October 23rd, 2006: Sausalito to Half Moon Bay
Author: Adam
We were ready to move on down the coast after our extended stay in the San Francisco Bay. We can’t emphasize enough how appreciative we are to the Sausalito Yacht club for their generosity. Their facility was top notch and they really made us feel welcome. If we keep being treated so well as we cruise down the coast we might be in Mexico before I fix the shower sump and actually sort out our onboard shower!
It was also nice to see our friends from home on s/v Madeline. Sadly Meghan and Jeremy have suffered a small setback and weren’t able to join us for the next leg. On the day we sailed Estrella to Aquatic Park Meghan and Jeremy sailed Madeline to Alameda to pick up a spinnaker sock and some other items from a local sail maker in the area. When they approached the Oakland estuary Jeremy fired up their trusty Volvo and when he put her in gear she evidently made horrible grinding squealing noises and wouldn’t propel Madeline. Fortunately for them Madeline is a high performance sailing boat. I have seen her do things in light air on the Columbia River that defy explanation for a vessel of her size. So, naturally they were easily able to sail her into a slip in the area and are now working to have their transmission repaired. We hope that they’re back on the water soon.
We decided to depart the bay at around 1 PM on the tail end of the afternoon high tide. The forecast was for NW winds 10-20 knots with an 8’ swell at 12 seconds, sounded delightful. Another motivator to our departure was that the forecast had been calling for 30 knots out of the NW on Wednesday so we thought if we left on Monday and sailed on a broad reach all night we would arrive 18 hours later in Monterey. Once we were outside the bay and in what the chart refers to as “South Channel,” we found that the seas were not as advertised. The last time we had seen seas like these was on the much maligned Astoria to Newport leg. After climbing them for an hour, we decided that we would make for Half Moon bay. If we found the sea state milder by then we would push through the night for Monterey.
Kristina decided to rest for most of this 6-hour passage as she was concerned that she would become ill otherwise. We suspected that the relatively shallow water in south channel, around 35’deep, was a contributor to the steepness of the swells. I decided to head offshore to get some more depth under our keel and found the waves were still steep but their tops were breaking less frequently, which was preferable. Taking the seas on the starboard quarter was preferable to the beam so I kept heading out until we could head in at an acute enough angle to take the seas on the aft quarter. At no time did I feel that Estrella was in any peril. We have yet to encounter that part of our story and to be honest I am in no big hurry.
There was a time during the first part of the trip where we had a nice following breeze, but the heavy swell hampered our movement under sail. I let most of the jib out and we were sailing well enough on a deep reach. I had the helm relatively well balanced and swapped the tillerpilot for the windvane. I almost got it dialed in when the apparent wind left us and our speed dropped considerably. The swell, however, stuck around and I could hear our belongings coming out of their holds down below. So I fired up the engine and reattached the tillerpilot. Half Moon Bay was looking better and better by the hour.
I have been dying to sail since we left Portland but sadlly have been thwarted on nearly every attempt. I finally feel we have repaired everything that had previously given me any apprehension and that Estrella is ready for some real bluewater passage making under sail. Unfortunately whoever is in charge of the weather disagrees with me.
Our “Charlie’s Charts,” cruising guide indicates that Half Moon Bay’s entrance is rock strewn and prone to dense fog that strikes at an instant and without warning. After messing about with the sails, our chances of making the approach in daylight were getting slim. I have made several unfamiliar port entries at night and I find Charlie to be a bit pessimistic so I wasn’t too concerned. However the fogbank in the near distance had my attention since large precipitous land can obscure and clutter the radar display making interpretation difficult.
We still had a bit of twilight left as we found the entrance light and made our way in as darkness fell. Our depth perception was a bit skewed by the low light conditions so we didn’t go into the bay very far before dropping the hook. There were several vessels on mooring balls and 2 anchored out with lights on. We pulled into the big open space in the middle of the bay and dropped the anchor in 10’ of water at low tide. I tried to see the wire ties we use to mark the chain length but they were nearly invisible as the chain went whizzing out. I tried to feel for them as the chain passed through but to no avail. Finally I decided to crank in some chain and found that I had inadvertently let out 150’, a bit much. Since it is better to set anchors with more scope I had Kris back us down. The anchor bit almost instantly and we stopped. I cranked in on the chain till I had around 75’ out and I veered another 25’ of chain and attached the nylon snubber with a rolling hitch.
