October 6, 2014 - San Francisco

Awesome time touring in San Francisco!  Of course we had some adventure on the way over from Sausalito that are noteworthy.  Check in time for the marina is normally noon but there was no other vessel in the slip we were going to occupy so they told us to come anytime.

Motoring over, the Coast Guard calls us on VHF 16 telling us we are being hailed on VHF 13 (Bridge to Bridge).  Switching, the captain of a large freighter headed out of S.F., asks us of our intentions.  Steve makes the statement we intend cross the channel to S.F. ahead of him (we see him on AIS)  Setting the scene for you, there is some fog, we can still see a distance although this freighter is not visible (900ft in length or so and HUGE!).  Captain Steve makes the right decision and states we will instead let them pass and cross the shipping channel after they pass as we do not have a visual on them.  Just when you think all is fine, it is not, the current is strong and Steve has to hit the throttles hard in order to avoid hitting hitting a channel buoy.  We were being set by the current and drifting right into it, driving forward and also floating sideways.  I would say we missed it by not more than 20 feet.  I was shaking after that. Steve had had a visual on the buoy and was quite far to the port side.  He had to look at the chart plotter, talk to the captain of the freighter, and contend with a huge wake from another freighter.  During that "mess" the buoy got dangerously close, as we were being pushed sideways by the 5 knot current, while moving forward at about 6 knots.  It was a surprising event.

Getting over to the entrance to the Marina at Pier 39, the current is ripping through the marina as there are only pilings surrounding the marina, so current can flow through them.  Needless to say, after the other experience with the wild current , we decided to tour the bay for a couple hours and enter close to slack – not a lot of room to maneuver in the marina!  Plus we will be right in view of a restaurant or two, and a ton of seal lion spectators.  We were moored right behind the famous Pier 39 Sea Lion floats, which has become a major tourist attraction.

Later we enter without issue and get tied up in a very rough marina.  Perfect timing on our return to the marina though, the first military vessel (an aircraft carrier) was coming in with the Police, Coast Guard, and fire boats giving them a formal greeting!  Police kept us far away.  This was our first experience pulling into a slip where both fingers are ours.  These vessels that do it everyday are quick to move and make it into these types of spots.  Captain Steve did a great job of getting us in there!  We had three very rolly (I know this is not a true word but it was reality) and noisy (dock lines groaning from the movement) nights along with the sea lion docks to our stern, but it was well worth it.

Freighter coming out of the fog as we motor to Pier 39 Marina

Military ship coming in for Fleet Week

We walked up Lombard Street, also to Coit Tower, and spent an entire day in the Exploratorium.  My (Kathy) cousin Kristen, partner Stephanie and son Hunter spent an afternoon and evening with us showing us the sights, with China Town as the highlight.  It was great to catch up with them as we had not seen them in maybe 3 years.  Kristen grew up in N.J. so she and I spent quite a few holidays and vacations together as I grew up on Long Island, only a few hours away.

From Coit Tower, Pier 39 Marina (our boat) and Alcatraz.  See it? Blue top catamaran, to the right of it and bow facing us.

Coit Tower (statue of Christopher Columbus too)

Adagio and the Pier 39 West Basin Marina

All of us at the gates to China Town

Kathy's cousin Kristen, Stephanie, Hunter, Kevin and Cindy in China town

Ice cream at Ghirardelli's, yummy!

Zoltar gave us a very appropriate and positive fortune, one for this trip - a keeper!

Yes, Kristen bought this one, looks great on her!

Another military ship coming in for fleet week, from our Pier 39 slip, Sea Lions dock as well...

Kevin and Steve with pedal power at the Exploratorium

Kevin is being silly at the Exploratorium

My infrared family!

We did not have quite enough time to do all the things we wanted but it was Fleet Week so we had to leave and no other marina’s had anything for us near the city.  Next trip, on the way back, we want to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge for sure!  We had our bikes but not enough days.  Alcatraz is also on our return trip to-do list.  Kathy and I have been there before, but the kids need to see it.  There were no tickets available for about 10 days, it's a popular attraction.

The kids had no boat-school for a week and now we are trying to get them back into it!

October 5, 2014 - Golden Gate Bridge and Sausalito

(This post was written days ago but we have had no wifi until now, so it is a delayed post)

Today was a milestone for us.  We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and entered San Francisco Bay.  What a great feeling to have made it back down the coast, returning Adagio back to her home waters.

