled away from Morrow Bay, CA. at 05:00 and started North for San Simeon Bay, where we dropped anchor around 11:30 am. The fog was very thick as we searched the coast in vane for a glimpse of the Hearst Castle. Around 14:00 the fog cleared and we were finally able to see the magnificent castle sitting high on a mountain overlooking the Bay where we were anchored. The swells were soothing and rocked us all night long, until we pulled anchor again for our longest day yet as we set sail for Monteray CA.
6/18/2011
We Finally bought some fishing gear and I tried a bit of trolling as we motorsailed North against building winds and swells. I decided trolling wasn't going to work, as we had so much distance to travel and the swells were working against us, so away went the rod.We made it as far as Pebble Beach before the swells grew to a size that I felt a bit uncomfortable so I decided that we were going to stay in Stillwater Cove at Pebble Beach. They might have a beautiful golf course, but the cove is NOT a good place to anchor. The entire cove is choked with kelp and the bottom is very hard, after 3 attempts at setting an anchor and using a couple different anchors and methods of anchoring, we gave up. We saw an empty mooring ball and took it. While trying to anchor we got a bunch of kelp wrapped around the shaft and the rudder so I had to jump in and cut it away. Talk about brain freeze.
6/19/2011
The next morning we had to go back out through the kelp to get out of the cove, the mornings are very cold, and I was dressed apropriately, but I soon shed my warm clothes for a cold wetsuit that hadn't dried from the night before. Again I had to jump into the icy water and free the prop. I went and bought a dive hood the next day. Lisa took the helm in moderate swells from Pebble Beach to Monteray, about 3 hours, Lisa docked the boat for the first time in a strange habor, and did it like a pro. We are both learning alot as we go and Lisa is amazing as her sailing experience has been very limited before this adventure.
We arrived in Monteray to find the marina is closed on the weekend, found that very strange. I went up to the fuel dock and talked to a worker that was able to take my information and give me a key to the gate and a slip for the weekend. While in Monteray we had a visit with one of Lisa's Jet Center buddies, Michael. Great fun and another beautiful city with a lot of history.
6/20/2011
Happy Fathers Day.
Slept in til 07:30 the latest I've slept in months, I must have been tired. Got a welcomed call from Lauren, then Lisa, Michael and I went to the Monteray Aquarium. Very cool. While at the Aquarium watching the Sea Otters I got a call from Kristian. Great Father's Day.
If you click on any picture there are captions, but you can only see them when you click on individule pictures
6/19/2011
Freshwater pump went out on Saturday night, we got lucky and found one at the only marine store in Monteray that is open on a Sunday. I was able to get the new one installed with some effort and seemingly new joints in my arms, the simplest maintenance becomes difficult when they put 20lbs. of potatoes in a 10lbs. sack. I learned how to get my hands and tools where they don't fit working on airplanes with Larry and Terry.
6/20/2011
We said goodbye to Michael and to Monteray and as we left the harbor we realized, for the first time we had good wind and it was in our favor. We turned off the motor, and for the first time we sailed from harbor to anchorage without running our 70hp Yanmar work horse. We were able to stay on the same point of sail and didn't tack until we reached our anchorage.
Along the way we saw some whale watching boats stopped in a huddle and sure enough there were a couple of humpback whales, we got a glimpse of their flukes from some distance as we sailed by. Several hours went by with little excitement, some relaxing and reading and just staring out over the waves, when Lisa kind of freaked. I asked her what was going on and she said she thought she saw a submarine coming to the surface. I thought you're nuts, just then, about 100 yds. off our starboard beam a HUGE Blue whale surfaced took a breath and it was gone. Truely a magnificent sight. Sorry there is no picture to share with you but it is an image that will always remain with Lisa and myself.
Santa Cruz is a busy waterfront, sailboats, paddleboards, and kayaks everywhere, a very active community that seems to really love the water. I watched one person who looked to be in his early 20s paddle by our anchorage on a paddle board and just kept on going, he litterally disappeared over the horizon, all by himself with no lifejacket. I wonder where he was going?
