We left Pier 39 yesterday.  Being in the heart of old San Francisco was great but Pier 39 is not on my top 10 marina list. First, there is something in SF city marinas called “surge”.  This is very bad and causes the boat to fly around in its slip in random gyrations that cause much commotion below decks.  We were told that Pier 39 is amongst the worst for this particular oceanographic phenomenon.  The next problem that kept us from getting much sleep was associated with our neighbours who invaded adjacent slips in the evening and cavorted about in lascivious ways with much obnoxious noise until the following morning when marina authorities turned the hose on them, driving them into the water.  Cute and furry but loud and irritating. Photo attached.

We sailed (yes, with sails up) under “the Bridge” at around 5 PM on 9 October 2009. It was a very happy moment and we all took way too many pictures.  The picture here shows the extent of our joy and we were delighted that the Blue Angels (US Navy) were on hand to welcome us.  That was the good news. The bad news was that it was “Fleet Week” and all available moorage within spitting (sailing) distance of San Francisco was full.  However, we dropped the anchor in Aquatic Park just at dark. What a great place – Ghirardelli Square on one side and a great view of Alcatraz on the other and all of Fisherman’s Wharf only a 5 minute dinghy ride away.

We spent our second night in the Hyde St Marina and then moved to our current location at Pier 39, still in the middle of it all on Sunday morning.

The weekend was jam packed with people and events, still all part of Fleet Week , so it was a terrific place to spend some time.  We have been working on boat repairs (more on that in a later post) and intend to depart this afternoon for the Sausalito Yacht Club until Saturday when we hope to leave for Santa Barbara.  We will not miss the sea lions at Pier 39.

We now have California off the beam and continue to sail non-stop in 15 to 25 kt winds with occasional, and always at night, blips up to 30 kts for several hours. For much of the past two days we have been sailing with just the main, either double or triple reefed on a very broad reach making 5 to 7 kts overground. We gybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon, all under bright sunshine or a very bright full moon. What could be better?

On Saturday night we found the ocean cluttered with fish boats but since then, we have seen two tankers and that’s it? The ocean is empty out here at around 150 miles offshore.

We are now angling into Long 125W south of Cape Mendocino (the Cape Horn of the North Pacific – kind of) and hope to avoid untoward events so common in that part of the ocean. All going well we will be San Francisco sometime on Thursday.

We left Neah Bay under bright sun on Friday and motored past Tatoosh Island. The sails went up at around 2 PM and have been up ever since. We are now experiencing the lowest wind speeds since Friday but we are still making nearly five knots. We have had up to 30 kt winds and with a triple reefed main and no jib still made 7 knots through the water.

Sunny skies, wind and a downwind sail – what could be better?

We are roughly following the 126 longitude but adjusting to keep roughly 80 miles offshore, in order to dodge fish boats and fog. So far it is working though last night there were a lot of boats and 30 knot winds. It was entertaining and made the evening watches anything but tedious.

All going well we will arrive in San Francisco on Wednesday or Thursday.

Arrived in the dark in Neah Bay after 13 hours and a terrific sail much of the way down Juan de Fuca. The Hydrovane performed flawlessly allowing us to enjoy the sail while working on odds and ends.  The approach to Neah Bay after dark is daunting as the highway that backs the bay is extremely well lit with sodium vapour lamps that are exceptionally effective at masking lighted aids to navigation.  Contrary to two cruising guides, the “transient” moorage dock is not available year around, or at least not to boats such as this one.  The entire dock was in use by very large offshore fish boats except for one spot, of which we took the middle portion.  Despite signs that the spot might belong to a rather large boat we were somewhat comfortable until the very large normal occupant showed up expecting to pull into their slip after a hard day of trawling.  The captain was very gracious and let us move back while he very skillfully parked his boat in front of us.   Today we moved to a more recreational style slip, with power so that we could enjoy warmth for another 24 h before heading out Friday morning.  The weather looks perfect down the coast for at least the next 5 days so we remain hopeful that it will be smooth sailing as they say.

29 September. Waiting out high winds in Port Angeles on Monday providing  more time to fix a bunch of things and deploy reefing systems, storm jib sheeting and staysail sheeting, in addition to yet another dozen small details.  Tomorrow, 30 September, weather permitting, we will strike out for Neah Bay, about 55 nm, refuel boat and crew and then head out into the Pacific on Thursday. Current weather forecasts are all favourable.  Yahoo!

Setting out across Georgia St on Sunday, 27 September, in up to 20 kt winds provided boat speeds of up to 8.2 kts. Terrific.  Anchored in Cadboro Bay at about 9 PM and set out in winds gusting to 29 kts as we crossed Juan de Fuca on Monday to Port Angeles.  We are enjoying shore power and the electric heater and the showers.  Reciprocal moorage courtesy of the Port Angeles Yacht Club is much appreciated.

Saturday, 26 September 2009, 10:33

Marine Weather, Today Tonight and Sunday: Gale warning in effect.
Wind northwest 25 to 35 knots diminishing to 20 to 25 early this evening and to 15 to 20 near midnight.

Plan B, Version 1.3: Sunday morning departure!

The intervention of  beliefs peculiar to the sea has caused a revision of Plan B.  It seems that a voyage should never start on a Friday so now, we will leave on Saturday.  Ask Lou about this.

While still being about 2 weeks ahead of the first planned departure date, we are a little behind the newest departure date of today.  Nearly everything is ready and or done, except for a few small but important jobs and at least three big ones – provision the boat, fix the water tank inspection hatches and calibrate the new autopilot.  All going well,   the Plan B departure date of 24 September looks acheivable and includes a 23 September mini-shakedown cruise.  More pics to follow soon.

Marathon went back in the water on 17 September 2009 with a nice new cutlass bearing, all custom made just for her and a really spiffy new rudder, painted shark white.  A new graphic Marathon was also added to the side of the hull. The addition of a new coat of bottom paint has her just gliding through the water.