True North September 7 to 15: The Northern Channel Islands

The Channel Islands were a trip in themselves.  Regarded by many as challenging cruising due to frequent high winds and marginal anchorages, they were a very beautiful and scenic part of our trip.

Friday-Saturday, September 6 and 7 – Overnighter, Port San Luis to San Miguel Island

Finally, the weather forecast seemed reasonable for San Miguel Island (10-20 kts wind), so when Friday came we left the now familiar Port San Luis at 1915, near sunset. It would take 13 hours to reach Cuyler Harbor on the NE side of San Miguel Island. We planned to arrive early in daylight in case the winds made anchoring there too difficult and we might need to find another harbor or even retreat to Santa Barbara, several more hours east. The Port San Luis harbor was calm as we passed the San Luis Obispo Sailing charter boat on the way out.

Leaving Port San Luis at sunset

With only a light wind from astern, we motored out. Several hours into our passage the wind picked up considerably, gusting to 30 kts with rollers – six to eight foot seas make keeping the wind in your sails challenging! So we motored. The sky was clear during the first part of the evening, becoming foggier as the morning approached. We didn't see any wildlife on this leg until at last birds indicated we were close to land. As we entered the small harbor the winds picked up to 25 kts, and a thick fog prevented seeing any land at first.

Gregg while setting the anchor in Cuyler Harbor

Despite these conditions, the anchor set quite easily and firmly in sand. As the fog began to clear we could see the spectacular setting we were in: light sandy beach with giant dunes, hilly and large rocky land forms. A tourist catamaran was at the beach with a group of passengers hiking down the hillside as others walked along the beach. We wanted to go there, too, but it was too windy to safely launch the dinghy. Awhile later a sailboat arrived and stayed overnight. It was S/V Kemira as we learned when Ken and Michelle contacted us by radio the following morning to see how we “liked” the night in Cuyler Harbor! This was their 29^th trip to the Channel Island from Santa Cruz, and they told us Cuyler Harbor is notorious for high winds (although usually protected from large waves). The wind hits the NW side of the island, lifts up over the hills, and then slams down into the harbor - right where we were anchored!

Cuyler Harbor after the fog lifted

All afternoon the wind had increased steadily, 20 kts, 30 kts, gusts of 40 kts. Stay or leave? Our 45 lb Rocna anchor was at the end of about 200' of chain in 25' of water, and it seemed to be very secure in the sand.  But we decided to take turns keeping an anchor watch through the night with the anchor drag alarm set as well. Wind was howling in the 40 kt range for a couple of hours after 2100 with a peak at 47.7 kts. Definitely a record high wind for us at anchor! Our Rocna anchor held fast. And this is the harbor “protected” from NW winds! It held our attention and when the wind finally subsided to the 30 kt range, we felt secure enough to let the anchor drag alarm do its job and both slept soundly through what was left of the night. We thought later that if we had been farther out in the harbor where Kemira was, we wouldn't have had such a direct hit of wind from the hills.

Sunday through Tuesday, September 8-10 – Santa Rosa Island

The following day, all was calm and sunny for a beautiful sail to Santa Rosa Island. We anchored on the south side at Johnson's Lee. The island looks very barren except for the scores of elephant seals along the rocks near the water. To find an anchorage, one must carefully make way through the kelp beds to find a clearing. S/V Kemira was also nearby. The water was warm enough at 68 degrees for Gregg to swim.

Gregg "trapped" in kelp

Finally, a really hot, relaxing day in the islands! We pulled out the salmon, fresh from Half Moon Bay, to enjoy a warm calm evening with a rising moon and Venus just above the hills.

Grilling salmon at Johnson's Lee anchorage

We stayed two nights at this anchorage before leaving to check out the next one Ken and Michelle recommended to us - Coches Prietas on the south side of Santa Cruz Island, with a wide sandy beach and dramatic rock formations. A favorite book for these star-filled, clear nights is, The Stars, by H.A. Rey. Check it out!

Wednesday through Friday, September 11-13 – Santa Cruz Island
Soon there were six sailboats in the anchorage. We've noticed that hardly any power boats have been in the area; all sailors. In the morning we tackled our first dinghy ride onto a beach over surf. This can be exciting if your timing is off! The recommened way to do it is to “ride in on the back of a wave, then go like hell. As soon as it's shallow enough for you and your crew to hop out, kill the engine, jump out, and charge to shore.” Speed is the key to success. We did it! Once ashore, we hiked to the top of a bluff for panoramic views of the anchorage below. Thinking of the rising tide with True Dink tied down at the beach, we sort of reversed the above procedure to get out over the surf, timing our exit with the outgoing waves.

