Letter 7 Aug 28, 2000 Anacortes, WA and down the coast Aug 12 Well, Donnie and the kids made it. Donnie rode with Guy and Guy's girl, Ginger rode with Wyndi and Carl. We had steaks grilled out back and a nice visit. The kids left in the evening. Aug 13 We left Cap Santé Marina at 6:45 AM headed for Neah Bay. Just as we rounded Jan Juan Island, the wind came out of the west, right on the nose. It built up a 3-foot chop that started coming over the bow on every 6th or 7th wave. Some of the water followed the anchor chain through the deck into the chain locker and on the foot of Donnie's bed in the V-berth. We stopped at Port Angeles and fueled up about 3:30. The wind was still blowing, but we pushed on toward the ocean. As it started getting dark, Donnie pointed out that the compass was getting dark. We discovered that the light was burned out. I dug around in my electrical spares and found an extra LED pilot light and wired it in. It worked just fine. I'll have to find the right bulbs later. About 10:45 we were getting tired. I had not mentally prepared for starting the trip today. We did not start taking turns at watch or anything. We did get the auto pilot to steer with the electric tiller pilot, so we didn't have to steer all the time, just keep watch. We decided to stop and anchor for one more night. We saw Sekiu Bay on the chart. It was too dark to see where the marina and anchorage was, so we just kind of got close to the shore almost out of the waves and dropped the anchor. As we started to bed we noticed Donnie's bed was wet, so he slept on the settee. Aug 14 Al and Judy had already left. They decided not to stop in Neah Bay, but just keep on going out the strait of Juan de Fuica and turn left! So did we. They were about 10 hours ahead of us now. We were off at 8:30 AM with the tide with us. Still motoring. We started our 3 hour watches this morning. About 11:00 AM we turned left too. WE FINALLY DID IT! It was over cast and cool. By 3:30 PM the wind started to fill in so up with the sails. The ocean swells were 3-4 feet coming from behind making it a little rolly. We had put on our seasickness patches so we were doing OK. We sailed south, gradually moving out from the coast. Donnie and Trinda didn't think anything about it getting dark out in the middle of the ocean. We just turned on the radar, put down the big mainsail for the night. I was afraid that if the wind came up that it would be hard to shorten the sails in the dark. The wind didn't pick up. Aug 15 We sailed until 2:45 AM. The wind died and we started the engine. It sure was noisy after all that sailing! Around noon it started filling in from the northwest again. We put up the main, mizzen and spinnaker. It was quiet again and neat. We didn't have much luck with the spinnaker. We were only making 3 to 4 knots. It will be a long way to San Francisco at this rate! The wind filled in a little stronger to 15 knots, so down with the spinnaker and out with the big jib. We were making 5 and 6 knots now. The water is so blue out here. It is amazingly clear and clean looking. I guess that's why they call it blue water cruising! At 7:00 PM we tuned in the Bluewater Cruising Association on the SSB radio. It was thrilling to talk with Al on Vryheid and Roger on Airamawana. He is the club communications officer. He is still in Sidney, BC. He and a friend took a year or so off a couple of years ago and made the trip to Mexico and back. He has lots of advice for us along the way. About 9:00 PM we decided that we were far enough off the coast and jibed back to 101 degrees magnetic. We were at 45 14 N and 125 15 W. Tonight, we left the main up too. The clouds came and went fairly fast. It is a full moon, so the moonlight almost made it hard to see. Our eyes would just get used to the light and the clouds would leave and it would be too bright to see again. We just watched the radar for ships and hopped that there wasn't anything floating in the water to hit, like shipping containers or volkswagons! There weren't many logs like there were in Canada. Aug 16 Still sailing at 7:30 AM but the wind was slowing. We jibed back out hoping to catch some wind but at 8:30 we started the engine again. We motored at 170 degrees till 2:00PM then up with the sails again. We sailed at 120 degrees. Donnie and Trinda seem to have complete confidence in me and the boat. Every thing is working fine. I wish I had as much confidence as they do! We sailed through the night again. Aug 17 The wind died again about 9:00 AM. Around noon I saw a big black fin in the water. We decided it was an Orca. We motored all afternoon. We had to switch fuel tanks about 5:00. We have 3 so we were not in danger of running out, just didn't want to have to switch in the night. We talked to the club and Al again at 7:00 PM. Al had a crew with him that is an expert sailor. He gave us some pointers about the spinnaker. We tried it for an hour or so. Not much luck. We put out the jib and sailed through the night, slowly. Aug 18 At 5:30 AM we gave up and started the engine again. There was an unbelievable bright red and orange sunrise. Soon thereafter about 6 porpoises decided to play under our bow. The water was so clear that we could see them diving under and across the bow. It was quite a sight. They swam so fast that they could circle the boat while we were doing 6 knots. We motored until 4:30 PM. We put out the main and the Jib with the whisker pole holding the jib out on one side and the main to the other. That is called wing and wing. We were going 7 and 8 knots. The wind kicked up so we put the jib