December 31, 2006

New Year's Eve in Mazatlan! My brother Paul and his lovely wife Deb have joined us for a week. Tonight is the big party at Chili's Pepper on the beach. The tickets bought us reserved seating, a very good meal, and the all the free drinks we could handle. All for about $36 per person.

The evening ended with a glass of Champaigne and fireworks over the ocean.

October 20 - 21, 2006

Morro Bay has a  reputation for very nasty breaking seas across the entrance. A number of years ago a 100+ foot power boat, owned by the actor George C Scott, was trying to leave Morro Bay at the wrong time. The vessel wound up taking a huge breaking wave on the bow while crossing the bar. The boat was lifted straight up until the bow was pointing at the sky. I understand there was considerable damage to the boat.

Just to be careful, we radioed the Harbor Master to check on the bar conditions. We talked to the most helpful person. He gave us a full report on the conditions and told us the entrance was open to traffic. He then asked what type of boat we had and suggested we tie up at the Morro Bay Yacht Club. He gave us full directions and welcomed us to Morro Bay.

The Morro Bay Yacht Club members helped us tie up, and gave us a key to the washrooms and the code for Internet access. They also invited us to attend the Friday night social at the club that evening.

Heather & I joined the members in the club house for the social. I had a wonderful talk with a lady named India. She told me all about her adventures in the Morro Bay area as a young girl in the 1930s. How they would dig for clams and climb the large hill at the entrance to the bay. There was one place on the way up where they had to cross a large split in the rock. Her brothers would hold her hand and make sure she got across safely. She also told me how some kids from out of town would leave notes or letters in the cracks of trees near the top of the hill. They were hoping to meet members of the opposite sex.

October 19, 2006

Gentle winds and easy sailing. We spent the night in San Simeon Bay below Hearst Castle.

October 18, 2006

Time to leave Alameda. On the way out we stopped at the fuel dock near Jack London Square in Oakland. They were low on diesel and were waiting for the truck. There wasn't any other place to get fuel so we told them we would also wait.

While we were waiting, one of the local Coast Guard patrol boats ran out of fuel and was towed in by another patrol boat. The two of them tied up right in front of us, their bows pointing at our bow. The interesting point is these boats each have a 60 caliber machine gun mounted on the bow, both of which were pointed right at our boat.

After refueling, we pulled up to Jack London Square and had lunch at Kincaid's. Ever since attending two boat shows at the Square, Heather has wanted to arrive on our own boat and tie up for lunch. Mission accomplished!

October 11, 2006

We crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge today. Just as we were coming in, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was on it's way out. What a view!

As we passed in front of downtown San Francisco we received an email over the radio from my brother Paul. He had arranged to rent us a slip in the Grand Marina in Alameda. This was great news because we had no idea where we were going. We knew we wanted to stay in Alameda but hadn't made any arrangements.

Paul included the number of the slip in his message. Brandon was below at the radio and told me about the message. He then used the computer to connect to the Internet through an open router in San Francisco. He looked up the web page for the Grand Marina and identified the location of our slip. Using the navigation software on the computer, which is networked to the radar/chart plotter at the wheel, he placed a waypoint at the location of the slip. I was then able to steer us right into our berth.

When we went up to the marina office, they already had the paperwork almost completed. I would love to get used to this kind of service! That afternoon I called my brother and asked him why he hadn't arranged for a rental car!

October 10, 2006

Still in the gale force winds. We checked the weather forecast and the gale winds were going to continue throughout the day. But, if we headed in closer to shore we would be out of the strong winds. So, we angled off to the East about twenty miles until we were about ten miles from shore. Sure enough, the winds died down and the seas leveled out. Boy, are those forecasters good!

This evening we heard a message from the Coast Guard on the VHF radio. They were receiving a 121.5 MHz emergency signal. They estimated the location and asked for all vessels to make sure they weren't accidentally sending out the signal. We don't carry an emergency transmitter on that frequency but a lot of other boats and aircraft still have that type of beacon. I checked the location and realized it was only about three miles from us. I contacted the Coast Guard and asked if they wanted us to check the location.

 Once we arrived on location the Coast Guard had us search the area, smell the air, and shine a light around. We also checked the 121.5 frequency for any signal. All was negative and the Coast Guard thanked us for our efforts.

October 9, 2006

Off the coast of California. We have been flying the spinnaker in comfortable winds all day. In the afternoon we checked the marine weather forecast. Uh oh! The forecast included the "G" word, as in GALE!

Now, in the marine world the word gale means winds of 32 to 38 knots (37 to 44 MPH). Pretty stiff, but well within the capabilities of our boat. As it got on toward evening I was reluctant to douse the spinnaker because we were doing so well with it.

But caution won out and we pulled in the spinnaker and set the mainsail. About an hour later the winds, and seas, started building. It wasn't long until we had the first reef in the mainsail and the seas built to about 11 feet. The winds were at 35 knots. The forecast was right on the button!

The winds and seas were both from the stern which was the best possible direction. We let the autopilot handle the steering and we rode the roller coaster all night long. Looking out the back at the incoming seas was not something you wanted to do for very long. It was way too scary!

October 8, 2006

Off the coast of Oregon. We were about even with Florence at 9:00 this morning. The seas are easy and the wind is from the stern. So far we haven't sunk!

October 7, 2006

We crossed the Columbia River Bar this morning. Brandon has joined us for the trip from Astoria to San Diego. We're doing four hour watches so each of us is off-watch for two eight hour periods per day. So far it's working out rather well.

October 5, 2006

Still in Astoria. Jerry & Shirleey, our neighbors, are driving up for a visit. Heather doesn't know they're coming so it will be a surprise. They are bringing the items from home we forgot.

October 4, 2006

We made it to Astoria. The engine wouldn't start this morning. When Heather shut it down last night she left it in gear. It took me a few minutes to figure out it was the neutral safety switch. No big deal, now I'll know to check that first instead of last.

It's still almost impossible to move around below decks with all the junk we haven't stowed. The first thing we forgot was Rusty's electric shaving razor. We are planning to stay here a couple of days to get things put where they belong before heading out to sea. 

October 3, 2006

Departed Rocky Pointe Marina near Scappoose, Oregon for the last time. We're heading for Astoria and points south. We spent two days transferring about five truck loads of clothing, food, supplies, CDs, tools, and everything else we could think of to the boat. I hate to think of how much we've forgotten. Don't for a minute think we have any idea of where to stow all this junk!

April 17 - 24, 2006

Took the train from Portland to Oakland to attend the Strictly Sail boat show. This will be the last boat show we attend before heading out to see some of the world.

The show was great. We attended several seminars, bought a water maker, life raft, EPIRB, clothing, boots, storage containers, and spent way too much money.

The Amtrak train ride was a lot of fun. Great meals, wine tasting, very helpful staff, comfortable room, beautiful scenery.