 At around 7:00AM we departed Drakes Bay and were greeted by a spouting Whale.   No great picture to show but it was a nice start to our morning.  About 20 minutes later Kathy spotted several spouts.  We counted 4 perhaps 5 whales in this pod.  It was exciting to see so many at once.

 

Two whales diving, leaving Drake's Bay heading for San Francisco

The ride to San Francisco was calm, but there were a ton of fishing boats to contend with.  Sport and charter fishing is alive and well here. We took the inside route through Bonita Channel so we could avoid Potato Patch Shoals.  As we exited Bonita Channel we had our first full view of the famous Golden Gate Bridge!  AWESOME doesn't adequately describe this sight, but is all I can come up with after only one cup of coffee this morning.

 

There it is, the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our first sight of the famous bridge

About to pass under the Golden Gate Bridge

We passed under the bridge and then slowly cruised close to the interesting San Francisco waterfront.  This is going to be a great place to explore.  We will walk the entire waterfront.  We will go up Coit Tower, ride a cable car.  Go to Ghirardelli Square.   Check out Fisherman’s Wharf.  And more......  What a fun stop this is going to be!

After passing Pier 39 we turned and headed toward Alcatraz.  We passed close by and got a good look at the former prison. Then over to Angel Island to take a look at the anchorage to see if we could squeeze in.  No room, all the buoys were taken, the docks are for day use only, and anchoring is not allowed.  So, we headed for our planned destination of Sausalito to drop the anchor with a few hundred other boats.

 

Alcatraz.

We anchored and deployed the flopper stoppers immediately.  There is a lot of boat traffic here (wave generators!) and watching the sailboat masts swinging wildly from side to side is not comforting.  The flopper stoppers help, but they certainly do not eliminate all the rolling motion. 

Flopper stoppers deployed.  There is a device hanging off the end of each pole
that helps reduce the rolling motion of the boat at anchor.

Anchored at Sausalito

The kids spent a lot of time swimming and playing in the 64 degree water.  They had a blast!  Zappa, our kitty even went for a swim.  It was an accident, and is the first time he has ever fallen off the boat.  He timed his jump from the cockpit floor to the top surface of the hull just as a big boat wake sent the boat rocking.  His intended landing surface dropped several inches before he landed, which allowed him to completely overshoot his target and plummet over the side of the boat and into the drink.  Kevin jumped in immediately to save Zappa and only received a small scratch from his desperate claws.   Zappa spent the next several hours cleaning himself.

Swimming in the warm waters,  Well, warm compared to our water back home (in the 50's)

Cindy climbs our "climbing rope" which we hang over the side of the boat

Washing off the salt water after Zappa fell in and went
swimming.  Well, at least we know he can swim.

We ventured into Sausalito several times and walked the entire town.  It’s a nice little waterfront town with tons and tons of shops to peruse.  We were there when a car show was happening in the park.  I was the only one interested in this, and I enjoyed it.  I saw several 1960’s Shelby Cobras, a few Ferrari's, some really rare BMW’s, a fantastic Mini from 1966, and many interesting and gorgeous old cars.  There was even a good rock band playing for the event.  We were treated to a fireworks show over San Francisco after dark.

 

There was a huge kids sailboat race going on when we arrived.  Here, some of the kids
are being towed back to their marina.

Beautiful fireworks show over San Francisco, as seen from Sausalito

We have called a lot of San Fran marinas and slips are hard to come by right now.  Fleet Week starts Thursday and most of the marina’s are full with boats coming to town for the event.  Fleet week is when the Navy ships arrive.  It’s a big party all over this town.  We have secured a slip at Pier 39 right on the heart of town for 3 nights, just before fleet week begins.  It will be perfect for spending time in San Fran, since everything will be just outside our doors.

October 4, 2014 - Drakes Bay CA

We had a great overnight passage from Fort Bragg to Drake's Bay, which is just 20 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge.  We wanted a break from all the marina days we have had on the trip so far.  We typically anchor out 95% or more back home in the San Juan's.  So, spending the past month basically in marinas is not our normal boating style.  A day at anchor was in order.

