As I sit here, in foggy and sunny Bodega Bay, it seems our friends in other boats have long-since passed us by... and I'd worry about that, except that I know we're doing this journey our way... not racing down the coast, not worrying about what everyone else is doing, just doing it our way... at our speed. We've hunkered down for several days each time we've hit land and that's ok too. We've needed sleep, time to tidy our little home and then time to explore our new location. It's all good as they say. We've had some difficulties with our cell phone (seems AT&T doesn't 'really' understand how to use Canadian credit cards) but Kathy has finally sorted that out (we think) so all should go smoothly now.
Now then... didn't we have a 'ride' from Eureka to here... oh yes we did. We left Eureka on Monday, September 12th.. slipping away into the fog at 0545 hrs. Did I mention we've been in fog for what feels like 'ever'. It's actually just like sailing at night, only you can't see the fishing boat lights anymore so it's all a big surprise when things show up on your little radar screen. But we've bonded with our radar now and, so far, he's looking after us pretty well. With that, and AIS the beeping and flashing lights keep us company as we travel through our dark and misty world. Can't wait for warm air and sunny days... somewhere south of San Francisco. Anyway, I digress. After working our way down the foggy Humboldt River and over the (then quiet and calm) Humboldt River bar, we bid Eureka adieu and carried on our journey. Our biggest focus was on getting around Cape Mendocino without getting beat up... that'd been one of my biggest hopes as almost everyone else we're heard from had suffered huge winds and waves and all the 'related activities'. We had choices and they included going way out (many like to do that...but get beat up). We could stay in (and get beat up). We could just get around the point and head in to Shelter Cove... we could keep going to Fort Bragg or Noyo Bay anchorage...or any one a few smaller anchorages along the way...or we could/might get as far as Bodega Bay if we could get there in daylight. So, after consulting with the NOAA meteorologist (which you can do in Eureka.. it's the one NOAA office that isn't behind barbed wire....and is public friendly, welcoming you into their inner sanctum and showing you all their computer screens and computations, etc.) we decided that Monday morning was the time to go and that we'd basically get out to the bouy, turn left, and 'go for it'... see how far we got as long as we were comfortable. We headed out, turned left and carried on. Two other boats (SV Anna and SV Bella Star) with friends Rich & Cat and Aaron & Nicole, left at the same time and we travelled loosely together for quite a while. The fog finally cleared and the sun came out and we motored on... and on... and on... There was no wind; not even enough to put the main up even a bit. The flogging would have driven us nuts. So we motored on... our little engine doing a fine job. We rounded Cape Mendocino (which takes several hours) under power, with no sails and almost flat seas.. like a lazy Sunday afternoon bobbing across Georgia Strait. During this whole day of no wind, calm seas, and motoring on... we had visitors of the cetateous type and the Flipper type... Kathy will tell you about those shortly. I'm writing about the other stuff. We finally had enough wind to put up the main and we motored on into the night making good time. Our initial plan was to go to Bodega Bay and then to Drakes Bay and then into San Francisco. At the pace we were travelling we were pretty sure we'd make Bodega and even thought we might actually make Drakes Bay. And so we continued, feeling good, resting well, and enjoying the trip.
0600 hrs, precisely, on Tuesday, September 12th... with no indication or warning and with no change in the rolling seas and steady wind... our dear little engine went cough...sputter. cough, cough, cough, sputter.... silence. What a horrible sound that is. The seas and winds were up enough that things were pretty rolly-polly. So I mustered up my tired mind and started checking things.. Nothing trailed behind the boat (we were still worried about whatever we had snagged on Leg 1 - and then shooken off, but not before it gave the rudder a good work-out and loosened it up a wee bit), nothing flying around the engine room, no liquids spewing from anywhere in the engine room... drat! The only thing left was to change the fuel filter...so, armed with buckets and rags (and at least 8 arms to catch things as they rolled back and forth on the cabin floor) I changed the filter (interesting how courses and mechanics blast over the actual 'changing' of the filter... never mentioning the small O rings, etc... luckily the filter wrapping still had instructions I could read (with flashlight in mouth and eye glasses on). Anyway, I got 'er changed, cleaned up the mess, and tried to start the engine. Cough, cough, sputter...silence. Wow... what a disappointment. So now, again, we had no engine...but we had sails.. and they were working fine.. so we carried on into daylight. We sailed on towards our destination and, at one point, I realized we were going to need assistance getting up the channel to Bodega Bay and the marina, so I contacted the Coast Guard. They were great, kept in touch with us as we sailed on towards them, and then came out to meet us just before we arrived at the head-lands. They were very professional, a great team, and with their assistance we made it to the Spud Point Marina - D dock, outside berth. Once they left, we treated ourself to a wholesome dinner of rum and coke, and then passed out in bed and slept until 1000 hrs. the following morning.
The next day we had a diver check out Shannon's bottom. He was amazing. He inspected the entire hull, shook the rudder, cleaned up the prop, checked the zincs, and then took a video of the bottom. He transferred the video to our computer and walked us through the entire inspection...all for $80. He found scratches and a few chunks of paint missing on our hull... consistent with having latched on to, probably, a bunch of kelp with debris trapped in it... that would account for the rudder and prop vibration we'd experienced in the first leg. He also thought the rudder was a wee bit loose, but nothing serious and we could deal with it whenever the boat is out of the water next. So, that's all good. Once he left, I began to focus on the engine. I thought it through and decided that it probably was a fuel filter clog, that I had changed it ok but that maybe there was still a little air in the system. So I bled it (it didn't take much), walked out to the helm like everything was normal, and started the engine. It started and ran like a charm. Phew again. So, here we are in Bodega Bay (morning fog, sunny afternoons) and watching the weather. Somehow NW winds 25+ and NW wind waves of 3-5' with cross swells of 5-7' at 8 second intervals just doesn't seem too attractive. So, we're enjoying this nice marina and going for walks and working on our little home...and writing this Blog.. for now. Besides, you ought not to leave harbour on a Friday anyway. So, for now, we wait. Hope all is well with you and your family. ttfn... CJ PS: we're off for a walk and some fish & chips... yummy.