6/21/2011
Another beautiful morning, not a breath of wind the ocean was like glass. I pulled the anchor after trying in vane to wipe the moisture from the iesenglass (sp) enclosier of our cockpit. Fortunately it was a warmish morning, because all the windows had to be opened so we could see where we were going.
We started motoring up the coast at 05:30, a beautiful day all the way to Halfmoon Bay. We watched the coastline change from flat to mountainous. No sealife today until we were almost to our destination and we saw a sea lion thrashing about on the surface as it was tearing apart a large fish. ( no more horror movies for Lisa, she thought it was a person thrashing around 2 1/2 miles out.) Thats OK it makes me laugh.
Halfmoon Bay is a well protected anchorage with a breakwater that goes all the way around it so we should be able to get a good nights sleep not worrying about our anchor holding. The very loud foghorn that is on the breakwater may keep us up however. Enjoying a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit on deck, may help us sleep through the moaning of the fog horn.
6/22/2011
The wine worked, a great nights sleep. We pulled anchor early hoping to reach the enterance to San Francisco Bay with the tides and currents working in our favor. NOAA radio said that low tide was at 10:00 am. They were wrong the tide was still rolling out at 11:00 when we got there. Our instruments said we were going 7 knots. The GPS said we were going 2 we fought the currents for 2 hours as we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. We had heavy fog all the way from Halfmoon Bay to The Bridge even when we were under the bridge we could only see a small part of it. Had a beautiful sunny day in the Bay, however, the Bay has its own weather. We docked at the Clipper Yacht Harbor and spent the rest of the day relaxing and downloading photos. At 19:00 we had a visit with one of my high school friends and his beautiful family. We went out for dinner at a little locals Italian restaurant and did some catching up and reminiscing a great night that went way to fast. Thanks Paul for a fantastic evening.
6/23/2011
Lisa and I spent the day getting more provisions and spare parts,( just in case.) We were picked up in the evening by Harry, an extremely nice man that we met on the flight from Ohio to L.A. Harry and his wife Sondra were sitting next to Lisa on the flight, we had a wonderful conversation and the flight went very fast. By the end of the flight they invited us to join their Yacht Club, The Tiburon Yacht Club. So Harry picked us up and brought us to their house for dinner and to meet some other members of the club, John and Deb. We have to have a sponser and a second to get into the club and Harry and John filled those requirements. We had a tour of the club, and were very impressed. After the tour we went back to their house and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Sondra. Another fantastic evening with more nice people, if nothing else this adventure we are on has shown us that people are inherantly good.
6/24/2011
Going into San Francisco to see the city. Took the ferry from sausolito to San Francisco wonderful ride, great views of the Bay. Lisa and I spent the day touring around the city, it was a perfect day weatherwise for walking around. We saw the financial district, fisherman's warf, the marina district and China town. A full day of hiking, we'll have an early night tonight then one more day in the Bay as we wait for a good weather window to head out and North, looks like Sunday and Monday are supposed to be good
6/25/2011
We left Sausolito and sailed a bit in the Bay then over to Tiburon, where we spent the night at the Corinthian Yacht Club right next door to the "Famous" Sams Anchor Cafe. Lisa and I stopped in there for a cocktail on the deck, then back on the boat for Sea Bass Sausages on the grill. Very tastey. We were able to use our new membership at the Tiburon Yacht club to stay free at the Corinthian, The reciprocities from our Membership are going to really be helpful on our travels.
6/26/2011
Up early again, need to be leaving the Bay between the eb and flow of the tides to avoid the Washing Machine Effect that we got on the way in. (see how fast we learn) Left the dock at 04:30 so we could be outside the Bay by 06:30. this all went smooth and the exit was fairly calm. We had a nice trip up the coast to Drakes Bay, (named for Sir Francis Drake, the first European to sail these waters.) As we pulled into Drakes Bay our depth gauge decided to stop working as we looked for an anchorage everything said 98ft. We stayed a few hundred feet off shore and dropped anchor. The anchor was in about 15ft of water but in the middle of the night we swung on the anchor toward the shore and the tide went out.