It was a 16 hour trip which meant we would have to do some of the trip after dark.  Since the Noyo River is a tight river, with a bar crossing, we were not to eager to transit this in the dark.  We decided to leave around 3:30 in the afternoon which would put us at Drake's Bay at around 8:00AM.  We left in calm conditions and crossing the bar was easy, although the swell did build as we entered the ocean.  It remained a bit bouncy for the first hour or two until we got offhore a bit and into deeper water.  After that the winds slowly subsided, the swell decreased, and the ride was very nice.  It was  clear evening with a half-moon to guide us.  Kathy and I both commented the next day that night passages are very nice when the conditions are right.  The kids are both asleep and require no attention.  It is relaxing and gives one time to think/contemplate/day-dream without interruption.  This kind of 'free time' is something we don't get enough of in our hectic everyday lives back home.
We neared Point Reyes at daybreak and rounded the corner into Drake's Bay just after sunrise.  We set the anchor between two sailboats.  It was 8:00AM, right on schedule.  This is a very large bay, and it was named after Sir Frances Drake who reportedly spent 5 weeks in this bay repairing his ship after being beat up by the ocean while exploring the west coast.

Sunset on the Pacific Ocean.  Nice seas for motoring all night.

Pt. Reyes lighthouse, just before sunrise.

Sunrise as we are turning the corner into Drakes Bay

We took the dinghy out for a tour of the bay.  We have not been in the dinghy since back in Westport WA.

Drakes Bay is large.  It offers great protection from north winds.

A remnant from days gone by.  Abandoned fishing building.

After lunch we hopped in the dinghy to go the beach.  This will be our first "surf landing".  We almost never have breaking ocean waves on our beaches in the San Juan's or Gulf Islands.  Down in Mexico they we be commonplace.  We picked a spot with minimal surf, although it was still breaking and the waves were a few feet tall.  We waited for a gap in the wave train and headed in.  No real drama getting onto the beach and offloading our stuff.  We turned the boat around at the next big wave and started wading it back out into deeper water.  At the next gap in the waves we pushed it out past the surf line.  But, I had trouble getting the motor down and got broadside by a breaking wave.  Lots of water in the boat but Kevin was with me and grabbed the bailing pump and started pumping.  I never said a word, he did this all by himself.  Great job Kevin!  We each grabbed a paddle and got the boat past the surf line and I tossed our anchor off the bow.  Then Kevin and I waded back to shore. The boat was fine most of the time but a few waves broke early an were very close to the dinghy.  We will have to perfect our dinghy landing procedures, as this was not the smoothest of operations.

Cindy watches as Kevin and Steve get the dinghy past the surf line.

Kevin and Cindy start playing in the surf. The water is about 60 degrees.

Cindy checking out a sea lion on the beach.  We though he was dead as he didn't
move at all, even though we were yelling at him.  He wasn't dead though.  He scampered
back to the water shortly after this picture was taken.

We played on the sandy beach for a few hours.  We all got soaked getting back into the dinghy.  Kathy was wearing her inflatable lifejacket and it deployed after a wave dowsed her.  Ooops.  Another lesson learned; don't wear the inflatable if there is any chance of a surf landing.  Conventional life jackets only.

We played some games after dinner and enjoyed being on the hook again.  Although we were exposed to a SW ocean swell and none of us were used to rolling around after being tied to docks for so long.  Our stabilizer flopper-stoppers were out, but we were still rolling in the seas.  I enjoy it, but the rest of the crew isn't quite so fond of the constant motion.

Next stop.....  San Francisco!

October 2, 2014 - Fort Bragg CA

We spent several days in Fort Bragg waiting for a weather system to pass.  It is an old fishing village and fishing still rules.  Jerry, the harbormaster, is great.  Very friendly and helpful.  The marina is across the Noyo River from town so we got out our trusty bikes and rode over the bridge and into town.  The bridge is new, just built in 2005 when the 50 year old bridge was deemed unsafe in an earthquake.  The new bridge has great pedestrian walkways on each side.  It was very safe.  There were also bike lanes all the way to town, although Cindy and Kevin would rather ride on the sidewalks and jump the little driveway bumps on their bikes.

The Noyo River entrance to Fort Bragg.  Very narrow and interesting.

The "old-town" district has a bunch of cute shops, and places to eat.  We explored for a while and then continued our ride, heading back over the bridge to a nice trail system along the cliffs.  The views were spectacular.  We could also see why we were tied to a dock on the marina.  The winds had kicked up as forecast, and the sea would not have been much fun today.  Small craft advisories had been issued, and on the ocean you take those seriously.

Great Views from the trail atop the ocean cliffs.