Coches Prietas anchorage

Next stop: Little Scorpion anchorage, Santa Cruz Island. We spotted some unusual wildlife along the way, a pod of seals diving through the water just like dolphins!

Little Scorpion anchorage

This little anchorage is surrounded by rocky cave-like walls which gradually lead to bluffs and grassy hills above. Despite the seemingly barren bluffs above, the area below the water is teeming with life: blue sheepshead fish, gold garibaldi, anemones, sea urchins and abalone as we discovered on a dinghy ride close to the rocky shore in the clearest, blue water. We stayed three nights at this anchorage. One half of the island is managed by the Nature Conservancy, the other half is National Park with a visitors center, kayak rentals and lots of well-groomed hiking trails among the bluffs overlooking crystal clear coves and anchorages far below. We hiked to Potato Cove, one such overlook, and spotted an island fox along the way.

Island Fox pup, unique to Santa Cruz Island

Back at the boat, we went for a swim (wetsuit, thank you), with lots of others in the area kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and generally having fun on the water. We had several very enjoyable visits with Kemira neighbors Ken and Michelle, to learn that Ken is extremely knowledgable about all aspects of outfitting sailboats for offshore sailing as this is one of his businesses, and was extremely helpful with good suggestions for us from in-mast/boom mainsails to BIG ground tackle. Kemira is a 49' Hylas, beautifully built and planned with double strength “everything” - "The Beast", as Ken calls it, but ready for anything a Santa Ana can dish out.

Ken and Michelle raise "The Beast's" anchor

Many of the anchorages in the Channel Islands require use of a stern anchor in order to accommodate multiple boats in small anchorages with potentially strong winds and rolly seas. (Unlike stern ties to trees and rocks in B.C. - no shoreline trees here.) The routine we worked out was to set the bow anchor, then bring the stern anchor in the dinghy an appropriate distance and drop it along with 30' of chain, let out the rest of the nylon rode as needed, return to the boat and set the bow snubber. Another 100' of bow chain with a different nylon rode attached will make this easier by eliminating the dinghy job. Instead, we will be able to reverse enough to drop the stern anchor from the boat, then take in the extra bow rode.

Gregg preparing the stern anchor

After a full week in the Channel Islands, we spent a last rolly night at Pelican Bay – it wasn't supposed to be rolly here.

Pelican Bay

It was an active place with four sailboats and one power boater, all quite friendly, and two sailboats proceeding to Mexico for the winter. Contact info was exchanged! Truly a warm day with swimming (no wetsuit!), snorkeling (Gregg saw a “ray”), kayaking...the usual activities. Next stop, Santa Barbara and shore amenities!

True North August 31 to September 6: Port San Luis

Here's our update for the next leg of the trip.

Saturday, August 31 – Overnighter, Monterey to Port San Luis

We left Monterey at noon with Monica waving farewell from the outer dock and to meet thick clouds in the bay just outside the marina. We tacked upwind with full sails to clear Point Pinos before turning south.  Late in the afternoon the wind increased to a steady 19-25 kts from the west, at last perfect, and stayed with us through midnight. Even though the wind was still steady when I began my 2000 watch, we took down the sails to avoid the possible hassles while out on watch alone.

Anne making position fixes on chart

Around 2030 the sky cleared to display a brilliant star-filled sky for the entire night. It was magical to pass along the dark outline of the Big Sur coastline with a few scattered lights visible 4-5 miles offshore. Earlier in the evening, a spectacular pod of Pacific Dolphins, as many as 100, joined us for nearly an hour. Such good company!

Dozens more returned at sunrise, jumping in unison on all sides of our boat again and again, making my morning watch pass by quickly.

Dolphins at Sunrise

September 1 to 6 – Port San Luis

We arrived reasonably early in the morning, and fueled up at the commercial pier - another one of those fuel docks without a floating dock, just a huge high pier with fuel hoses dropped down to boats.  We grabbed a mooring buoy at Port San Luis by 10:00, caught up on some missed sleep, and then took the water taxi to shore to get a closer look.

