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July 5, 2007
Emeryville, California
San Francisco Bay
Oh that wonderful sunshine! It’s a beautiful sunny day as we relax at Emery Cove Yacht Harbor and wait for suitable weather to continue down the coast to San Diego.
 SV Wand’rin Star splashed on Friday, May 27th to the sound of water rushing in around the prop shaft. She had been on the hard for 52 days having the heat exhaust  system repaired, the shore power outlet replaced, the propeller analyzed and repitched, and a drip-less packing gland installed. The latter was the cause for the water rushing into the boat and it took two weeks to get that problem remedied. However, eventually everything was working fine and we were ready to do a sea trial before heading out the strait and turning left. While in the yard, Gary had the opportunity to talk with a woman doing varnishing on SV Nevermore and eventually took this picture of Alison, the rigger, reflected in the hull.
The perfect opportunity for our sea trial was to rendezvous with Bill & Masuko on Cassiar II in Port Ludlow for an overnight. We were to meet them on Saturday, but the weather on Friday was absolutely beautiful and we were out of the slip on our way to Mystery Bay! All systems worked fine until we went to drop the anchor and the remote for the windlass didn’t work. The hook was dropped the “quick” way by releasing the anchor break and letting it free fall. Of course that meant lots of noise and making sure the chain didn’t end up in a pile. Gary went to work on trying to fix the remote. Luckily he was semi-successful by tearing the remote apart, gerry-rigging the connector, and tapping it back together. He found out that someone else had previously tried to fix it and had screwed up the parts. We’ve since received new fittings to rewire the deck and remote…just part of cruisin’…doing boat maintenance in exotic places?!? The weather had changed by Saturday morning and we bashed into 25-knot winds and the accompanying waves on our way to Port Ludlow; it was definitely a good test to see if we had remembered to put everything away that had gravitated to a horizontal surface during the time in the marina. Murray didn’t have his sea legs yet and wasn’t too comfortable with the bucking bronco ride; he was glad when we pulled into the sheltered waters of the anchorage.
 Masuko & Bill were already there with the Power Squadron and moved to raft with us in the afternoon. Gary documented the occurrence, as it may be the only time in history that a 44’ Hans Christian Pilothouse and a 39’ Hans Christian Pilothouse have been rafted together. We had an enjoyable time with them and their friend, Bob. It was so good to see them again before leaving  Washington. All the other boats left Sunday and we had the anchorage to ourselves for a while as we stayed until Monday before returning to Port Townsend for boat maintenance & final preparations. Gary discovered that the alternator belt needed to be replaced and that the belt that we thought was its replacement in the inventory was the wrong size. Of course, NAPA didn’t have it in stock, but could order it…thus necessitating another delay. We were really grateful that Ron & Alison, who live in Port Hadlock, were willing to “deliver” it to us.
Finally on June 15th we threw off the dock lines and headed to Port Angeles on glassy seas to wait for our Pacific weather-window. It was a bittersweet feeling as we were excited about heading to California and points south, but sorry to leave behind friends and familiar places. Every hello has a good-bye in it.
In Port Angeles we saw former neighbors, Leo & Chris on MV Amigo, from our winter stay in Poulsbo; they’re heading down the coast to the San Francisco Delta. Also met the folks on SV Grace who are going to Mexico with the Baja Ha-Ha and we hope to meet up with them again. Just a short stay in Port Angeles, as Buoyweather gave us the information we needed to head west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday, June 18th! It was a little rough as we headed out with the wind on our nose, but as we continued further west it lessened and then clocked around behind us and the seas became flat calm. We made a quick one-hour stop in Neah Bay for fuel as we had left PA at 6:20 a.m. before the fuel dock opened and we always have full tanks when heading out.
