Today was the day, the day Dave and I entered into the realm of North California Sailing. Entry by way of the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco Bay.

This bay is known by the best sailors for its crazy currents, strong winds, and constantly changing weather. Lets just say its a little intimidating to two (still green - all things considered) sailors that took their first class only 8 years ago in the tamest bay on the west coast.

After careful planning, a couple glugs of maalox (not really but I might have if it was on the boat), we headed out from Half Moon Bay to the golden entry gate of San Francisco Bay.

Its all in the timing of approach. Twice a day all the waters from the bay ebb out then flow back in with the tides through the narrow entry under the Golden Gate Bridge. You can time it to ride the tide in, or time it to fight your way in as the tide ebbs out (which may or more likely may not be possible in Crazy Love as it flows up to 4 knots at times).

Today around noon would be max flood at 3 knots with high tide at 2 pm and we had till 4 pm before the water would start flowing back out and against us. The forecast was for mild winds (even though they said from the West in the am, it was the typical NW winds) and only 2-3 ft wind waves. We headed out of Half Moon Bay at 8 am, motor sailing with the waves pushing us favorably North. We made great time and by noon we had the bridge in sight!

There are 3 major traffic separation schemes for the large cargo and other ships to use in their approach to the bay entrance as well as in their departure. It was our goal to stay out of these "traffic lanes". San Francisco even has a dedicated channel for traffic control on the VHF. It was our lucky day - no ships coming or going as we made our approach and passage from the south, hugging the coastline about 2 miles out.

With the buoys and bridge passage in site, we pulled out the jib and cut the engine so we could sail into the bay. And sail we did! With the tide going in and the wind at broad reach, we were going up to 7-7.5 knots (top speed for Crazy Love).

Not only did the traffic comply, but the fog also gave us a much overdue break and the sun shone. Absolutely gorgeous views!

Once under the bridge with a view of Angel Island and Alcatrez in the background, and the Emirates Team New Zealand practicing for the America's Cup, we headed north into Richardson Bay and dropped anchor. We made it to San Francisco Bay!

Sausalito is the town here on the north end of the bridge. Pretty homes go up the hill with a view of the bay and city. We plan to stay a few nights, explore a little, and plan our exploits for the rest of the month in the San Francisco Bay.

On Sunday morning, after an excellent stay, Carolyn and I left Santa Cruz for Half Moon Bay. I had a goal of sailing the entire way. The course to sail was Northwest and the wind was from the Northwest, so it wasn't a point-to-point sail. The charts say the route is about 45 miles, but that would be sailing straight into the wind which isn't possible. Instead we sailed Southwest to get some space off the coast and by sunset we were absolutely nowhere. We've fought hard for every mile North and when the sun went down on Sunday night, we were 42 miles from Half Moon Bay and 5 miles south of Santa Cruz. We'd been sailing all day and were farther from our destination than when we started! But...

That set us up for a great evening. The winds were 5 to 10 knots from the Northwest all night. We were always doing at least 2 knots and occasionally we were able to get 4 to 4.5 knots.

We decided to stick with 2 hour watches. I took the 9pm to 11pm watch, Carolyn took the 11pm to 1am, I took 1am to 3am, Carolyn took 3am to 5am, and I took 5am to 7am. During my 5am watch, the sun came up. We had made it through our first ever through-the-night sail without a hiccup! Fortunately our little tiller pilot did all the steering. Thank you Otto.

We were within 5 miles of Half Moon Bay at 4pm on Monday afternoon. The light winds in the bay meant those last 5 miles took us nearly 4 hours. By 8pm, after 33 hours underway and probably 80 miles traveled we were anchored inside the Pillar Point Harbor breakwater. We dined on cabbage and andouille with a side of potato pancakes and then slept like the dead for the next 12 hours.