Moorings for large boats, Port San Luis

The water, the hills and the rocks surrounding Port San Luis are postcard-perfect scenes.

Lighthouse at Port San Luis

It is mainly a commercial wharf with a few watersport rentals nearby, two restaurants, showers, and a free trolley to the nearby Avila Beach, a quaint 2-street beach town 1.5 mi down the road. The wildlife in the bay had to be seen to be believed.  There were vast numbers of sea lions.  Large numbers of "sardine balls" meant unbelievable umbers of pelicans joined the sea lions.  It was truly incredible to take our dinghy to shore past the massing hunters, with pelicans dive bombing into the water twenty or thirty feet from us.

We set out to see the town of San Luis Obispo (SLO) and the historic Spanish Mission, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa on Labor Day, about 10 miles from the waterfront, but found that the public transit to town wasn't operating on the holiday. Our helpful water taxi guy Lance (different from our crew Lance) had told us earlier that his wife volunteered to drive us into  San Luis Obispo for some sightseeing so we took them up on her kind offer. After a quick tour of where to have lunch and what to see in the downtown, Sue dropped us off and returned a few hours later to pick us up and make a grocery stop so we could stock up on a few items. So very hospitable!

San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

By late Monday, the weather forecast had us stymied...proceed or stay? Staying meant four more nights, as that's how long the rough weather was expected to last offshore and in the Channel Islands, our next stop and a very challenging area for wind and anchoring under normal conditions according to the guide books. We really wanted the winds to settle down a bit before we headed for the Channel Islands.  We decided to stay in Port San Luis longer and leave when the seas would be calmer for an easier passage by Point Arguella and for anchoring in the unfamiliar Cuyler Harbor at San Miguel Island.

Having a few more unplanned days in Port San Luis gave us an opportunity to get our faithful dinghy (aka, “True Dink”) out of its storage place below deck. We needed to get this routine down to quick, manageable steps anyway – inflating, launching, putting on the outboard – then deflating and stowing again. Much to explore and to do - the lighthouse at sunset,

Anne at the lighthouse

trips to/from the showers, and Avila Beach for margaritas and a few groceries. The landing at Avila Beach is challenging, with the only dinghy dock about 40' high! There's a string of buoys near the dock for a bow tie; the stern is tied to a ladder. A precarious move from dinghy to ladder is the potential first hazard, followed by the 40' vertical climb up the slippery ladder to the dock. Lots of people watching, too!

Anne climbing down to True Dink

Friends Gary and Lynn, our partners in outdoor exploits from Bend, called one evening to say they would be camping near Big Sur and driving south along Hwy 1 in a day or two. We had great fun rendezvous'ing for lunch in Avila Beach, with notes to compare and stories to exchange from the past two months' activities.

Gary and Lynn (and us), with pelicans in the background

We saw them last in July when we sailed together in the San Juans. And, as only serious Bend-ites would think to do: they brought a cold 6-pack of Deschutes Red Chair!

Red Chair imported from Bend!

True North August 8 to August 31: Bay area sightseeing and Monterey

August 8 – 31: Bay Area Sightseeing and Monterey

Sausalito

Sausalito from our boat

The marina at Sausalito proved to be a perfect first stop in the Bay Area for embarking on some very beautiful land touring with many fine hiking trails: the grand Muir Woods, shimmering Stinson Beach, and the spectacular Point Reyes Lighthouse, passed by sea a few days earlier, wow! 300 steps down the hillside it sits in a breathtaking setting. 

Pt Reyes lighthouse

Later in the evening we caught a stunning sunset from the top of Mt. Tamalpais with an expansive coastal view. We conceded one day to chores, a thorough boat cleaning and laundry. Then, not wanting to waste a minute, spent the next two days in the Sonoma and Napa valleys. First goal, the historic Sonoma Mission, northernmost of the Spanish missions along El Camino Real. 

Portico, Sonoma Mission

The missions are fascinating and each has its unique history and beautiful, old Spanish architecture, as noted in Henry Dana's “Two Years Before the Mast”, a perfect companion for sailing the CA coast for its historical portrait of the coastline 175 years ago. We caught a wine tasting nearby at the only winery still open in the evening near Sonoma, then stayed over in a B&B rather than trek back through traffic to our boat. The next day we drove north along the Silverado Highway through Napa Valley to Calistoga, first stopping for a morning champagne tasting and ending with the euro-style tasting room at the Raymond Winery, makers of a favorite “special occasion” wine. 