6/27/2011
Low tide was at 03:28, at 02:45 we woke to the Keel hitting the bottom after a swell lifted us a bit. we both hurried top side to move the boat as the swells lifted us, but it was to late we had to sit for a few hours until the tide came back in. Not being able to get back to sleep, we left as soon as the tide came back in, and headed for Bodega Bay around point Reyes. we sailed for about 4 miles then as we got to point Reyes the swells and wind grew rapidly, since we were sleep deprived and the water was so squirrelly I decided we would go back to Drakes Bay, and with the depth gauge now working, get a better anchorage and some sleep. I awoke some hours later, and Lisa said,"the winds have calmed lets go." So we did.
6/28/2011
We stayed docked at Spud Point Marina, we got some good rest and did some laundry, not much here but some fishing boats and some more nice people. Have to leave early in the morning for an 80 mile + day on the water, talked to plenty of local sailers and checked the charts, Nowhere to stop between here and Fort Bragg.
Freshwater pump went out on Saturday night, we got lucky and found one at the only marine store in Monteray that is open on a Sunday. I was able to get the new one installed with some effort and seemingly new joints in my arms, the simplest maintenance becomes difficult when they put 20lbs. of potatoes in a 10lbs. sack. I learned how to get my hands and tools where they don't fit working on airplanes with Larry and Terry.
6/20/2011
We said goodbye to Michael and to Monteray and as we left the harbor we realized, for the first time we had good wind and it was in our favor. We turned off the motor, and for the first time we sailed from harbor to anchorage without running our 70hp Yanmar work horse. We were able to stay on the same point of sail and didn't tack until we reached our anchorage.
Along the way we saw some whale watching boats stopped in a huddle and sure enough there were a couple of humpback whales, we got a glimpse of their flukes from some distance as we sailed by. Several hours went by with little excitement, some relaxing and reading and just staring out over the waves, when Lisa kind of freaked. I asked her what was going on and she said she thought she saw a submarine coming to the surface. I thought you're nuts, just then, about 100 yds. off our starboard beam a HUGE Blue whale surfaced took a breath and it was gone. Truely a magnificent sight. Sorry there is no picture to share with you but it is an image that will always remain with Lisa and myself.
Santa Cruz is a busy waterfront, sailboats, paddleboards, and kayaks everywhere, a very active community that seems to really love the water. I watched one person who looked to be in his early 20s paddle by our anchorage on a paddle board and just kept on going, he litterally disappeared over the horizon, all by himself with no lifejacket. I wonder where he was going?
6/21/2011
Another beautiful morning, not a breath of wind the ocean was like glass. I pulled the anchor after trying in vane to wipe the moisture from the iesenglass (sp) enclosier of our cockpit. Fortunately it was a warmish morning, because all the windows had to be opened so we could see where we were going.
We started motoring up the coast at 05:30, a beautiful day all the way to Halfmoon Bay. We watched the coastline change from flat to mountainous. No sealife today until we were almost to our destination and we saw a sea lion thrashing about on the surface as it was tearing apart a large fish. ( no more horror movies for Lisa, she thought it was a person thrashing around 2 1/2 miles out.) Thats OK it makes me laugh.
Halfmoon Bay is a well protected anchorage with a breakwater that goes all the way around it so we should be able to get a good nights sleep not worrying about our anchor holding. The very loud foghorn that is on the breakwater may keep us up however. Enjoying a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit on deck, may help us sleep through the moaning of the fog horn.
6/22/2011
The wine worked, a great nights sleep. We pulled anchor early hoping to reach the enterance to San Francisco Bay with the tides and currents working in our favor. NOAA radio said that low tide was at 10:00 am. They were wrong the tide was still rolling out at 11:00 when we got there. Our instruments said we were going 7 knots. The GPS said we were going 2 we fought the currents for 2 hours as we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. We had heavy fog all the way from Halfmoon Bay to The Bridge even when we were under the bridge we could only see a small part of it. Had a beautiful sunny day in the Bay, however, the Bay has its own weather. We docked at the Clipper Yacht Harbor and spent the rest of the day relaxing and downloading photos. At 19:00 we had a visit with one of my high school friends and his beautiful family. We went out for dinner at a little locals Italian restaurant and did some catching up and reminiscing a great night that went way to fast. Thanks Paul for a fantastic evening.
