Flight of the Blue Eagle

I'm glad that you guys have been enjoying these postings. I've felt really bad for not replying to each comment in turn, but as often as not, my postings were being done late at night, tired from a long day, and being keyed slowly into my iPhone (it's good, but not nearly as fast as a real keyboard).

Please know that, even when not replied to, each of your postings was read out loud on board (my dad prefers a much larger screen), and the both of us enjoyed a sense of your company, as if everyone was there in the boat with us.

We always enjoy a trip out to Angel Island, as well as the company of other C-Brats. Even if you don't have your boat with you, but happen to be in the area, and want to get together, please email us and we'll see what we can do.

So to continue the journey home...

The next morning we were still too tired to get up early and do a long days trip home. One of the problems with cruising this late in the season and heading north, as well as having layover days due to weather, is that the amount of sunlight in the day decreases even faster. When we started out in Marina del Rey the sun was rising at 6:47am and setting at 6:39pm. Eight days later, in Monterey, that was down to 7:08am and 6:40pm, a loss of 22 minutes of daylight.

We decided to sleep in, and make the hop across Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz. It is only about 22nm, which allowed us to sleep in, lazily get across, still have time to enjoy the boardwalk, and have a nice dinner. It would also give us a head start on the final leg.

About a quarter of the way across it started getting rough, just 2-4 ft wind waves, not with the big waves of the day before, but with enough frequency (2-4 seconds) that we couldn't go above 3-4 knot without serious pounding. We tried getting up on plane without much success. At this speed we wouldn't reach port until after late in the evening, too late to do anything onshore. Finally, thinking how this stretch of water had been rough in the other direction, and remembering the lessons of the day before, we headed in to the shallow water, right up against the coast (40' deep vs. 2000' deep). Sure enough, even though the swells were larger, the wind waves became negligible, we were able to get back to full speed, and we arrived in Santa Cruz shortly thereafter.

Around 3:30pm we dropped anchor in the harbor, in between the pier and the shore, at about 36°57'38" N 122°0'58" W. The water was so smooth that we debated leaving the motor off, and taking the dinghy right up on the shore (human powered vessels are permitted inside the swim area), but decided not to since the shore can go from smooth to waves very fast here. There was also concern about the security of the dinghy in a non-boating environment. In the end we put the motor on and headed for the pier.

The regular dinghy dock had already been pulled for the season, but the college-aged person running the kayak rental was friendly enough, and let us tie-up there as long as we left the dinghy under the pier, and were out of there by 7:30p, when the shop closed. It was great to see the look on both he and his friend's faces as my father (probably about the age of their grandfathers) nimbly scrambled up the 20 feet of partially rusty, barnacle encrusted, ladder with seaweed hanging off it, and, without a pause tossed me down a line to haul up the shore-bags (We prefer to climb first, then toss a line, rather than climbing while holding onto something, whether it is jackets or garbage.)

We really enjoyed the boardwalk today. There is always something special about being able to see the beach and the bay from The Giant Dipper, a really fun, 86 year old wooden roller coaster. Today, as an added bonus, we could see our boat, anchored peacefully in the bay, while we were on the gentle ride to the top. During the ride down I forgot to look.

We headed back to the dinghy and ended up meeting a friendly harbor patrol person on the way. It turned out that it is OK, out of season, to ignore the signs and tie-up to the loading dock, as long as you put the dinghy under the pier, out of the way; so I moved it there and we were able to enjoy a leisurely dinner ashore.

Later that night we checked the weather reports and decided to tie-up at the guest dock inside the harbor for a few days. So we tied up, left the boat in Santa Cruz, and headed home for a few days.

David
 
We made it home safe and sound. The last day of the trip, from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, was remarkably calm and without incident. Seal rock, with it's lighthouse and breaking shoals near the northern point of Monterey Bay was particularly beautiful by dawns early light, and we were able to get fairly close since it was calm outside of the breakers. Even for Santa Cruz I thought it odd that there would be so many surfers that early in the morning and as we got closer I realized that it was a small group of seals (or sea lions) that were having a fun time body surfing. I wonder if this is a natural or a learned behavior (There are many humans that surf the area during the day.). Either way, we were soon enjoying some excellent egg-beater omelets, with the works, since it was the last day of the trip and I had leftover vegetables, eggs, avocados, and cheese to use up. Then, just as we were eating breakfast, the combination of the sun behind us and the early morning haze ahead of us gave us a rainbow with its base ahead of our bow, as if it were showing us the way home.