Champagne grapes near Sonoma

Along the way, we were sidetracked at the Markham Winery by a sign that said "Classic Rock Photos," (not the cliff kind of rocks!) which turned out to be an excellent exhibit of 60s rock photos by Baron Wolman, first chief photographer of the Rolling Stones' covers back then. The valleys' rich landscape of colorful rolling hills, covered with thriving vineyards made it tempting to stay! But, Sausalito was calling us, too, and sailing around San Francisco Bay.

Pier 39

At week's end, we sailed out of Sausalito and into windy SFO Bay. We started with a single reefed main and full jib, but the wind kept building and soon we 'hove to' and put the second reef into the main. So we were double reefed and sailing close hauled in 30-35 kts wind towards the GG Bridge. We fell off and screamed downwind past the SF shoreline, up to 7.6 kts, finally dousing our sails south of the America's Cup site. 

Wow, 7.18 kts in 33 kts wind - that's moving!

Just how much wind can True North take? Apparently more than the AC 72s because they cancelled their practice that day due to high wind! How much can TN's crew take? Barely that much! (The America's Cup AC72's only sail in winds of 20 kts or less, adjusted plus or minus a few knots for current.) We motored back past the AC 72s to our slip at Pier 39, adjacent to Fisherman's Wharf, right into the thick of souvenir shops, tourists, noisy sea lions and fast boats of paparazzi tourists shooting pictures our way, stern to stern. (Was it us or the sea lions?)

San Francisco cable car in moonlight

On our first full touring day we went to the America's Cup visitor center where we had excellent views of Italy's boat Luna Rossa and the New Zealand boat. Then we watched the first race of the Louis Vitton Finals, which was a bit disappointing since Luna Rossa broke something on the daggerboard, coupled with more excitement when the NZ boat buried its hulls and dumped two crew members into the bay, unharmed and picked up by the chase boat, something we only heard about but didn't see.

The Oracle America's Cup crew

Time spent touring the SFO Marine Heritage National Park with its grand old boats on the waterfront was well worth it with a fabulous steel three-masted square-rigger, steam tug, a Newcastle workboat, and classic SFO ferry as highlights.

Half Moon Bay

The next morning we left under most unusual weather...sun and no fog! We motored out into the Bay with little wind to find the Oracle AC 72s practicing and motored alongside the course to get some photos. Twice, an Oracle boat headed directly towards us, to turn a few hundred yards away. Luna Rossa joined the practice at the end. 

An Oracle AC72 accelerates past True North

Nearing the GG Bridge, we put up the sails and tacked into the wind until we could head south towards Half Moon Bay, our next stop. By then the wind had dropped completely so we motored most of the way. The fog closed in as we left the Bay area with about ½ mi visibility as we approached HMB. Fortunately, the harbor itself and the land were in bright sunlight so we had no difficulty entering our slip between two rustic old boats. We got to know Rollo, the friendly pit bull pup to our starboard, and would occasionally find his dog food on our boat, snatched and dropped by visiting ravens.

We spent several days with friends Linda and Mike, at their home in nearby San Carlos, catching up while seeing some of the local sights around Palo Alto and the Stanford campus, and bike riding through beautiful Woodside. On the weekend, with fog obscuring the coastline and our intended hike to Lands End, we drove instead to Santa Cruz, toured the UC campus in the redwoods, the nearby beach area, with a brief tour of Los Gatos along the way to see our friend Marcia's charming home town. On the way out of SC we stopped at Santa Cruz Mission, another along El Camino Real, and stopped to watch dozens of kite surfers.

With Mike and Linda south of Half Moon Bay

We returned to True North for a farewell dinner of king salmon grilled on the boat, with Linda and Mike, ending our visit in the Bay area. We hated to leave HMB before the arrival of S/V Ohana from Anacortes – looks like 2 more days would have done it – however, with miles to go and unpredictable weather, it was “time”. We will try to connect with them farther south.