The seas were far rougher than when we came in yesterday.  Today the winds are
b;lowing 20+ knots and the seas have grown quite a bit.  This is why we are in Fort Bragg
on our bikes!

Beautiful weather for a bike ride.  Sunny and warm.

There were quite a few deer on the ride along the cliffs and we stopped a few times to look at them.  There is a very nice market at the top of the hill just above the marina we are staying in.  So, we stopped and loaded our backpacks with some necessities.

While at the dock the kids continued home schooling.  We are managing to keep on schedule so far, but at times it is tough.  Being underway can at times make school work very tough.  Cindy is a little prone to motion sickness while reading, something we learned in road trips to Idaho.  Home-school involves a lot of reading.  When the situation allows we try to get a little ahead with home-school so we can spend more of the day out exploring when in a port.

There were several more bike rides during our stay.  On one we headed to a miniature golf place we saw on our first ride.  We had a little trouble finding it, and when we did finally get there we found out that it was their day off.  The place was closed.  Oh well.  We stopped at the market again, and also next door to pick up a few Pappa Murphy's pizzas for dinner.

Riding the cliff-top trail along the coast.

Interesting name for this scenic ocean viewpoint

I (Steve) worked on our bikes, fixing several issues with all 4 bikes.  My new bike is still having trouble shifting the front derailleur, but the rest of it is great.   We are debating if we want to sell the bikes in San Diego, as they may not be of much use in Mexico (compared to the US).  In Mexico there are not the great bike paths we have here, they will be a big target for thieves, and they take up a lot of room on the boat deck, making access to our kayaks very tough.  But, the bikes have been such a benefit so far, we may keep them on-board hoping they continue to get the constant use they have received so far.  They have really made life in port much more interesting.

We have not had internet access in Fort Bragg, other than my AT&T cell phone.  No Verizon signal for our jetpack, and no wifi.  As with most American's these days, we have grown accustomed to having the internet all the time.  When it's gone it seems very strange.  Once in Mexico we will have NO internet access the majority of the time.   So, we need to start getting used to this change.  Blog updates will be far less frequent in Mexico.

September 30, 2014 - Eureka to Fort Bragg

Exiting the bar at Eureka was a little lumpy, but not bad.  There were no breaking waves to battle, nor was there any wind worth mentioning.  It was quite dark even with our nice lights.  I think we need even more candlepower if we are going to be doing this kind of boating on a regular basis.  I don't expect to, but you never know what lies ahead.

After the bar we got out into the Pacific Ocean again.  I breathed a sigh of relief with the bar now behind us.  The seas grew a bit and they were confused.  There was not much of a regular wave pattern so the boat was being tossed about in an uncomfortable motion.  The kids had moved to our bed, which is at the center of motion in all directions and is the best place to be when it gets rough.  They were completely unaware of our discomfort just 8 feet above their peaceful environment.  They were sound asleep.  Zappa our cat started showing signs of sea sickness, and unfortunately so did Kathy.  Eventually the seas won, and Kathy did indeed become seasick.  She took a nap on the settee for a few hours while I motored toward Cape Mendocino in the dark.  Zappa never did get sick, but he was not very happy about being underway again.

The infamous Cape Mendocino.  It was just fine the day we passed, thankfully.

Kathy awoke as it was getting light outside.  We were still 45 minutes from the Cape and conditions were good.  The sea had sorted itself out as we got into deeper water and were riding on a comfortable swell from the stern.  The winds were light.  Visibility was good.  All systems running perfectly.  I felt ready to round Cape Mendocino.  Kathy returned to the settee to rest some more.

The Cape proved to be an easy passage for us.  No huge waves or sudden winds.  This place has a terrible reputation for being violent and unpredictable.  Fortunately we skated though on an "off-day".  No drama or excitement.  That's the best kind of boating; uneventful.

During our transit to Fort Bragg we had a small pod of Dall's Porpoises come play in our bow wake for a few minutes.  It was GREAT.  They would zip around our bow going from side to side popping up to catch a breath with a loud "whoosh" sound of air.  Then back down to zip around some more.  There were probably 20 of them playing at the bow of our boat.  As quickly as they appeared, they disappeared.  It was exciting.

Watching Dall's porpoises play in our bow wake.  Beautiful
weather and sea conditions, just south of Cape Mendocino.