On Tuesday morning I called the Harbormaster and procured a slip in the marina (only $25.50 a night, not bad). We hadn't had a shower since Monterey (yup, that's a full week! It surprising how the ocean air masks the scent of unbathed heathens.). They had a slip right up front for us. Coincidentally, the slip was a 90 second (literally) walk to Half Moon Bay Brewing. Needless to say, it was an early afternoon stop on Tuesday after showers and a walk out to Pillar Point.

Just to remind myself later: Pillar Point Harbor and Half Moon Bay Brewing are not in Half Moon Bay (the city). They are in Princeton-by-the-Sea which is at the North end of Half Moon Bay (the bay).

Today we walked 5 miles into Half Moon Bay (the town) to provision and tomorrow we are leaving for our most Northern port of call, San Francisco Bay. I'm hoping for not too much fog so we can actually see the Golden Gate Bridge when we pass under it. Either way it will be a huge accomplishment for Carolyn and I to make our way into the bay without getting run over by a cargo ship.

Sorry for the lack of update since we got to Santa Cruz. Our inverter (the gadget that allows us to charge the laptop on the boat) got wet on the trip from San Simeon to Monterey. In addition to smoke and a high pitched whine, the inverter no longer charges the laptop. I think it will go in the round file soon. A marine grade unit is in our future. Anyhow...on with the narrative.

After a day of maintenance in Monterey Municipal Marina on Monday, we headed for Santa Cruz. We tried to get fuel, but the line at the fuel dock was significant. Since the wind was blowing 10 knots from the West, we decided to wait until the next port for fuel. The trip to Santa Cruz is about 20 miles which took us a little less than 5 hours. It was a great sail and there's not much more to say about it except that if more folks had Tuesdays like ours, there would be fewer aggressive drivers in the world.

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz has great weather. Ever since we left Santa Barbara, I've been cold and the sun has mostly refused to show itself. Since we arrived in Santa Cruz, the temperature has warmed and the sun has come out every day. That's lead to some lovely sunny afternoons anchored (for free!) off the beach where we get to hear the constant sounds of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. On Wednesday, we rowed Peeps (the dinghy) to the public landing on the wharf and headed to the Farmer's Market to reload on fruits and veggies. We also picked up a most excellent piece of Albacore Tuna that Rosie applied some sorcery to in the galley and made our most excellent meal of our trip so far. Note to self: We need to start fishing!

Boardwalk Carnival

On Thursday, Rosie convinced me we needed some carnival rides. I've never been much for roller coasters more violent than Pirates of the Caribbean, so we went on the "Pirate Ship," a tame family friendly ride. After the ride was over - I didn't have a terrible time - I got my choice of rides. I chose the corndog and a beer ride. It was an outstanding corn dog. I really forgot how good carnival food is. Maybe I'll go back to the Del Mar Fair one of these days.

On our way back to the boat, Ideal had a decent happy hour for a beach bar, so we stopped for a few pints. A few pints takes the edge off the 500 yard row back to the boat. We didn't even get wet. Hah!

Right now, its Saturday, I'm sitting in the 515 Kitchen and Cocktails drinking a Uncle Dave's Rye IPA, writing this blog entry, and waiting for the laptop to charge. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I hope your's is just as nice.

The biggest attraction we wanted to see in Monterey was the Aquarium. Carolyn was there 10 or so years ago, but I've never been. Everything I've read says it isn't to be missed and after going there, I agree...it is a world class tourist attraction. My family also has never been to the aquarium so they drove out to meet us for the weekend, but before the family arrived we had to do the obligatory brewery trips.

Brewery Hopping

We arrived in Monterey on Thursday morning, July 25th, and anchored out for the evening. On Friday morning, before any of the family arrived, we called the harbor patrol and secured a slip in the Monterey Municipal Marina for the weekend. The slip was only $17.50 per night making our total for the stay $70. We pulled into the slip at 9am, cleaned ourselves up, and hopped on the Route 20 bus towards Marina, CA.

In Marina is English Ales Brewing. They have the typical industrial area brewery with a big 'cafe' attached. I had the fish and chips, Carolyn had the Reuben on rye. It was delicious. My favorite beer was the Black Hound Stout. After lunch and a few beers, we headed back towards Monterey on the bus.