Unlike the central coast, with its miles of high sandy cliffs and rocky shores, the coastline here offers small coves to explore, as well as onshore landmarks, such as the military radar/communications/electronic intercept post just north of there (not quite sure exactly what it is, but they have a lot of antennas), and a couple long abandoned buildings from the early cold war era NIKE missile defense. We also saw and heard our last whale blow of the trip.

As we got closer to home we also moved in closer to the shoreline, enjoying an ocean side view of our town from just outside the surf line. We discovered that a local landmark, San Pedro Rock, which juts out over 1500 ’ into the Pacific, was missing from the three most zoomed in levels of the chart plotter, even though it is there when you zoom out, and I wonder what else is missing from the data.

We cautiously put into Linda Mar bay, drawing some attention from the surfers as most boats just go past this point on their way up or down the coast. I really wanted to anchor and go get lunch at the Taco Bell there (not for the food, but it is right on the beach and has a great view of the bay and the ocean), but in the end we decided to leave it for a future trip and continued home.

We continued to stay just outside the surf until we passed the Cliff House, a historic old building which is also the westernmost point of mainland San Francisco. At that point we headed north into the channel, as there are several barely submerged rocks along the coast here.

At 12:12:07pm we passed under the Golden Gate bridge, and soon after were safely tied up back in our home port.

The total distance of the trip was about 1,035nm, including touring we did while in Southern California. Ports of call included San Francisco’s Gashouse Cove, Monterey, Morro Bay State Park, Santa Barbara , Marina del Rey, Two Harbors, Avalon , Santa Cruz by the boardwalk, the Port of Santa Cruz, Morro Bay Yacht Club, and The Ramp in San Francisco

On the way down, at the end of June, we waited 16 days for the weather to be just right before leaving, and were able to go all the way in one trip. On the way north, in October, we had to stop and wait for several days, on two occasions, for bad weather to pass. We found the NOAA National Weather Service reports to be vital and correct; sometimes the ETA of a storm or calm might be advanced or retarded from the original prediction, but the information is updated regularly. Swells and wind speed were not significant issues on this trip, but wind wave data should be watched closely. The BuoyData app for the iPhone came in very handy as a way to easily access real-time buoy data, a way to see actual, current, observations at sea, rather than predictions.

This trip reinforces my belief that these boats can handle more then we can. Conditions would surpass anything I would want to be out in long before reaching the safe design limits of the boat.

Thank you to everyone, both those who encouraged us, as well as discouraged us; it helped imbue us with just the right mixture of adventure and caution. I believe that any 22’+ can safely and comfortably do the north to south part of the trip, as long as they check their weather; maybe even a C-Brats cruise. If you are considering or planning a coastal trip and are interested in more details please feel free to email me.

We hope to have some pictures posted soon.

Except for that, until our next Grand Adventure, Blue Eagle out.
 
WOW- David- what a trip. Glad you guys are home safe.
Enjoyed reading about your adventure. Glad we were able to meet with you and your Dad.
 
Fascinating stuff David. Yes, I grew up as a kid in Northern/Central Calif and have always loved the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Sounds like you had great fun. Kudos to you and your dad for having the kahones to navigate the west coast of California in your C-Dory. Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you both got home safe and sound.
 
It's been foggy all day, but the sun came out just in time for us to pass under the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to Catalina once again :-) The only thing that could make this moment better is if a few other 'Brats were along side. Maybe next year...

David and Donald
Blue Eagle
 
Wow, you should be sworn into the "Brats Hall of Fame." I am impressed. I keep thinking of running from Santa Cruz to San Francisco and then chicken out.

I saw there were small craft warning for today with winds to 25knots but from the NW so they should be at your back.

I will be running out of Santa Cruz tomorrow heading offshore, perhaps we will cross wakes.

Ron
 
I would love to be out there along side of you, but will have to settle for following along with your posts of your adventure. Your SF to Catalina trips are a testament to the sea worthiness of the CD 26 Venture (and to your grit). Hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.
 
Turned out the sunshine and blue skies were just a lure.

Just outside the gate we encountered swell with wind chop large enough to force us to turn back in. We found a nice spot, just inside the gate, and await improved conditions later today, or tomorrow.

