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January 27, 2005
Emeryville, CA
San Francisco Bay
If we walk 100 yards we can see the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and Alcatraz! That means we're FINALLY in San Francisco Bay. We pulled into a slip at Emery Cove Yacht Harbor on Sunday, January 23 rd after a 7-½ hour trip from Half Moon Bay.
We arrived back in Monterey from the frigid north on Saturday, January 15 th after visiting family and friends in Michigan. The 50-60 ° weather that greeted us in Monterey was a welcomed relief after the cold and snow. Sunday was a beautiful day and we took the boat out for a shakedown cruise in Monterey Bay. There'd been so much activity in the engine room with the adventures of last month that we wanted to be sure that all was in working order before beginning the last leg north for the winter. Everything worked well except the speed transducer and we were treated to the sights of waterspouts and flukes from migrating gray whales. The engine ran quieter with the new engine mounts as it was not vibrating…an added bonus!
The next day was spent getting ready to again cast off the dock lines after 2 months in Monterey. Our slip neighbors, David and Delaine, invited us over for a farewell drink, which was a pleasant way to end our day of preparations.
We'd been checking weather on www.buoyweather.com and found that we had a window of opportunity to sail across the bay to Santa Cruz in preparations for moving to Half Moon Bay  and into San Francisco Bay. Murray had not been to sea for a couple months and proceeded to be sick before we even left the slip! He acclimated and was fine for the remainder of the 4-hour trip to Santa Cruz. Upon our arrival in Santa Cruz we tied up at an end tie, sharing the dock with several fishing & crab boats as well as pleasure craft. As we were walking ashore, a man was sorting his day's catch of rock crabs. Having never seen rock crabs before we stopped to talk with him. Later when we were getting ready to go ashore to find a restaurant for dinner he stopped us, gave us a bag of a dozen crab legs, and told me how to fix them. We did an “about face”, returning to the boat and boiling water for what was a delicious crab dinner. When Gary had asked him what we owed him, he replied, “nothin', the first ones are free”…. just another example of the friendly, generous folks we meet on a daily basis in this cruisin' life. We were fortunate to be in Santa Cruz on a Wednesday, which just happens to be Farmers' Market Day! If you've been reading our log for very long, you know that one of my favorite things to do in a new town is to visit the local farmers' market. Santa Cruz has a very nice one and most of the produce is organically grown. We decided to take the bus into town from the marina and asked the driver how we'd get to the market. A delightful lady named Rose piped up and said, “follow me & I'll show you.”  She was on her way there too and we had a great conversation during our 5-minute walk to the market; Rose quickly filled us in on the best stalls and the other organic food stores in town. Santa Cruz is a great town with an eclectic twist; we definitely enjoyed Book Store Santa Cruz and the Patagonia Outlet. (When I first met Gary, I thought his middle name was Patagonia because he had so many clothes with that on it! I've come to appreciate their wares too, so it was a little dangerous for us to visit the Outlet for a second time…we left with only what we could carry and plastic still intact.)
We checked www.buoyweather.com at the Lava Rock Internet Café and found that the  weather would be good for our move to Half Moon Bay on Saturday, Jan. 22. Fog greeted us in the harbor upon awaking, but the VHF weather said it was localized so we decided to head out using the radar. After leaving the harbor the visibility increased dramatically. The seas were calm and glassy with very little wind; luckily we were motoring - not depending on the wind for propulsion. It was a delightful day to be on the water. Three hours from Santa Cruz we heard a Mayday on the VHF radio; Hawkeye , a pleasure fishing boat, going 17kt/hr had hit a whale and was taking on water! It was 14 miles north of us so we weren't close enough to assist them. We listened to the rescue on the radio as the US Coast Guard responded and so did Queen of Hearts , a boat in the vicinity. The people from Hawkeye were safely taken aboard Queen of Hearts. A USCG helicopter from Coast Guard Group San Francisco arrived on scene within 20 minutes of the Mayday and after putting a Rescue Swimmer in the water, left to take on fuel. The Rescue Swimmer inspected the boat & concluded that the collision had torn off one prop shaft, severely damaged the other, and damaged the rudders. He noted that the vessel was rapidly taking on water and in danger of sinking. A USCG Rescue Launch arrived with portable high volume pumps that were transferred to Hawkeye , allowing the boat to stay afloat while the rescue swimmer temporarily plugged the leaks in the hull. A vessel taking on water like this can capsize and sink very rapidly and anyone working on it is at risk of going down with the boat. The USCG personnel put their lives at risk in order to keep the boat from sinking. It was interesting listening to the conversation, but also reminded us of how fickle the sea and her contents can be. The seas remained flat with no waves and we made good time to Half Moon Bay where we anchored in Pillar Point Harbor.