We stowed the gear and Kristina made us beef stew with cornbread for dinner. For entertainment we listened to the robotic droning of Perfect Paul on NOAA Weather Radio telling us the current observations at Half Moon Bay were 11’ seas at 10 seconds. He went on to tell us that there was a small craft advisory in effect for hazardous seas through Wednesday evening. We were glad to be holed up in the anchorage and not out there. Maybe I’m getting overconfident in our anchor but I slept like the dead. In the morning Estrella was right where we left her.
Tuesday was sunny and calm, though high windblown cirrus clouds stretched in long wisps across the sky and a halo could be seen around the sun. We spent the day decompressing aboard. Kristina read and I relaxed with a movie. I think it was the first time we just spent a day aboard and didn’t work on projects or go ashore. The forecast was now for 13’ seas at 10 seconds. Our rule of thumb is if the period is shorter than the wave height its pukesville out there. Evidently that rule of thumb is what NOAA uses to dictate small craft advisories for hazardous seas.
Wednesday dawned windily with 15knots blowing out of the north into the protected anchorage. No chop just the wind. It was a nice warm breeze and occasionally a stronger gust would pull up the catenary in our chain. I spent some time on the sprit feeling the snubber for the telltale skipping of a dragging anchor and felt only bar taut nylon. I watched for awhile as the bow would occasionally fall off and then be sharply tugged back in line. Through the binoculars I could see the large swells crashing over the jetty to seaward.
We launched the dinghy after working on a couple projects and the outboard wouldn’t start. I commenced to row us ashore several hundred yards away in a wind that was now gusting 20 knots. Our little flat bottom pram wanted to weather cock so badly that I was rowing mostly with the windward oar. Once to windward of the entrance we started to sail downwind into the marina. This was still a battle to keep the pram pointed the way we wanted to go. Once we were inside I had gotten a good upper body workout and Kristina was well splashed.
The Marina at Half Moon Bay gave us access cards to their facilities for a $10 deposit. We had showers, ate lunch and then went on the short hike out to Pilar Point to see the waves crashing on the rocks. The rocks weren’t getting as pummeled as they were earlier in the day and we worked out that we should have come at high tide. The rocks were still looking quite perilous and to our amazement we saw surfers wading out into those rocks. I know absolutely nothing about surfing but it seemed suicidal to me. One of the surfers was not so casual as he walked up to the beach dropped to one knee and crossed himself before wading out.
The beach was covered in an array of interesting debris washed up by the foul weather. There were large chunks of kelp with whole clumps of live mussels attached, not to mention a variety of shells and other debris. Kristina found several starfish and threw them back. On the walk back along the beach we happened past a concrete wall that had been spray painted with “No Tweekers”. We have been seeing this kind of spontaneous signage all over in the small rural coastal towns that we have visited along the way. It would appear that rural coastal Oregon and California suffer from the same methamphetamine epidemic that plagues Portland, if not more so.
Thursday dawned with a stiff easterly breeze blowing over the point and into the anchorage. When I came up to the cockpit in the morning I was pleased to see our anchor holding firm and that the wind was warm. I was however most distressed at the fact that the east wind had evidently blown about a zillion of those beach flies over to Estrella.
Regretfully we haven’t yet installed our bug screens but in this case I don’t think it would have helped. We lived with the swarm for the next day and debated whether or not to head out that evening for Monterey. Kristina wanted to do the 8 mile round trip hike to town to get some provisions from the Safeway. I have been very eager to exercise and have yet to refuse a long walk anywhere. So we decided to let the seas subside for another day and go see the town. We took the coastal trail, a mostly paved path that streches for miles around the bay with excellent views of the sea. Night had fallen by the time we were heading back and we were pretty tuckered out by the time we reached the boat.
After more sleep of the dead we went ashore, showered and turned in our key. Once the boat was stowed and ready to go we relaxed in preparation for our next voyage. A friend in Portland had previously emailed us advice for the passage. He said we should stand to sea 8 miles or so where we should find a wind line. From there we should be able to lay a rhumb line course for Monterey on a broad reach (wind behind us). I would love nothing more and his advice seems to agree with the forecasts I am seeing.
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