The next four days were uneventful in a good way as the wind and swells were on our stern and we motored along with the main up for stability. It took a little bit getting use to changing watches and being underway continuously; but we both enjoyed it after the first 24 hours falling into a comfortable routine. Murray acclimated quickly and was soon back to eating and using his litter box underway. He does spend most of the underway time sleeping so we’re always amazed when we get into port and he goes back to sleep! The weather was still good as we approached Brookings, Oregon and we decided to continue on to San Francisco without stopping there as we had done on the way north. We crossed into California at 1200 on June 21, 2007 and spotted whales later in the afternoon. What a treat, as we enjoyed sunshine and smooth seas! But the sea gods had something else in mind as day turned into night and then dawn….we where running downwind with 2 reefs in the main as the winds increased to 25 knots when we heard a sound we’d never heard before; the main sail had blown out - ripping from luff to leach, only some reinforced stitching at the edges prevented it from ripping entirely in two. We quickly brought it down and made the decision to head to Fort Bragg, CA to wait out the weather and decide what action to take. Gary’s gerry-rigging skills were definitely not up to fixing the sail! Five hours of rocking and rolling without the main and  we were glad to see Noyo Harbor. Gary called the Coast Guard to check the bar status, which was fine. As we were entering the channel, the Coast Guard met us, boarding the boat underway to do a safety check. It was a little disconcerting to be boarded in a narrow, shallow channel while preparing to dock, but everything worked out fine. Gary handled it by ignoring them until we were fully secured. After that, we had a nice conversation with the Coast Guard crew and Gary was later given a tour of their 47’ motor rescue boat No. 47271 by SN Michael Varano, USCG.
 Fort Bragg’s Noyo Harbor is a working harbor and fishing boats DEFINITELY outnumbered sailboats. We quickly met Jeff, another sail-boater, and the next day he offered to take us into Fort Bragg, as it’s 3 miles from the harbor. Instead of just a ride into town, we got a tour of the area & Mendocino along with restaurant and bookstore recommendations. Just another example of the wonderful people we’ve met along the way. Northern California is very different from the southern portion, so we decided to rent a car to explore inland for a day. A VERY winding road lead us to Wilets and we enjoyed a picnic in 85 degree heat (20 degrees higher than the coast!) as well a visit to a great bookstore. It’s a rather eclectic town so people watching was entertaining to say the least! There were definite similarities between it and Port Townsend. Buoyweather.com gave us the information we’d been waiting for on Tuesday evening and after calculating what time we wanted to go under the Golden Gate Bridge we determined our departure time for June 27. Having lost the use of the main for stability, we raised the mizzen and the staysail with a light wind on our stern and this worked reasonably well to prevent rolling. The winds increased throughout the afternoon and evening, but the seas were fairly flat so life was good as we moved along quicker than anticipated. Originally, we planned to get to the bridge about 1400 for the afternoon slack, however as dawn broke with fog, we were within a few miles of the bridge in time for morning slack at 0730. The fog was THICK; Gary was at the helm and was definitely thankful for radar and Nobeltec. We passed within ¼ mile of a large container ship,  which was very evident on radar, but couldn’t be seen out the window due to the dense fog! It was impossible to see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge as we approached, only the supports were visible. Once into the bay, the fog cleared and seas were flat. We quickly called Emery Cove Yacht Harbor to see if they still had a slip for us and amazingly we’re only 2 slips from where we had spent 5 months in 2005 on the trip north. We both commented that it almost felt like “coming home”. It’s great being in familiar surroundings and able to visit favorite haunts.
 The total trip from Port Angeles, WA, to Emeryville, CA took a total of 127 hours at sea and 774 nm, with one stop at Fort Bragg. We’ve decided to have our main sail replaced in San Diego and hope to head south again in a week or so. In the meantime, we’re definitely enjoying the Bay area. Friday night found us at Bucci’s Restaurant in Emeryville and Saturday we went into the city for the Ferry Buildingl Farmer’s Market and Dim Sum in Chinatown. Russ and Roz from SV Worral Wind are still here and we enjoyed a 4th of July Barbeque & fireworks with them. Saturday evening found us enjoying pizza with Liz & Kathy from MV Sunny II before the Pacific called to us.
Gary and I both commented that it is strange to think about how much we’ve learned, grown, & changed since leaving here two years ago. I’ve become rather introspective when I reflect on how my comfort level has increased and how much more confident I now am at sea…it definitely reminds me of a poster I had in my classroom when teaching, “The expert at anything was once a beginner.” I’m far from being an expert, but I sure have come a long way, baby!!
May you enjoy the relaxed pace summer often brings and find joy in nature.
With warmth (at last)!
Dorothy, Gary, and Murray the Cat
© Copyright 2007
Last updated on
September 2, 2008
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