Friday, August 24, 2007

August 24, 2007












After a nice walk around Bodega Bay to discover that there was not much to do there except walk, we returned to the boat for cocktails, dinner and continuing problem solving. We have not solved all the world's problems yet, but we are having great conversations.

At the marina, we met another sail-boating couple who had also left from Shilshole Bay in early August and were also heading down to San Diego. They told us that yet another boat from Tacoma was also at Bodega Bay that evening. This is mentioned to assure all our friends who think we have lost our minds that boaters do these trips all the time. As a matter of fact, there are at least three routes that are charted for boats to follow. We chose the Express Route which is a bit farther out but is supposed to be free of crab pots which one would not want to start dragging, as that would severely impede the forward progress of a boat-one of the things we look out for on our watches. It would also impact the livelihood of the crabbers who we used to watch from our windows in Ocean Park.  So, we are trying our best to avoid them.  The crab pot-less zone seems to be largely ignored in Washington State where they were a big hassle, somewhat upheld in Oregon where we still had to be very aware, and pretty much respected in California. This may be due to the amounts of crab available in each state or to enforcement, I do not know, but it has been nice not to have to work actively to avoid them recently. We generally are from 5 - 20 miles offshore and have been able to see land as long as it is not foggy.
We left for San Francisco on Monday, August 20. There was thick fog until about noon, so we were on fog watch (with radar) all morning. It is very eerie, and the sense of sound seems to be much heightened during the experience. When the fog lifted, we had good wind coming from the Northwest - finally. So we raised sails and sailed all afternoon. The seas were more like what we had thought we would experience on the Pacific Ocean - swells with whitecaps and choppy conditions that made for some rocking and rolling. It got so windy, that we lowered the jib, but Ralph was able to sail into San Francisco Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge with just the main - and we made maximum boat speed with just the one sail. He was very pleased as that was something he had long wanted to do.

We dropped the main in front of Alcatraz and docked at a marina within two miles of the bridge. That evening, we explored the Marina District and had a great dinner at a Vietnamese Restaurant on Steiner and Chestnut. The next morning, we left to thick fog and could not even see the bridge! The forecast was for increasing weather and sea conditions the following day such that we were going to have to seek a port where we could stay until conditions were safe for sailing. Monterey was our destination as we left San Francisco Bay. We reefed the main as we set the sails. However, the conditions were lighter than predicted and we made slow progress until we took the sails down and then we really started experiencing the Pacific Ocean. Swells were perhaps to 6 feet with added waves and whitecaps on top of that. It gusted to more than 30 mph. We were never in any danger, but we did get some more jostling about and decided to turn the autopilot off. Ralph drove the boat to maximize our comfort and did a great job. Conditions calmed down when we reached the Monterey Bay and were docked in the marina at around 10:30 p.m.  We are finding out that it is trickier to do everything in the dark, but, guess that makes us better sailors (or we hope that is the case!). 

On Wednesday, we started exploring Monterey. We played 9 holes at Pacific Grove Golf course and had dinner on Fisherman's Wharf. That evening we listened to the current conditions on the NOAA Weather Radio Channel and swells to 10 feet were reported (they measure swells from half-way up, so those are pretty darn big) with waves to 6 feet on top of that (our boat can handle a combination of the two to about 30 feet, but we have no intention of testing that quite yet...). We were glad to be ashore and so we prepared to wait the situation out. Making the best out of the situation, Ken and Ralph played Pebble Beach (starting at 6:50 a.m.) on Thursday while I explored the beach area near the Marina and the historic district around Alvarado Street.

In the afternoon, Ralph and I went on a Carmel Valley wine tasting expedition and found a couple of bottles of red that we liked from a new, small, family run winery - Boete Winery. Today, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium: it is spectacular. We enjoyed lunch on Cannery Row and a trip to the local Ghirardelli store for some chocolate (making Ken and Ralph quite happy). We have had fun waiting for the weather system to pass and it appears that we will leave tomorrow for Moro Bay.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sandy - you are doing a great job of journaling your trip. I almost feel as if I am right there with all of you. And how great that Ralph got to play Pebble Beach! Was this the first time?

Stay safe and we will see you soon.

Love, Fran

Anonymous said...

Hi Ralph and Sandy

I can't believe how far you have made it already. I was so scared for you and now it sounds like marvelous fun!
Will you be sad when you make it to San Diego? Tell us the solutions to the world problems! And thanks for the great writing.

Jim and Susie

Lee said...

Hello there Matey's.
You both look like real seafaring types now. No Captain Sparrow but you both look happy. Did Capt. Jack play golf??? All you need now is the eye patch.
I look forward to reading your adventures. I am glad to be a part of your adventure through the web. Glad to hear all is well.

Lee & Mike

Anonymous said...

Sandy & Ralph,

Your column makes us want to start up our sailing education more quickly. We started last year, but haven't had much chance to take it very far. We got hung up on things like climbing Kilimanjaro. This retirement stuff isn't for sissies....

Your column makes your trip sound like another one of those trips of a lifetime. There seem to be so many of them. You will have to tell us more when you get back to Albuquerque for a while.

Thea & Ray