California Dreamin' is Becoming a Reality!

As I write this, we are well past Cape Mendocino in light winds and following seas. It’s pitch black ahead of us and stars cover the sky from horizon to horizon. I’m on watch and decided it was a good time to catch up on writing. Every now and then a roller swings us around and I have to grab the laptop. And, every 10 minutes or so I pick my head up, let my night vision settle in and take a look around, check all instruments etc… Visibility is unlimited so I could see the light of another boat miles and miles away. Jeff is sound asleep below me as he’ll come on watch later this morning.

Salpare cast off her lines (yes, we helped) from her weeklong weather stay in Charleston. For a small, fairly isolated fishing village, we found more than enough to do and plenty of new friends.

It seems that most who live and work on the fishing boats start their names with the letter “J”. We met and became fast friends with 3 Jerry’s and another Jeff. My Jeff fit right in… And, their critters, Boomer the Bengal cat and Hershey; chocolate lab mix. She finally decided to venture from her typical diet of bones, fish and anything else she’s fed and try the Organic Chicken Cookies I bought for her. 

The fishermen (I didn’t see any women on the boats), were some of the kindest folks we’ve come across. It was not even a thought to offer us a ride anytime to town (Coos Bay). Even yesterday morning as we readied the boat to leave, Jerry from the “Mary C”, asked us if we’d like to take a drive up to the US Coast Guard Bar Crossing viewpoint. We piled in his car and got a firsthand look at the bar conditions. 

Each day, while waiting for the weather to improve, we did project after project. Some new ones to improve our living offshore and finishing up a few that were still on “the list”. In between and every time we poked our heads out of the boat, we quickly had a group of Jerry’s and Jeff’s on the dock for friendly discussion and solving the issues of the world. Farewell Charleston and fair winds to your awesome fishing fleet!

The bar crossing was uneventful (good!) but still intimidating as surf style breakers crash only a hundred yards away on each side. We had made the decision the night before to forego the stop in San Francisco and when clear of the bar pointed south to Monterey.  

San Fran is an awesome city that we have visited a number of times. However, it has a large and busy bar crossing of its own at the entrance. We would have to anchor in a bay just north of the city and wait until the following morning to make the crossing. Its also a 2 hour bar crossing and then we would repeat all of that the next day while leaving. It’s also located at the southern edge of the “northern storm cycle area”. We want out of the gale winds and cold and like our blog says; live in the sunshine! So on to Monterey!

Seas had been pretty mixed and confused until we passed Mecca (Cape Mendocino). Literally, as we passed, the sun came out and the waves smoothed into a syrupy flow. Ahhh…. Some relief from the pitching and rolling! If you just stepped aboard now, you would think I’m crazy to say that as we are still pitching and rolling! But, its all relative, my friends.

Sea critters continue to be a thrill as we had to quickly pull the throttle back and let 2 gigantic humpbacks cross in front of us. No “Whale Crossing” sign; just a blow right off our port bow and there they were. As evening fell, we saw a few more towards the beautiful headlands of Mendocino. Never, ever, ever will I get enough of seeing these amazing animals. Its a privilege to share their waters.

Another kinda weird animal “sighting” are the “ghost birds” at night. During the day, these are just the gulls, terns and others that float and fly around Salpare. At night, they take on a ghostly appearance of pure white in lights and appear and disappear; its quite startling.

It’s late morning now as I get back to writing. We are motor sailing along - just not quite enough wind to go under sail alone. Forecast is for increasing winds through the day (to 20kts). After seeing gale after gale on the Oregon coast, I’m cautious what I wish for!