For those of you who don't know what we're up to, Katy and my's goal is to sail to New Zealand any which way we can. We started our adventure in Portland, and all options are on the table as far as our route, how long we stay, and who we sail with. That being said, we first had to meet the Daves. One Dave being the owner of a Hudson Force 50 and his accomplice Dave who is a sassy big guy who spent 20 years fishing out of Dutch Harbor in Alaska. There is no substantial evidence that Capt. Dave is as ready for this trip, but he made it through bringing this boat up from Cali. Anyhow, workworkwork on the boat and a few nights of sweet partyin in Portland and we are on our way.
Oct.1st we left Pirates Cove Marina and motored to St. Helens where a week was spent finding more and more problems. We began to think we might just fly to New Zealand. We were also graced with the presence of another friend of the Daves. Don is the coolest electronics guy we've ever come across and he is into sailing this vessel (which had never been sailed before.) So finally after almost a week of stormy weather in St. Helens OR, we got to leave the dock and head for Rainier and the best crab louie on the Columbia River (according to Big Dave). A day and a half later we had made it to Astoria and our last stop before setting sail for San Francisco.
The sail to San Fran was AMAZZING and was heavenly dreamy with large waves rolling alongside us, carrying us South. Porpoises came outta nowhere and just before things got a bit hairy. See the first day out, we had to cross the Colombia Bar, which is notorious for claiming vessels, but everything went very well. Winds started to pick up and the swell was getting a bit bigger, rollers were coming up alongside the boat. The first night was great, the next night Matt and I had to sail through some almost gnarly squalls, but the third night was unlike any sailing/boating/surfing experience. The third day started casually, everyone was up, sails were full and merriment all around. We were taking notice of the larger rollers we were surfing and then realized we had missed the last chance to turn to land and wait for some weather to pass by. We expected 20 knot winds from the north, fluctuating between NE and NW, but consistently with us, except that as we rounded Cape Mendecino there were 25-30 knot gusts expected. As the evening progressed, and everyone got tucked in for the midnight shift, Matt and I sailed though some of the biggest cresting waves we have ever seen. I couldn't man the wheel for the response time had to be quick and strong. I sat backwards and read the waves to Matt, what direction, how big and Matt bobsledded this tank of a boat down each hill of water until it was time to rest. At this point we had experienced up to 40 knot gusts and had surfed the boat up to 19.1 knots in speed, no sails up anymore, all motor. As we turned the helm over, Big Dave set it to auto helm and that boat was a rockin and rollin all night. Waves crashin over and I personally thought that was it for us. We finally slept and were relieved upon waking that everything was gonna be great, we'd made it around the Cape, and it was only a few hours till Bodega Bay.
Since then life is sunny and wonderful!! We arrived under the Golden Gate bridge two nights ago, and the city came to life and the dusky night fell upon a wealth of lights. We anchored right in front of Ghiradelli chocolate factory and then we saw Angel Island go up in a forest fire started by some campers. Now we are in San Fran now cruising the streets and visited a friend and some family while our boat waits for more crew. We have no idea where they will sleep on this already filled boat, but we look forward to more sun, great sailing, and good eats.
More soon from more California
pictures are coming