Ron, you are correct that they would have been at our back, once we turned south, but first we would have had to traverse the Ocean Beach area, with all the additional swell from the sand bars, or, we would either have had go out into deeper water, where the wind waves would have been even larger.

David
 
Things sure picked up yesterday, hopefully they will lay down for you soon.

We towed down to Ventura last month and spent time diving on Santa Cruz and Anacapa Islands, amazing.

Can't wait to take your route!

Have a great trip.

Cheers

Jim
 
I went out to the Santa Cruz one mile buoy and the wind waves convinced me to come back into the Santa Cruz wharf anchorage and do a little people watching from Sea-Cruz. I really wanted to head out to the canyon today for whale watching but once wind waves hit 3 feet and start growing towards 4 feet, I leave the ocean to the whales. I don't mind 8 foot swells as long as the period is long enough(+2x) but I hate 3 ft or larger wind waves.

David, glad to see you were able to turn around safely. I didn't quite realize the route out from the Golden Gate along Ocean Beach, so it is probably a good thing I have never quite made it that far north. I use to have a Columbia 24 that I kept trying to make it north to S.F. with and even motor sailing I was always halted somewhere a little north of Pigeon Point lighthouse. Given that a couple with a baby had sailed a Columbia 24 around the world, I always felt a bit of a failure. However, the waters off the central and northern California coast are not for sissies or fools. Sea-Cruz does give me a secure feeling, even in these waters. Just need to weather pick a bit. This August has been a bit blown out, at least ever time I have a day off.

I wish you a good trip south and much fun at Catalina. I hope to do the Catalina rally in the next few years, however with a 22 and only a single Honda 90, I will probably trailer. However, I love your travel journal on C-Brats and look forward to your further adventures.

Stay Safe -
Ron :) :)
 
The weather finally broke, and we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge once more, at 9:39 pm. 

Conditions were "W winds 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 to 3 ft. NW swell 5 to 7 ft at 8 seconds and SW 3 ft at 16 seconds. Patchy fog.", which were as good as we could hope for.

Going out the gate we had to maintain displacement speed, but once we turned south, with the waves now following us, we were able to get up on plane and maintain 15 knots (plus better fuel economy). Only as we approached Half Moon Bay, home of the Mavericks (waves),  did we have to reduce speed in order to avoid 'surfing' the boat into the next swell (on the downhill side of a swell, one can gain too much speed and plant the bow into the water at the bottom of the trench, which is not a good thing to do)

Late at night we finally put in at Pillar Point. Coming from the north the entry is a bit a round-a-bout as you have to go past it, get in the channel, and then turn north. It seems like every year or two someone tries to cut the corner, only to rediscover the thin band of shallow water with deep water on both sides, as well as the chain of rocks just under the waterline, so we carefully stayed in the channel.

Once the boat was secured, I went ashore and discovered that one of the pier-side restaurants still had a bit of chowder, despite how late it was . Got it to go, and surprised my father with it; very tasty.

In the morning we slept in until 9:00, fueled up, and headed south. We are going to try for Morro Bay, which is the longest leg we've ever attempted, but I have 50 extra gallons of fuel on board, so we should still be well within the rule of thirds. 

My father just spotted our first pod of porpoises this trip, so I'm going to stop writing, and start looking out the window. Our next post should be from Morro Bay.

David

PS Ron, are you out on the water now? We are at 37 deg 04' N, 122 deg 19' W, and will monitor ch. 69 in case you are.
 
Good to see you got out the gate David.

Today Sea-Cruz is back on its trailer in Santa Cruz Harbor and I am at home in the hills above Santa Cruz looking over the ocean, well looking at the fog/clouds, and wishing I was out there. However, I am starting to dream of the calmer seas September brings.

I Just plotted your position and it looks like you are making good time heading south. Probably right off shore of Monterey Bay at about 2:00pm.

David, you and your father's willingness to face the uncomfortable to experience the adventures of life is an inspiration. Better to visit the porpoise than to watch them on T.V.

Ron
 
We crossed the mouth of Monterey Bay with no significant wind-waves, which was nice because sometimes the weather there can force you to follow the shore; a much longer route. 