Dall's porpoises come to play

Later we spotted a whale spout several times, but we never saw anything more.  A bit later we saw a few sunfish floating on the surface.  We saw a handful of Valella float by.  Nothing like a few days earlier when we saw them by the thousands.  The sun was out and the winds were ranging between 7-12 knots.  The seas were relatively smooth and it was a comfortable ride.  Kathy and I each took turns napping on the nice bench seat on the bow.  It was very warm nestled into the bench seat.  With the wind from behind us there was no breeze on the bow and the sun felt quite warm.  It was fabulous.

A sunfish.  He appears to be injured.  I saw several others that
swam away as we got close, so I didn't get pictures of them.

Here's a good article about sunfish:
http://marinelife.about.com/od/fish/tp/10-Facts-About-Ocean-Sunfish.htm

We adjusted our cruising speed early on in the passage so we could arrive at Fort Bragg around 6:15PM.  It's very hard to predict currents on a 105 miles passage, and the GPS speed is constantly fluctuating as the boat rides up and down the swells.  Nonetheless we arrived very close to our predicted time.  We were about 20 minutes early.   Not too bad after 15 hours of motoring.

The entrance to Fort Bragg on the Noyo River is definitely one to remember.   You cannot even see the entrance from offshore.  It starts out in small bay that is very shallow on the sides, with many rocks awaiting an errant navigator.  You then move into a very narrow bar that also has submerged rocks on one side.  Then you round a tight buoy-marked turn while going under the highway 1 bridge.  There are several waterfront restaurants lining the entrance and we could see people snapping pictures of us was we passed by.  Then it's a winding river full of buildings built on pilings over the water, and many fishing boats tied to piers.  It is very narrow and picturesque.  It's one of the most memorable places I have ever taken a boat.  I have never experienced a waterway like this before.  It would make a great setting for a Hollywood high-speed boat chase scene!  Or, throw in a little fog after dark and it could be the creepy "pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland.  Line up a few drunken sailors on the banks singing "yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" and you could completely skip the Disneyland version.  It is very cool.

The narrow bar entrance to Noyo river.  That's the highway 1 bridge, built in
2005 after the old bridge was determined to be dangerous in an earthquake.

Very interesting, and cool Noyo River.  It might look spooky at night with a
little fog.  

A commercial fishing boat comes in after dark.  Fort Bragg is very interesting.

We will spend a few days here waiting for the next break in the weather.  That break should be on Thursday or Friday.  Fort Bragg looks like a good place for the bikes.  The real town is on the other side of the river so we will need to ride our bikes over the bridge we passed under yesterday.  Town awaits us on the other side.

Adagio tied safely to the docks at Noyo River Public Marina.
Fort Bragg California.

September 29, 2014 - Eureka - where's my bike!

Eureka was a nice stop.  There are some great sand beaches nearby, and it is right next to the redwood forest.  We were able to ride our bikes from the Woodley Island Marina, over a bridge, and get into Eureka's "old town".  It was full of small shops and restaurants and bars.  Unfortunately it is also filled with homeless people.  They are everywhere you look.  On almost every street corner.  Sleeping on benches and in alleys.  Pushing shopping carts with all of their belongings inside or wearing large backpacks stuffed with everything they own.  Some had bikes and many had skateboards.  A large percentage of them had dogs, and smoked cigarettes.  Where they get the money to feed their dogs, and their cigarette habit I don't know.

We had one unfortunate encounter with a street person.  Well, I (Steve) did.  We rented a car on Friday and were over in town on our bikes.  It was getting near the time the car was to be ready so Kathy called and the car was ready, but they had nobody to come pick us up from the marina.  Instead of us all riding back to the marina to await their coming to get us we decided that I would ride over to the rental car place just 4 blocks away and the Kathy and the kids would ride back to the marina.  I rode to the Enterprise Rentals and leaned my bike against their front window, next to the door.  The building is about 100' back from the street and fenced on three sides.  There were several employees cleaning cars and a few customers renting cars.  I waited my turn standing in the doorway enjoying the sunny day.  I finally went inside and filled out paperwork.  I turned my back on my bike for maybe 90 seconds.  As I finished initialing the last field in the rental agreement I turned around after hearing a noise.  Much to my horror a guy was rapidly riding off on my bike out the parking lot past several employees.  I ran outside to the road and he was turning the corner at the next intersection, my bike helmet still dangling from the handlebars.  My bike had been stolen!  The thief had walked up to the building from the street, even poking his head in the doorway to see if anybody was watching, and then grabbed the bike, jumped on, and rode away.   He was a block away in less then 30 seconds.  My back was turned for 90 seconds, the bike just 5 feet away from me on the other side of an 8' tall glass window.  The thief was within perhaps 8 feet of me when he came through the doorway.  He was VERY bold and determined.  We have been extremely careful about locking our bikes and bringing our helmets with us when we go inside shops or to eat a meal.  But, at the car rental facility I never felt like the bike would even be considered as a target for theft.  Days later I am still shocked at this bold crime.  We will never leave a bike unlocked again, even if just 5 feet way.