Fishing boats in moonlight, Half Moon Bay

August 25-31: Monterey

We left HMB for Monterey at 06:27 in dead calm and glassy seas with a thick marine layer. Fog set in somewhere around Pigeon Point. Then a nice 8 kt westerly wind came up and we flew the spinnaker in the fog! Made great time across Monterey Bay, 5-7 boat kts, 6-7 kts speed over ground. When the wind picked up to 15 kts we doused the spinnaker and flew the jib. The fog cleared, wind picked up, and we flew to Monterey on jib alone at 5 kts under sunny skies and sparkling water. Life is good at Monterey Municipal Marina where we now are. We've caught up on some boat chores, reading, and some consulting time for Gregg. Our main reason for stopping in Monterey was to visit with our friend Norbert's sister, Monica. She just bought a sailboat and is thoroughly enamored with the new challenges. So we shared an extended happy hour, first aboard True North, then on Monica's Cal 34, Anticipate. Always fun to look over boats! Another reason to be here: touring the Monterey Aquarium exceeded expectations! The exhibits are breathtaking, especially the astonishing array of “jellies” (no longer called “jelly fish” by the scientifically correct staff), beautifully exhibited in shimmering displays.

Stinging Nettle "Jellies" at Monterey Aquarium

A short 20 minute bus trip south is the very charming Carmel-by-the Sea with the historic Mission San Carlos Borromeo as our first sight, another of those mentioned in the book, “Two Years Before the Mast”, and filled with an impressive collection of religious artifacts. 

Mission San Carlos Boromeo

The padre inside the museum suggested we take the long walk to town via the cliff-top road along the water, winding through picture perfect neighborhoods and beachfronts. Good suggestion!

The beach at Carmel

Back in Monterey the following day, we wrapped up our stay with a purchase of fresh squid and salmon from the local fisherman at the commercial wharf, and made preparations to leave for our next port to the south, San Luis. 

As a great way to wind up our stay in Monterey, Monica took us to dinner at the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club where we met a number of the members and chatted about sailing to Mexico.

August 31: Heading South

Today (Saturday, 8/31) we head south.  The plan is to leave this morning and travel all of today and tonight. We'll stop at Port San Luis or Avila, which puts us 10 miles from the mission at San Luis Obispo, which we hope to visit.  There we will take on fuel and water and wait for a weather window to head to the western Channel Islands.

Anne's reflections on the passage to San Francisco

 It was a quick passage, even with the overnight stop in Crescent City...with good reason. That notorious NW wind that follows the coast was instead right on our nose most of the way – very disappointing for a sailing voyage. So we motored when necessary and sailed whenever feasible, day or night, but then would be off course (of course!) and didn't want to linger too long to lose our fair weather window. It got a little wild, first in choppy Juan de Fuca, then a couple of nights later with wind speed 30+ knts / 8' seas. The forecast at that point changed to hazardous seas...did that mean only for small fishing boats or were we included? We chose to move closer inland and then on to nearby Crescent City marina to top off the fuel. Darn! We had felt secure and had wanted to experience 6-7 continuous nights offshore but moving inland seemed like a wise option.

I found night watches a little eery at times, with no stars or moonlight. Throw in some fog and, with no reference points, it felt like we were flying way too fast over the water...with just the sound of the waves swishing past. Thankfully, radar and AIS nearby provide reassurance...but I really wanted to SEE. It's difficult to judge the distance of lights at night otherwise. Gregg and Lance were always very calm on their watches and I gained some good experience by watching them.

The sun came out as we caught the first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge so we raised the spinnaker and went with the wind for several hours before passing under the bridge. Broad grins on everyones' faces reflected the fun of the moment and was a highlight of our week.

True North - Anacortes to San Francisco

Here is a log of our trip from our home in Anacortes, Washington, to San Francisco.  The trip took eight days, which is about as quick as we could have hoped. We had some stiff headwinds, some light tailwinds, and a lot of no wind. The usual westerly winds that make the trip a delightful sail never materialized.  So we did some sailing, and motored a lot. There were no frightening moments on the trip, for which we are thankful.  It all came to a climax with a spectacular reach into San Francisco Bay on a sunny day with our spinnaker flying!

Wednesday, 7/31

We left a foggy Anacortes for Friday Harbor in the morning, catching favorable current in Rosario Straight.

Departing Skyline Marina, Anacortes - the trip begins!

We snagged a slip at the Friday Harbor marina and checked out some of our favorite haunts while we waited for Lance, our crew, to arrive via Kenmore Air.  Lance is a Coast Guard licensed skipper with lots of on-the-water experience, including sailing to Hawaii.  So it felt really good to have him on board.  Plus, he's a good friend and great fun to be with.  (Ask him to tell the Sven and Ole joke with the church and the dress.)

