Day 498 Into Drake's Bay

We took off from Ft. Bragg/ Noyo River at exactly 1300 after taking on 100 gallons of diesel to fill up the tanks. So far, they were the cheapest place we've gotten fuel all the way down the coast. At $2.50, they were .40 cents under Port Townsend when we left there. We're still averaging about a gallon per hour which for Zephyrs weight is great milage.

As we were about to leave the dock at the marina, I talked to a boatload of Coast Guard Auxiliary members. They had just come back in from a patrol off the coast. Upon hearing where we were heading(South), they told me the winds were coming out of the South!!! Can we never catch a break? Every forecast we had(NOAA, Storm Surf, PassageWeather, and Buoy Weather) all said the winds were to be out of the Northwest to the West. So after filling the tanks at the fuel dock, out we went. Sure enough, as we left, the winds were out of the Southwest. Not much wind--maybe 8 knots, but still, hey give us a break can't you Mother Nature?

We were off for Point Arena about 30 miles South. One of the last big hurdles on the trip. We'd driven down to see it by car a few days ago. Now we would be passing it by from the water side about 5 miles off shore. The wind started to change and come out of the Northwest as the afternoon passed. Unfortunately, by that time, we wanted to make sure we passed Point Arena in the daytime so we continued to motor along. The seas were a bit confused. Some times the swells would come out of the West and sometimes the Northwest. We were forced to zigzag down the coast. Head West hitting the waves at a 45 degree angle for a while and then turn and have them off the stern and surf down the waves as they passed. Our top speed as we did this was over 10 knots!

We'd left later than we usually do as the trip was about 105 miles and if we had left at dawn, we would have gotten into Drake's Bay about midnight and I'm no fan of entering a strange bay in the night. Instead, we left at 1300 with the plan of pulling in about 0600 the following morning.

On we pressed into the night with the wind building from the North as the evening progressed finally getting into the mid 20 knot range. The Sun set about 1940 and the Moon wasn't due up until about 2200 so I had a while with no light from above. I unzipped one of the sides of the cockpit cover and stared out at the millions of stars above me. The Milky Way was amazing! For so many of the nights we have been out on passage, the night have been overcast. What a delight this was. I just wish it was warmer so I could lay out on the stern deck and watch it go by instead of huddling under a comforter in the cockpit. That time will come as we progress South toward Mexico and Central America next year.

When Tracy came on watch at 2300, I went below to check on Snowshoe. He sat in the "pilot berth" forward and just looked at me and meowed this poor little meow of "I don't like this!!! Make it stop!!". He never has travelled well when we are out. For you land lubbers, our "pilot berth" is the lower bunk bed in the forward compartment on our boat. It's well enclosed and had a cloth across about half the opening so if the boat heals the opposite way you don't fall out of the berth(OW!) In the stern compartment, the berth has us sleeping with our heads on the starboard side and our feet on the port. So as the boat rocks back and forth, so does your body. Not an easy way to sleep. In the "berth", we lie along side the hull so as the boat heels over in the waves, you are wedged in and can sleep with much more comfort.

I shinnied in with him and tried to comfort him over the next few hours trying to get some sleep as Zephyr rocked back and forth in the waves. At 0230, I returned on deck for my watch. Tracy stayed up for a while so we could talk. She had tried to get the radar tuned for better reception with little success so going through the owners manual was put on the front burner for this afternoon after we pulled in. She's watched several boats pass without showing up on the radar screen and one buoy that should have been there. About 0330, she went below to catch some sleep since we were still on schedule for a 0600 arrival. By 0430, we were enshrouded in dense fog as we approached Point Reyes just West of Drake's Bay. Tracy came back on deck as we were just South of the Point and were about to head into the bay.

We'd made good time and actually arrived by 0530 in the dark and in fog. Neither of which I cared for. We slowed down and slowly motored into the bay and found a good spot in about 29 feet and I dropped the anchor. I let out a lot of chain as Tracy put us into reverse to set the anchor and we were all set by 0620. We were finally in Drake's Bay(38 00.694N 122 57.946W) just outside of San Francisco! Another 115 miles on our way South were gone.

We stowed our gear from the cockpit and I took off for bed, cold and damp from the fog as I set the anchor. Tracy handed me a hot water bottle to help get rid of the chills. With the proper administration of some pain killers(back is still bad), I was out like a light barely remembering Tracy climbing in a few minutes later.

We arose about 1130 and made plans for tomorrows entrance under the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd confirmed our slip at the marina in Oakland on Wednesday while we still had phone service off the coast as we came South so we have a "home" for the next several days once we clear the bridge. It will be good to see our son and his fiance again and spend some time with them. I'm going to have to go up the mast while we are there to replace the masthead light again as it has failed again. One is being shipped to Matt's so we will get it in time for the installation while at the marina. Tonight, we will do it the old fashioned way with a kerosene lamp on the stern.

Sorry for no pictures but I don't have internet connection and this program doesn't allow them unless we're connected. Look for them on tomorrows post as we should be at the marina then.