The police were called and I gave them a description of my bike.  Unfortunately I don't have the frames serial number.  An employee gave a very good description of the thief.  They looked at the security video and the image of the thief was very poor and probably useless.  The officer said that theft is big problem here.  I doubt I'll ever see the bike again.  I think I know how these people are paying for dog food and cigarettes.  It was a unique bike and was perfect for this trip.  It was a Hummer brand folding mountain bike.  They are pretty rare.  It had front shocks and a front disc brake.  It had good quality components and was in very good condition.  My friend Jamie found us this bike and an identical one on Craig's list two months before we left.  We bought both bikes and Cindy is using the other.  Even though this bike is perfect for our trip, I don't care too much about the bike as we are considering our 4 bikes as temporary/disposable vehicles.  We are sure that the salt air and riding on sandy/salty beaches will ruin these bikes before the end of our tip.  The real bummer of this theft is that we really rely on the bikes for getting around when we are in port.   They allow us to explore each town quickly, easily, cheaply, and together.  They provide exercise and a quick method to get to a grocery store to re-provision (sometimes grocery stores are miles from the harbor).   Having just 3 bikes is going to really change the rest of our trip.  What to do?

Cindy's Hummer.  My stolen bike was identical to this.  Aluminum frame.
Great components.  Front disc brake.  front shocks.  Folding frame. It was fun.

Well, Craigs List is going strong in Eureka and we have a car for a few days.  This is a perfect opportunity to search for a new bike.  I scoured Craigs List and found a decent looking Diamondback aluminum mountain bike cheap.  We went and looked at it Saturday after provisioning at Costco and spending time in the Redwoods.  The bike was in good shape and the price was right.  So we bought it.  The bike needs some fine tuning; the brakes squeal badly and the front derailleur is not adjusted correctly and doesn't shift well.  Other than that it is going to be great.  I can have this bike all tuned up in a few hours.

Yesterday after spending a good part of the day at Clam Beach playing in the sand and surf, I bought a new helmet at Target.  We also bought a lock to replace the lock that was on my bike when it was stolen.  All of the stolen items have been replaced; problem resolved.

The replacement bike.  It will certainly do.  But, it's not he nice ride the Hummer was.
It's the difference between a $700 bike (Hummer) and a $350 bike (the Diamondback).
Don't get me wrong, the Diamondback is a decent bike and it will definitely meet our needs.

So, we are back in business and can again ride our bikes together to explore future towns.  We also learned a valuable (but sad) lesson.  Don't ever leave your valuables unattended.  Not even for 90 seconds.  This is a lesson our kids have never learned growing up in La Conner where crime is all but non-existent.  People don't lock their cars or bikes.  Houses remain unlocked even when nobody is home.  Garage doors can be open all day and night with nothing disappearing.  Our police blotter in the newspaper back home is filled with dogs barking, speeding cars, false alarms in security systems, but never any theft or crime.  Our previous home in a quiet neighborhood in Snohomish was also like this.  We never had any theft or crime worries.  I grew up on Mercer Island where theft and crime was also non-existent.  I have lived a sheltered life, perhaps that's why I like living in Shelter Bay so much?  :-)

Ironically, Eureka means "I found it".  Unfortunately it is where "I lost it".

So, as we push further south, I am finally learning about the real world and it's day to day problems.  So are our kids.  This is a trip of learning in so many ways.  Some of the lessons are unexpected and unplanned, which makes them even more meaningful.

September 29, 2014 - weekend in Eureka

Friday afternoon we rented a car, and had a bike stolen.  See info about this even in the next blog entry.  We drove to Trinidad, which is about 20 minutes north of Eureka.  It's a beautiful location with spectacular rock outcroppings in the sea.  We have heard that this is a great kayaking region with lots of interesting shoreline to explore.