Thursday, 8/1

Departing Friday Harbor, we caught slack water at Cattle Pass. From there, Juan de Fuca Straight was pretty calm, with a nice southerly wind, so we sailed a few hours on our way West.

Sailing in Juan de Fuca Straight

Soon, currents built against us, and the wind shifted west, so on went the engine and we motored west.  It's a long way out to the Pacific, and you will encounter both ebb and flood currents whenever you depart.  The smoothest ride was with the current flowing eastward (flood) with the wind.






The roughest ride was with the current ebbing westward, against the highest winds we encountered in Juan de Fuca, over 30 knots right on the nose, with 5' wind waves also on the nose.

Motoring into wind and waves, Juan de Fuca Straight

Very slow going, in spite of the lift from the current.  Nevertheless, we motored on and the winds and waves died with the daylight.

Friday, 8/2

It was eerie passing Tatoosh Island just after midnight, in the black moonless night, with it's light flashing twice every twenty seconds, bright enough to illuminate the entire island - but not the sea or the rocks guarding the island!  We were now in the Pacific Ocean.  We set a SW course to intercept the 125W meridian and motored in the calm seas. Our intention was to follow the 125W meridian south to around Cape Mendocino, then angle southeast to San Francisco.  It was amazingly calm this day, with just a low swell and little wind - and what wind we had was a SE headwind.  So we motored.

Motoring south on 125W meridian

Anne and Lance saw humpback whales. We all saw others later, including a number of sounding tail fins.  What little wind we had died with the daylight, and we motored on.

Saturday, 8/3

Still motoring...

Another mostly windless day to start.  A bit of excitement occurred at 1415 when we hit a small log and the boat speed indicator went to zero.  It seemed the log had taken out the little sensor wheel that sends speed signals to the electronics. Fortunately, the sensor began working again just outside of San Francisco.






Lance tried fishing for a couple of hours, but no bites.  I guess our "gear" wasn't to the fish's liking!

Lance fishing

Late afternoon, the tailwind started to build close to 10 kts, so we decided to deploy the spinnaker. Unfortunately we had some issues as the sail had been packed twisted, at the same time the wind rose to 20 kts, well over the speed for which the spinnaker was designed. As the wind was nearly directly from astern, we deployed the jib only, and made a decent 5.5 kts over ground.  The boat seemed to wallow a bit, so we double reefed the jib and sailed all night at around 5 kts over ground.  At last, we were in the Pacific and sailing!

Gregg heats up Anne's special recipe stew

Sunday, 8/4

The sailing was short-lived, as around 0730 the wind died and we started motoring again.  Later in the day the wind picked up from astern again and we sailed with the mainsail and the jib.

Sailing down the 125W meridian

This lasted until about 1800 when the wind died altogether and we fired up the 'iron wind' yet again, motor sailing with just the mainsail.  At 1930 we dropped the main as well and motored on.  On the other hand, the seas were confused and largish, making the boat jerk and slam, so it was very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Anne became a bit ill at this point, not just seasickness.  And to top it off, the marine forecast included a Hazardous Seas warning for the day ahead, as well as forecasts for light and southerly winds in the following days, requiring more motoring.  So we decided to abandon the 125W meridian and head more inshore to avoid the seas. Shortly thereafter we decided to stop at Crescent City, California, for fuel. Still motoring, we set course for Crescent City.

Monday, 8/5

During the night, while still motoring, the wind picked up to 30+ kts from astern, with big rollers.  No problem for True North, though!  Morning brought fog, with less than 1/2 mile visibility.  The fog did lift a bit as we approached Crescent City, where we fueled up, showered, had breakfast, and a nice dinner.

Fueling at Crescent City, California

Tuesday, 8/6

We departed Crescent City around 0900 in a light drizzle and fog.

Foggy morning, Crescent City

Now we had 18 kts wind directly ahead, and so we motored on again.  At some point we did raise the sails and beat to weather, however we were making only about 1.5 kt toward our goal, so after a few hours we gave up, dropped the sails, and motored on.  For the next full day, we experienced southerly winds 13-25 kt.