Sunday, January 23 rd was the BIG DAY as we would have to cross the San Francisco Bar and sail under the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Emeryville. We used Nobeltec's Tide & Currents Program to help determine the best time to transit those spots. Based on the information, 11:00 a.m. was THE TIME to be going under the Golden Gate Bridge. By using the charting program, plugging in our location, boat speed, etc. we ascertained that we needed to leave Half Moon Bay at 6:00 a.m. to arrive on time….so that's what we did! We enjoyed being on the hook again after being in a slip for several months, but hoisted the anchor in the dark and headed out of the harbor- next stop Emery Cove Marina.
 The seas were calm when we left Half Moon Bay but as we approached San Francisco the conditions changed. We had 5'-6' swells, whitecaps, and 15+ knot winds; the wind was right on our bow, so that slowed us down some. We were motoring with a reefed main for stability. At 10:24 a.m. we spotted the Golden Gate through fog and dolphins swam up next to the boat welcoming us to San Francisco Bay, which we took to be a good omen! I had sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge at 1:00 a.m. fourteen months ago at the end of my Passage-making Class on Alaska Eagle (see February. 2003 log) but this time it was even more special because we were doing it together on our own boat. I'm a little awed at how much I've learned & changed since Oct. 2003. At precisely 11:13 a.m. on Sunday, January 23, 2005, we crossed into San Francisco Bay! The picture below shows the view from the pilothouse as we approached the bridge. We continued past Alcatraz on our way to Emery Cove with some waves & whitecaps. Emery Cove is on the east side of the bay near the Oakland-Bay Bridge. We heard about it from our friend Paul who owns a slip here (part of the marina is dockomiums.) Luckily we were able to get a slip for a couple months and this will be our temporary home until spring when the weather improves for our continuing trek northward. Coming into the marina, we passed Emeryville Municipal Marina and Gary  excitedly spotted another Hans Christian 44' Pilothouse! We've only seen one other boat like ours and that was when we bought this one. He immediately said he wanted to make sure we walked over to see if we could meet the owners and possibly compare boats. On Monday morning we were busy washing the saltwater off Wand'rin Star and tidying things up, when a gentleman walked up introducing himself as the owner of the HC 44' Pilothouse and he was curious about our boat. We all enjoyed a laugh as I related Gary's comment to him. Bill came aboard and we spent time talking and enjoying the camaraderie of similar boats. He invited us over to see his boat, but we haven't made it there yet.
We hope to get some much needed maintenance done on the boat while we enjoy the San Francisco area. March will bring guests as Dorothy's daughter and son-in-law are taking the train from Michigan to visit us for a week. Hopefully we'll be acclimated to our new area and will be able to be good tour guides. It's always great fun to explore a new area and find the “great” restaurant, bakery, bookstore. . . . . the list goes on.
It's been 240 days since we left slip A-4 at California Yacht Marina, Chula Vista, and we've traveled 1185.6 nm! What joys, challenges, opportunities, and growth we have had the pleasure of experiencing! If you have a dream, pursue it NOW…you never know what tomorrow brings. We have never regretted taking that step off the edge of the known world into this cruisin' life!
Quotes for the month are from a Flavia Calendar that my parents gave me for my birthday; I give thanks for them daily... it is because of them that I am able to do what I do.
From the city by the bay….
Dorothy, Gary & Murray the Cat
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© Copyright 2005
Last updated on
January 2, 2006
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