and whisker pole away before dark. The wind kept building. Aug 19 The waves kept building too! By 3:00 AM it was blowing 25 knots and the swells were about 20 feet average. The wind waves added to the swells to make it look worse. The waves were coming from the stern still. Each wave squished the boat sideways. The autopilot wouldn't keep a straight enough course to use, so it was hand steering. Donnie and I took 30-minute shifts steering. We were really tired. At 5:30 AM we gave up. I slipped the boat into neutral and idled it back. It immediately turned sideways to the wind. I let the boom out a little and it pointed up into the waves just enough to ride OK. This is called heaving to. We were making 1/2 a mile an hour down wind, but we had over a hundred miles of clear water so I wasn't worried. We just went below and laid down to get some rest. Just after day break, in the fog, Trinda got up and started up again. She only ran the engine at half throttle so the boat didn't surf down the waves and it was a little easier to steer. We decided that we should find a harbor and really rest a day or two before going on. Bodega Bay was just 25 miles away, 6 hours at that speed. Trinda went down below to get some rest after Donnie and I woke up. She had spent a lot of time making these 'lea cloths' for the settees. That is a net hooked to the front of the couch and up to the roof to keep you from rolling off when the boat rolls from side to side. She lay down and didn't hook it up. The next thing we hear as the boat rolls to 35 degrees is a big bang from below. Trinda screeched! She flew off the settee and hit her jaw on the galley post. She also hit her hand and knee. She couldn't work her jaw for and hour or two. It seems OK now though. We got to Bodega Bay about 4:00PM. We registered in the marina, took showers and were in bed by 5:30 PM. Aug 20 We slept until 10:00 in the morning! I was still tired. We did a little laundry, although you don't get many clothes dirty 100 miles off shore. We worked on the shower some more and rested. And fixed another bypass on the fuel tanks. Aug 21 We decided to wake up an leave at 6:ooAM and leave for San Francisco. The wind was supposed to let up some and the waves were reported to be only 10 feet high. That seemed like nothing compared to what we had seen! We didn't quite make it to the 5:30 call! I woke up a little after 6:00 when the boat next to us started. We did get away by 6:30. We had breakfast under way. When we got out of the protection of the bay, the waves were only 10 feet, but they were close together! 8 seconds reported. That means every 8 seconds there is a big wave that tries to turn the boat sideways with little uncomfortable ones in between. After we rounded Pt Reyes, the waves did settle down some and we motored on under the Golden Gate Bridge. Al and Judy had made it on into SF the day we stopped. We were still about 10 hours behind them. They spent the two days in Pier 39 in downtown SF while we were in Bodega Bay. They were on their way to the San Francisco Yacht Club. It turns out that our Bluewater Club has reciprocal moorage agreement with them. We went straight there too. It is a nice marina. The docks are a little run down, but comfortable. It is the oldest yacht club on the west coast. They let us stay for 3 days. We worked on the shower some more. Caulked the deck in front to try to stop a small leak over Donnie's bunk. We fixed the mount for the whisker pole to hold it in the center of the fore deck just ahead of the main mast. Changed the oil and noticed that the GPS said we were 991 miles from Anacortes, where we started south! Aug 24 We filled the water tanks. We had used just over half of our water, about 115 gallons in 10 days. We may need to learn to be more conservative later. We then motored over to Saucilito to the fuel dock and took on 80 gallons of diesel. Also about half of our 135 gallon capacity. We anchored just of Saucilito for the night, so as to be ready to head for Halfmoon Bay. Aug 25 Anchor up and off at 10:00 AM. We waited for the out going tide under the Golden Gate bridge. At least we thought it was. The fog was so thick we couldn't hardly see it. We crossed the traffic lanes before the bridge, and just after crossing the out going lane, a giant gray freighter appeared just behind us. He stayed in his lane and we were OK. I think he surprised Al too. Under the bridge we turned left again. South, here we come! Three hours to Halfmoon Bay. We anchored inside the breakwater. Al and Judy took a slip, so we got the combination to the gates and laundry rooms from them. We did a little more laundry. Aug 26 Up early, 6:00 AM for the 10 hour run down to Santa Cruise. Lots of fog and no wind. The marina at Santa Cruise is a long narrow channel. It is kind of away from things so there's not much sight seeing to do. We heard that the highest crime area is between the marina and the old roller coaster, so we didn't go there either. When you boat, you walk! If it's not safe to walk, you don't go. Donnie inflated the kayaks and we paddled up the end of the marina and back. The water was dirty so we couldn't see much. There were seals and otters playing around the boat a lot of the time. The marina was crowded so we tied to the dock and then Al tied to us. Aug 27 Up at 10:35. We motored the 21 miles to Monterey Bay. The sea was glassy calm all morning. The wind picked up to 15 knots just as we entered the marina at Monterey. We plan to see the aquarium tomorrow. Larry Trinda Don and Muffy _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.