Wednesday, 8/7

Tired of motoring into the wind, we once again put up the sails and beat for a bit into the 15-20 kt southerlies. Not making much progress toward our goal, we were soon motoring again which held through the day. We did have one very special event:  Lance had bought three slices of pie at Fisherman's Restaurant in Crescent City, and at 3:14 ("Pie Time", courtesy Gary and Lynn) we had our slices of pie.

Pie time!

Thursday, 8/8

We were nearing San Francisco and abeam The Farallons at 1030.  A suggestion was made to put up the spinnaker, however the wind indicator read 3 kts from astern, too low to make progress. Then we discovered the wind indicator was set to 'relative', and when we switched to 'absolute', we had 8-9 kts, perfect for the spinnaker!  So up it went.

Lance rigging the spinnaker

It was a glorious day with sunny blue skies, and we flew towards the Golden Gate with just the spinnaker out, and a 1-2 kt boost from the flood current.

As we approached the Golden Gate Bridge, the wind picked up and we did push the spinnaker well past it's 10-15 kt max wind, seeing up to 25 kts of wind, and over 7 kts boat speed at times.

Gregg with his Mexico sun hat!

She sure did fly!  It was incredibly exhilarating to sail under the Golden Gate with spinnaker flying, and True North in her element.

True North's spinnaker passes under Golden Gate Bridge

By 1600 we were fueled up and parked in slip 1001 at Clipper Yacht Harbor in Sausalito.

Fueling at Sausalito, "Fish" cafe in background

We topped off the trip with a lovely dinner at Spinnaker's in Sausalito, with a great view of downtown San Francisco across the bay. 

It was an excellent trip!  It was terrific to have our friend Lance along, who is very knowledgeable, always positive thinking, and best of all, great fun to be with!

Watches:

For this trip, we had three people:  Myself, Anne, and Lance.  We decided on four hour watches, and it went like this:

0000 to 0400:  Gregg

0400 to 0800:  Lance

0800 to 1200:  Anne

1200 to 1600:  Gregg

1600 to 2000:  Lance

2000 to 2400:  Anne

I think we all had sleep issues from the schedule, however we adapted pretty well.  For our night watches, we would don our warm clothing, safety harness and lifejacket.  We'd bring up any special gear like iPod, books, Chips Ahoy or tea, then settle in with a blanket on our lap to keep the chill away. Being 'on watch' meant a continual scan of radar, AIS display, speed, depth, iPad nav charts, and visual sightings, looking for other vessels and making sure the boat was going where we wanted.  Most of the time, True North was on autopilot, so we did not have to steer manually.

Anne on her 2000-2400 watch

Fuel Consumption:

We have a lot of data by now!  True North makes a great power boat, and she's very thrifty considering she has a four-cylinder, 55 HP diesel engine.  On the first leg of the trip, from Friday Harbor to Crescent City, we tended to run low RPMs, 2000-2200 (except for some of the worst going in Juan de Fuca, when we powered up).  This gave 0.58 gal/hr.  On the second leg, Crescent City to Sausalito, we ran mostly 2400 RPM, which gave 0.73 gal/hr. Actual speed through the water varies greatly with sea conditions, but 2400 RPM in flat water gives a boat speed around 6.2 kt.

Posted by Gregg

7/31/2013 - First Posting for 2013 - We start for Mexico via the US West Coast

We've been working on True North since last year's trip around Vancouver Island, getting her ready for our next adventure - Mexico via the West Coast.  Now we have begun our trip.  The Haines family saw us off as we left Anacortes in fog, which slowly thinned as we motored towards the San Juan Islands.  We are in Friday Harbor tonight, in the heart of the San Juans.  Anne and I have been joined by Lance for the trip to San Francisco, we've received our briefing from our "weather router", and everything looks good.  We leave at 7:00 AM tomorrow, heading South to Juan de Fuca Straight, then west out to the Pacific ocean.  If all goes well, our next stop will be in San Francisco!

And to start it all off, we had a glorious red sky here in Friday Harbor tonight - "Red sky at night, sailor's delight".

True North in Friday Harbor with a "Red Sky At Night"

This year, we are using a Delorme InReach SE device to track us.  Every four hours, it sends our position to the Delorme Web site.  You can see the track by clicking the link at right "2013 Route - US West Coast".  If you click on one of the points, you will see a box with lat/lon, speed, and also a little "Message" icon.  You can click this and send us a text message, and we can reply through the InReach.