6/23/2011
Lisa and I spent the day getting more provisions and spare parts,( just in case.) We were picked up in the evening by Harry, an extremely nice man that we met on the flight from Ohio to L.A. Harry and his wife Sondra were sitting next to Lisa on the flight, we had a wonderful conversation and the flight went very fast. By the end of the flight they invited us to join their Yacht Club, The Tiburon Yacht Club. So Harry picked us up and brought us to their house for dinner and to meet some other members of the club, John and Deb. We have to have a sponser and a second to get into the club and Harry and John filled those requirements. We had a tour of the club, and were very impressed. After the tour we went back to their house and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Sondra. Another fantastic evening with more nice people, if nothing else this adventure we are on has shown us that people are inherantly good.
6/24/2011
Going into San Francisco to see the city. Took the ferry from sausolito to San Francisco wonderful ride, great views of the Bay. Lisa and I spent the day touring around the city, it was a perfect day weatherwise for walking around. We saw the financial district, fisherman's warf, the marina district and China town. A full day of hiking, we'll have an early night tonight then one more day in the Bay as we wait for a good weather window to head out and North, looks like Sunday and Monday are supposed to be good
6/25/2011
We left Sausolito and sailed a bit in the Bay then over to Tiburon, where we spent the night at the Corinthian Yacht Club right next door to the "Famous" Sams Anchor Cafe. Lisa and I stopped in there for a cocktail on the deck, then back on the boat for Sea Bass Sausages on the grill. Very tastey. We were able to use our new membership at the Tiburon Yacht club to stay free at the Corinthian, The reciprocities from our Membership are going to really be helpful on our travels.
6/26/2011
Up early again, need to be leaving the Bay between the eb and flow of the tides to avoid the Washing Machine Effect that we got on the way in. (see how fast we learn) Left the dock at 04:30 so we could be outside the Bay by 06:30. this all went smooth and the exit was fairly calm. We had a nice trip up the coast to Drakes Bay, (named for Sir Francis Drake, the first European to sail these waters.) As we pulled into Drakes Bay our depth gauge decided to stop working as we looked for an anchorage everything said 98ft. We stayed a few hundred feet off shore and dropped anchor. The anchor was in about 15ft of water but in the middle of the night we swung on the anchor toward the shore and the tide went out.
6/27/2011
Low tide was at 03:28, at 02:45 we woke to the Keel hitting the bottom after a swell lifted us a bit. we both hurried top side to move the boat as the swells lifted us, but it was to late we had to sit for a few hours until the tide came back in. Not being able to get back to sleep, we left as soon as the tide came back in, and headed for Bodega Bay around point Reyes. we sailed for about 4 miles then as we got to point Reyes the swells and wind grew rapidly, since we were sleep deprived and the water was so squirrelly I decided we would go back to Drakes Bay, and with the depth gauge now working, get a better anchorage and some sleep. I awoke some hours later, and Lisa said,"the winds have calmed lets go." So we did.
6/28/2011
We stayed docked at Spud Point Marina, we got some good rest and did some laundry, not much here but some fishing boats and some more nice people. Have to leave early in the morning for an 80 mile + day on the water, talked to plenty of local sailers and checked the charts, Nowhere to stop between here and Fort Bragg.