Then, about 6 nm offshore, and just south of Monterey we started getting 3' wind-waves and lots of white caps; a sign that our limits are being approached. My father's comment was that "going downhill in August is reminding me of going uphill in October"(downhill means going south, with the current, which is usually smoother then the reverse). I changed course to quickly bring us closer to the shore, hoping that conditions wouldn't be as bad near the coast, as well as to be better positioned to seek shelter fast if conditions continued to degrade. Imagine our surprise when the wind and white caps totally disappeared within a mile and a quarter! Just to be prudent we continued in a bit, and stayed within 3nm of shore the rest of the day. 

Lots of sea lions were out in the area, but they appeared more intent on travel, fishing, or other sea lion 'work', rather then sunning themselves or playing with us, as they often do.

The sky was clear and we got a good look at the beautiful art deco bridge at Point Sur (abt. 36 deg. 22' N), as well as the lighthouse there.

Morro Bay was smooth as glass and we made up time on our way across, although we were careful to avoid the unmarked, unlit, pilot transfer dock, that doesn't show up on radar, and can barely seen on FLIR at 1/4 nm. Even though I knew it was there, and there was lots of moonlight, I was unable to see it with the naked eye. 

We called the Coast Guard to make sure the entry was open, since sometimes the swells break outside of it, making it too dangerous to use.  They stated that the conditions were acceptable, along with a disclaimer so I couldn't blame them if they were wrong, and so we headed in. (I wondered if the disclaimer had to do with the fact that they themselves misjudged the entry and lost a ship a few years ago; this is one of the deadliest spots on the west coast)

The Morro Bay Yacht Club was kind enough to let us tie up at their dock, and the town is as nice, friendly, and reasonably priced as it was last year, so we had a nice relaxing day ashore.

Incidentally, due to our rushing to get to the Catalina Offshore Adventure on time, despite leaving late, we managed to make it from Sausalito to Morro Bay in just under 24 hours, including dinner and a full nights sleep at Pillar Point.

It should also be noted that even though we had a heavy load, as well as lengthy periods of both hull speed in heavy chop and 20+ knots in smooth swells, that we still averaged just over 2 1/2 nm per gallon, based on actual full tank to full tank usage. 

It looks like we'll be able to make it past Point Conception before the weather gets choppy, later today (leaving at 5:30 am just to be sure). Once we get to the Santa Barbara Channel, the nautical weather forecast looks good for the foreseeable future, so Catalina, here we come :-)

David

PS Thanks to everyone who is posting back at us. Reading your postings while at sea is almost like having you here with us, and makes the trip even better.
 
For some reason I had missed these wonderful posts (and adventure). We have been up and down this coast to SF from Long Beach a number of times, in sailing vessels from 29 to 62 feet in length--and have seen conditions from 15 foot breaking seas to flat calm at almost all points. The advantage of waiting for weather windows and having a fast and shoal draft boat are clearly exploited by David. I am impressed with you seamanship and getting in and out of these wonderful little pockets which are along the coast.

The Morro Bay YC is a bright spot along this coast. We have always stopped there. After one very rough trip directly having left Long Beach at 3 AM on one morning and arrived at Morro Bay at 8 PM the next night--they had heard us on the radio earlier in the day, (Ham) and kept a spot at their dock open for us, and had hot hamburgers on the grill as we arrived.

Good luck with the rest of this voyage, and really have enjoyed your story!
 
Thanks Bob. Your comment about the hidden "wonderful little pockets" reminds me of how ships plied this coast for hundreds of years before finding the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

The trip is going well, just fell behind on posting, so let me catch up...

Continuing south from Morro Bay  we saw lots of sea lions for the first several miles.

At about 35deg. 12' N. Lat. we passed by the Diablo power generation site, a pair of nuclear reactors with what looks like a small city next to it. 

We passed a pod of some creatures that looked a bit like porpoises, including a dorsal fin, that were jumping from the water as dolphins and porpoises do, only they seemed flatter, more like a fish, and their sides were splashed with white. A bit further on, we also caught a glimpse of an Orca breaching.

Checking with Vandenburg AFB to determine if they would be launching any missiles seaward was a bit problematic. The automatic hotline wasn't working, and they didn't respond on ch. 16, so I had to call the base directly and ask them. It turned out to be difficult to find anyone who felt they were authorized to release the information, but after about a dozen transfers and new numbers I finally spoke with someone who was able to divulge that none were scheduled for that day.