Our next stop was Cannery Row Brewing Company. They didn't have much in the way of house brews, but their tap list was similar to what you'd find at Yardhouse. If you're touring Cannery Row, its worth a stop.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

On Saturday, my parents arrived in time for lunch and Amy joined us after the gang was already at the aquarium. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, the aquarium does an event they call "Evenings by the Bay" where they stay open until 8pm with live jazz and a cash bar after 6pm. Maybe it seems out of character for Carolyn and I, but the prospect of a bar in a typically children's attraction was too good to pass up. We decided in advance that we were staying until closing. The event lived up to our expectations. By 6:30pm, most of the screaming 8 year olds were gone so I could drink my Prohibition Ale and take in the amazing jellyfish exhibit.

After the aquarium kicked us out at 8pm, we were ready for dinner, so we headed to the "other" brewery in town: Peter B's. After dinner it was off to bed back at the marina.

On Sunday, Amy was heading home, and Carolyn and I planned to do the 17 Mile Drive with my parents.

Point Pinos Lighthouse

At the tip of the Monterey Peninsula is Point Pinos. Crazy Love had rounded Point Pinos 72 hours earlier, so a stop at the lighthouse for a closer look sounded like a good idea.

17 Mile Drive

Around the corner from the lighthouse is the entrance to the 17 Mile Drive. Along the drive is a handful of famous golf courses and a breath-taking stretch of coastline.

Monday, Maintenance Day

On Monday, Carolyn and I had a full day of boat chores. Nothing to see here. Move along

Next stop, Santa Cruz. 20 miles North of Monterey.

Morro Bay was an excellent source for the provisioning we needed for the next and longest leg of our journey: Morro Bay to San Simeon for a quick rest, followed by our first overnight to Monterey. We were excited if slightly apprehensive of this next part of our adventure.

Tuesday morning we battened down the hatches and headed out of Morro Bay. Our friend the sea otter seemed to wave goodbye and wish us well.

The fog that is very common in this part of the state coastline followed us out of Morro Bay and up to San Simeon. Although, the humpback whales also seem to be following us even though I think they are headed south. We saw many along the way and every time I see that whale tail or hear the sound of the blowhole its like the first, absolutely amazing! Sorry no pictures of the whales, tough to get on film!

We had a great day of sailing with minimal motoring which made for a very happy Dave (and me too!). We found the anchorage at the base of the Hearst Castle visitor center very welcoming and empty. As we entered there was a glimpse of the sun on the hills of Hearst Castle. With our history of inconsistent beach landings we decided to stay on the boat for the evening. Even though if you are ever in the area,I highly recommend a visit to Hearst Castle and definitely stop and see the elephant seals a short drive north up the coast.

Just 14 hours later we pulled up anchor and rounded Point San Simeon heading north, northwest to Monterey. This trip is 72 miles as the crow flies. There are a couple Points and Capes with large rocks jutting out along the coast that our boat just can't go through. Figure at least 80-90 miles going about 4 miles per hour at best. We were prepared to motor or sail for at least 24-36 hours. We had food, we had water, and fuel... as well as more fog and more whales for our journey. The weather forecast was for low winds but unfortunately from exactly the direction we wanted to go. That means - main sail up, and our 1 cylindar yanmar engine got a workout! We also used Auto - he's our third and most valuable crew member in combination with the depth sounder and the GPS. Dave and I took shifts for lookouts (every hour during the light and every two hours at night) - we wouldn't want to hit one of those whales, another boat, or the land. I cannot describe how it feels to be alone in the cockpit looking out into the waves and fog and dark.

We arrived 23 hours later in Monterey - very wet (I think fog is a different word for light rain) and ready for a coffee (for me) and hot chocolate (for Dave) and some warm oatmeal.. then a nap.

Anchored for today and the night, we plan to get a slip in one of the marina's tomorrow so we can fully take advantage of the sights of Monterey, including the aquarium!