6/29/2011
Up early, 02:30 disconnected power and docklines and we were off. The day started off very foggy and rainy another day relying on instruments, we pushed North through the dark and fog for several hours, the sun came up around 05:30 without much relief, still too foggy to see anything. The seas however were cooperative and stayed relatively calm to our surprise, the winds were blowing from the northwest at about 15 - 20 knots usually with winds like that the swells grow larger with wind waves on top of that, today that wasn't the case. The sun came out around 11:00 and stayed out the rest of the day we had a great day motorsailing north, it turned out to be the best day yet for weather, wich is a good thing as it was our longest day 110 miles at about 4.5 knots. We came across a pod of whales around 18:00 they were small whales, not sure yet what they were, maybe pilot whales. The whales were all around the boat, our closest encounter yet with whales, very cool. We had our best sunset of the trip just before turning into the Noyo River at Fort Bragg The river is shallow and narrow for about .5 miles. We pulled into the marina about 22:00 and the slip we had reserved was taken by a large crabbing boat, we were in their neiborhood so we just found an empty slip and pulled in for the night. We were TIRED. One of the many fisherman in this marina pulled in right next to us and told us that the slip we were in belonged to another Salmon fisherman and that he would be pulling in about 03:00 so he showed us a third slip that would be available all night, then he helped us move the boat.
6/30/2011
We woke up to a low tide we were still floating but many of the boats that were in closer to shore were sitting in only a couple feet of water. Lisa and I took the dingy to the other side of the river and walked up to town, a couple miles. We hit the safeway and walked back with our groceries, when we got back the crab boat had moved and we moved to a deeper dock where the harbormaster had told us to tie up. Our neighbors are extremely nice and gave us loan of their Chevy Tahoe for a few days while we were in town, they told us where to go exploring and even gave us an abalonie to try, never had one, I'll have to update you on how that goes when we actually try it.
7/1/2011
Another beautiful day, slept in until 08:00 seems like mid-day. Lisa and I started with some house keeping, sanding and staining of teak on the boat. We have very little, I don't know how people with wood boats keep up with all the work. We were able to buy our neighbors lunch, very little compensation for their enormous generosity. We continued working on our boat while Bill, and Peggy and their crewman Tyler prepared their boat for Tuna, a real conversion from a crab boat to a tuna boat. They too will be headed north as soon as the boat is ready, to fish for tuna.
Lisa took the Tahoe and went to the point to watch the sunset over a now rough and rolling sea. I declined on her offer to go, just too tired and wanted to do some reading.
7/2/2011
Saturday of the Holiday weekend Fort Bragg puts on the "Largest Salmon BBQ in the world" along with fireworks in the evening. Lisa and I drove about 20 miles into the Redwood forest then took a hike up into the woods, about 5 minutes into the hike we came across a California King snake about 4' long he didn't want to move off the trail so after trying to nudge him off the trail we went around. The redwods are awsome and the forest was very peaceful. We then took another drive to a second trailhead that went down to a small but beautiful waterfall.
The fireworks were lame, but the setting, along with the independent fireworks off the beach and the boats were amazing. I think the town must just tell people they are having fireworks to get everyone out there, then the fishing boats put on the real show.
7/3/2011
A relaxing day doing laundry and cleaning the boat, checked the NOAA weather forcast and it looks like we may become residents of Ft. Bragg. The Northwinds are going to increase this week, Gale Force thru the week it seems, even the fisherman are staying inside the harbor walls!
We decided to take the dingy up the Noyo River, the scenery is terrific ,including Osprey nesting above us, very peaceful, except for us, with our little 9.9hp mercruiser on the back of our dingy. Got back to the boat in the late afternoon, put on some Jimmy Buffet and had a few Beers. After dinner Lisa and I took a walk back up to the bluffs where we can't get enough of the amazing views.
7/4/2011
Happy 4th of July!!
Not much planned for today, as we had hoped to be moving on. We spent part of the day at Glass beach, named for all the washed glass everywhere. Apparently there used to be a glass dump on the beach and all the broken bottles have been washed smooth by the very rough surf here and many people spend hours collecting it!.
The coast is extremely rocky and very much like the Northern California, Oregon coast that I heard about. very dramatic.