The weather and sea were excellent for this area, and so I let my father take the helm going around Point Conception. He did well, and we slid past the oil platforms, (noteably Harvest, whose sea-condition reports I follow closely), and into the Santa Barbara Channel. The suddenness of the change in conditions and weather is notable, as we move from the cold current from the north, into the warmer, calmer current from the south.

Just inside the channel, south of Gaviota Canyon, we came upon an area teaming with porpoises, not just a few pods, but a porpoise convention. Some were even doing spins as they lept; quite a show.

We put into Santa Barbara harbor without incident, and had dinner at Brophy Bros. Seafood Restaurant (well worth the 1 1/2 hour wait)

David
Blue Eagle
 
Like the idea of a little warm water at this point. Good to see you are in it (warm water) and past Pt. Conception.

As Mark Twain said, "One of the coldest winters he ever spent was one summer in San Francisco." Enjoy a bit of real summer.

Ron
 
Did we even have summer this year, on the coast, in northern and central California?

The remaining trip to Marina del Rey was remarkably smooth. About an hour into the trip I used my iPhone to click the email button next to a post by Jon, of Gypsy River, who had posted that he'd arrived for the Catalina trip early, and I sent him my cell number. Sure enough, just a few minutes later, my phone rang and it was he. As we made plans for the three of us, who'd never met before, to go to dinner that night, I marveled at how efficient some technology can be, as well as how this website brings people together. 

David

PS. Please remember that we completed this trip last week before we went on the Catalina Adventure. My next posting will probably be when we begin the great, uphill (against the current) trip home, unless something noteworthy happens in the meantime.
 
After waiting 15 days for the weather at Conception/Arguillo to settle down, including one false start, we are finally able to begin our journey home. 

It should be noted that the Amtrak station is within easy walking distance of the marina, and that the Coastal Starlight follows a beautiful route along the coast for many miles. If you splurge, and get a room or roomette, it allows you access to the last remaining parlor cars in public use in the US, as well as wine and cheese tasting. The price for the rooms/roomettes also includes meals, which also helps to justify the difference.

After calling the automated number at Vandenberg AFB, (800.648.3019), to make sure it was safe to cross the missile range we headed out.

There were lots of crab pots as well as sea lions playing. They were acting quite frisky and happily poking their heads up out of the water, and I wondered whether this meant they had learned to plunder the pots.

We saw a humpback whale, the first one of this trip (not counting the three seen from the Catalina ferry), and it seemed to have a sea lion playfully swimming alongside, which I'd not seen before.

NOAA doppler radar showed thunderstorms about 10 miles west of Point Conception, and heading due south. They even outlined the lightning strike area in red, so we decided to hug the coast, just 1/2 nm out, instead of the usual 2 to 12 in order to stay away. Although it is resulted in a longer trip between Point Conception and Arguello, there is some sort of a counter-current there so we were going with the current, rather then against it. The only trade-off, as we left the coved area just before Arguello, is significant shoaling, resulting in my changing course to 1 nm out, as well as having to trim the engines in order to raise the bow in order not to bury it. As wind waves were less the 2' this was do-able, but had they been higher we would have had to turn around. 

The incessant whining of the auto-pilot's hydraulic pumps finally faded as we reached calmer waters and leveled out. 

Due to the distance from Morro Bay to Monterey it is important to get as early a start as possible, unless you wish to anchor along the way, which I did not. By this point I did not think we would make Morro Bay before the fuel depot closed, and they don't re-open until 8am, so I contemplated refueling in Port San Luis instead. Fortunately I called ahead (Portside Marine 805.595.7895.) as they had run out of fuel and the resupply, due yesterday, never arrived.

We briefly floated into a pod of very active porpoises (I always turn off the engines when they are close to us) and got to enjoy quite an energetic show. 

By this time I was considering taking a taxi to bring my portable gas cans to a regular gas station, but as soon as we rounded the corner the sea turned smooth as glass. Not only were we able to increase speed to 18-20 knots, but we were able to cut the corner and parallel the coast, rather then staying in deep water until turning for a directly perpendicular approach, as this harbor usually demands.

Suddenly there it was, the huge, domed shape of Morro Rock, vaguely silhouetted in the fog, as well as a welcoming committee of about 6-8 sea otters, and thus we got to the fuel dock with 20 minutes to spare.(DeGarimore's Central Coast 805.772.1392)

Tomorrow will be an early day, so it is time for me to go to sleep.

David
 
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