Scenic Trinidad.

We went to Zach and Susan's house in Trinidad for a great BBQ tuna dinner.  Zach has been a crabber for 30+ years and knows how to cook all kinds of seafood.  In fact, they owned a seafood restaurant for many years and also a small crab market in town.  The tuna was excellent!  Kevin even thought it was OK, and he is a boy that normally refuses any kind of seafood.  Cindy would not even try it.  I'm not completely convinced that these kids are really ours, because Kathy and I both love seafood.

Zach grilles some Tuna to perfection.  Thanks Zach and Susan for having ius
over for a very nice evening!  We'll see you on our way back home, someday.

Kevin and Cindy each took turns being hoisted by Zach's
huge winch in his amazing shop.  I'd love to have a shop like
this someday!  The kids spent some time playing ping pong
in the loft area.

Early Saturday morning I spent a few hours working on Tom's commercial fishing boat fabricating and installing all the heavy cabling for a new high output alternator he is installing.  This will eliminate his need to run the generator whenever he leaves the dock.  I left the cables all ready for him to connect to the new alternator.  He is fabricating a custom mounting bracket.  He later gave me the name and number of a friend in San Francisco that has a fleet of commercial boats.  He wants me to come do some work for him while we are in San Francisco!  I could almost make a living while cruising if I wanted to.....

Now I feel like a terrible parent.  Kevin smokes
his first pack.  Fortunately, they taste like orange.
But still, this is not what I like to see.  He begged
for a day.  I'm getting some realistic temporary tattoos
in the next town to complete the package.  Yikes!
... Just like Dad  - NOT!

On Saturday we drove to the "Avenue of the Giants" in the redwood forest and took several hikes through the redwoods.  We drove about 30 miles through the redwood forest.  It is amazing.  The redwoods are huge and some of them are taller than the Statue of Liberty.  Some are 2000 years old.  That is mind boggling.  We learned a lot about redwood trees.  The bark can be up to a foot thick and is fire and bug resistant.  The roots are quite shallow but get interlocked with other trees to make them better able to stand up to strong winds.  They live on terraces just above the floodplains of rivers.  Only 4% of the redwood forest remains.  The rest has been logged and destroyed by man.  So sad.  Thank goodness for a preservation act in the 1930's or these trees would probably have been wiped off the face of the earth years ago.

On Saturday we also drove to a nearby beach and played for a few hours.  After that we drove out to the breakwater entrance and watched the huge waves breaking in the entrance.  I can't imagine any boat getting through what we were watching.  It was pretty scary.  Fortunately, NOAA has a great bar prediction site that seems to be very accurate.  It shows hour by hour, day by day, what conditions they expect in the bar.  When we got back to the boat we compared the prediction to our observations.  They matched exactly, which is quite reassuring.

Cindy towels off after playing in the ocean.

Boogie Boarding in the ocean.  Eureka CA.

Zach and Susan invited us to their cabin up in Brookings.  It is right on a river and looked great in the pictures they showed us.  We intended to go there Sunday afternoon, but it's a 2 hour drive there and 2 hours back.  We got a late start Sunday and decided to instead spend that 4 hours of drive time at a nearby beach playing in the sand and the surf.  We even flew a small kite that we bought back in Westport.  It was quite warm when we arrived at the beach as there was not much of a breeze.  By mid afternoon the wind had kicked up and it got a little colder.



Late Sunday afternoon we returned the car and prepared the boat for an early morning departure.  There is a one day break in the weather as a trough moves inland and an offshore high begins to develop.  This will give us a day of light wind as the winds shift from the south to the north.  After this calm day we will see a few days of very strong northerly winds and steep waves.  The NOAA Eureka bar forecast looks great for all of Monday morning.  We need to arrive at our next stop (Fort Bragg CA) before dark, as it's a tricky entrance that can be hazardous to an unfamiliar boater after dark.  Indeed, a friend of mine came here earlier this year and he said there were a few wrecks on the bar from people that made small navigational mistakes.  There is very little room for error on this entrance.

It's a 15 hour run from Eureka to Fort Bragg so we settled on a 3:15AM departure.  It's not much fun getting up at 2:45 to check the latest weather and get underway.  I think Kathy and I were both anxious about crossing the bar in the dark, after the conditions we observed a few days before.  We were going to have to trust the NOAA bar forecast, as we would not be able to see it until we turned the corner and were in it.