Up early, 02:30 disconnected power and docklines and we were off. The day started off very foggy and rainy another day relying on instruments, we pushed North through the dark and fog for several hours, the sun came up around 05:30 without much relief, still too foggy to see anything. The seas however were cooperative and stayed relatively calm to our surprise, the winds were blowing from the northwest at about 15 - 20 knots usually with winds like that the swells grow larger with wind waves on top of that, today that wasn't the case. The sun came out around 11:00 and stayed out the rest of the day we had a great day motorsailing north, it turned out to be the best day yet for weather, wich is a good thing as it was our longest day 110 miles at about 4.5 knots. We came across a pod of whales around 18:00 they were small whales, not sure yet what they were, maybe pilot whales. The whales were all around the boat, our closest encounter yet with whales, very cool. We had our best sunset of the trip just before turning into the Noyo River at Fort Bragg The river is shallow and narrow for about .5 miles. We pulled into the marina about 22:00 and the slip we had reserved was taken by a large crabbing boat, we were in their neiborhood so we just found an empty slip and pulled in for the night. We were TIRED. One of the many fisherman in this marina pulled in right next to us and told us that the slip we were in belonged to another Salmon fisherman and that he would be pulling in about 03:00 so he showed us a third slip that would be available all night, then he helped us move the boat.
6/30/2011
We woke up to a low tide we were still floating but many of the boats that were in closer to shore were sitting in only a couple feet of water. Lisa and I took the dingy to the other side of the river and walked up to town, a couple miles. We hit the safeway and walked back with our groceries, when we got back the crab boat had moved and we moved to a deeper dock where the harbormaster had told us to tie up. Our neighbors are extremely nice and gave us loan of their Chevy Tahoe for a few days while we were in town, they told us where to go exploring and even gave us an abalonie to try, never had one, I'll have to update you on how that goes when we actually try it.
7/1/2011
Another beautiful day, slept in until 08:00 seems like mid-day. Lisa and I started with some house keeping, sanding and staining of teak on the boat. We have very little, I don't know how people with wood boats keep up with all the work. We were able to buy our neighbors lunch, very little compensation for their enormous generosity. We continued working on our boat while Bill, and Peggy and their crewman Tyler prepared their boat for Tuna, a real conversion from a crab boat to a tuna boat. They too will be headed north as soon as the boat is ready, to fish for tuna.
Lisa took the Tahoe and went to the point to watch the sunset over a now rough and rolling sea. I declined on her offer to go, just too tired and wanted to do some reading.
7/2/2011
Saturday of the Holiday weekend Fort Bragg puts on the "Largest Salmon BBQ in the world" along with fireworks in the evening. Lisa and I drove about 20 miles into the Redwood forest then took a hike up into the woods, about 5 minutes into the hike we came across a California King snake about 4' long he didn't want to move off the trail so after trying to nudge him off the trail we went around. The redwods are awsome and the forest was very peaceful. We then took another drive to a second trailhead that went down to a small but beautiful waterfall.
The fireworks were lame, but the setting, along with the independent fireworks off the beach and the boats were amazing. I think the town must just tell people they are having fireworks to get everyone out there, then the fishing boats put on the real show.
7/3/2011
A relaxing day doing laundry and cleaning the boat, checked the NOAA weather forcast and it looks like we may become residents of Ft. Bragg. The Northwinds are going to increase this week, Gale Force thru the week it seems, even the fisherman are staying inside the harbor walls!
We decided to take the dingy up the Noyo River, the scenery is terrific ,including Osprey nesting above us, very peaceful, except for us, with our little 9.9hp mercruiser on the back of our dingy. Got back to the boat in the late afternoon, put on some Jimmy Buffet and had a few Beers. After dinner Lisa and I took a walk back up to the bluffs where we can't get enough of the amazing views.
7/4/2011
Happy 4th of July!!
Not much planned for today, as we had hoped to be moving on. We spent part of the day at Glass beach, named for all the washed glass everywhere. Apparently there used to be a glass dump on the beach and all the broken bottles have been washed smooth by the very rough surf here and many people spend hours collecting it!.
The coast is extremely rocky and very much like the Northern California, Oregon coast that I heard about. very dramatic.