August 18, 2012. We are moored safely in Noyo Harbor,
Mendocino County, CA, USA. When we
caught up on sleep we had a discussion about how many weeks we were at
sea. We had enough info to nail down the
number accurately and found it was six nights/seven days. We had a watch system of four hours on and
four hours off. Miss Debby now plans
short hops that can be done in less than 12 hours for the next leg of our
journey.
Noyo Harbor is just south of Ft. Bragg, a town not a
military base. We have not explored the
town, but there are restaurants and a small shopping center near the
harbor. Our contacts are mostly
commercial fishermen, all of whom have interesting stories. They are trolling for salmon and tuna and
long-lining for black cod right here in California! Today for the first time in my life, I heard
a fisherman say the fishing is good.
Sorry Fritz, Terry and Andy DeV.
Some of the docks in Noyo Harbor were destroyed in the
Tsunami generated by the earthquake in Japan in 2011. Several boats were sunk and some of the
floating docks are gone. What is still
here? Pelicans, seals, sea lions,
otters, ducks, gulls, raptors-possibly osprey and crusty old fishermen.
August 16, 2012. As we approach the California coast in very
light wind at 2:00 a.m. I notice sparkles I think are a reflection of
Kalliope’s navigation lights on the waves.
There is another possibility, so I check it out by dousing all the
lights on the boat. What a beautiful
sight, they are still there, just like fire flies only under the water. They seem to be triggered by the passage of
the boat, flashing a pale green just for a second.
August 15, 2012. We are at sea off Cape Mendocino, CA, USA
on our first offshore passage. We last
saw land August 9 when we sailed into the fog at Neah Bay, WA. It has been a real learning experience,
including difficulty moving safely around the boat when the waves are big and
how difficult it is to cook, even heat water with that kind of motion. Cpt. Gregg was reluctant to approach shore
with winds at 25 knots so we passed by our first planned stop at Crescent City,
CA. We were sailing south at 4 knots for days with no sails up. (sailing under bare poles) Even then it became apparent we would be well
past our next waypoint before the wind abated, so we stopped the boat using a
technique called “heaving to.” This made
the motion much more comfortable, though it was a bit unnerving when the
breaking waves threw heavy spray across the deck.
Eventually the wind lets up and we enjoy the quiet and the
relatively calm seas. When I say I am
relieved the storm is over my lovely wife says “Don’t be silly, THAT wasn’t a
storm.” In my own defense I will say I
stood in the cockpit, reached out with a hand held anemometer, waited for the
boat to come up out of the trough of the wave and watched the dial crank up to
35 knots in the gusts. Just the facts,
ma’m. There were days in there where we
said separately and in harmony: “I’m not having fun,” but when I ask my lovely
wife if that means she is getting off at the next port, never to return, she
said something like “Give it a couple of years.” and “I am sure going to
arrange those noisy dishes and cans differently for our next passage.”
It may be because wildlife sightings were scarce, but the
highlight of the past week came while looking around for passing ships. Just ahead of the bow, three dolphins popped
high into the air, arched over in perfect synchrony and dove headfirst back
into the sea. What I sight! I wondered if they did it to get a better
look at Kalliope.
