Stern View Sausalito Marina
Funky Houseboat Village
Our Buddy at the Dock
Beautiful Sunset at Marina
Tidings at Anchor
Angel Island State Park
View From Angel Island Hike
We Saw Three Deer on the Island
Finally the day had come - July 14th, 2020 that we got to continue our journey north and leave San Francisco Bay. We got to leave a little later then usual (8:00a.m.) because you have to time leaving a lot of these places along the coast with the currents. Always have to leave with the flood in order to ensure a smoother ride and not have the current and tides against each other making for very rough seas. Our ride took us 8 hours to Bodega Bay. The ride was uneventful with the exception of seeing lots of whales. No matter how many times on our trip we see them we still get giddy like little kids and shout, "whale!" and point out where it is so the other person can see. We even have a policy of one of us is sleeping the other one can wake each other up to see the whales. It never gets old for us.
Leaving San Francisco
Whale's Tale
Pod of Whales
Fishing Boat
Bodega would be considered a stop of convince- meaning it happened to be about the right distance we wanted to travel that day. You certainly didn't go there for the "town" or the marina. Docks are first come first serve and you find a spot at the end of either A,B or C dock that you think you will fit and tie up and check in. Fine. No big deal. We found a wide open end tie at the end of C, plugged into power, stepped off onto the dilapidated docks and went to check in. Friendly people in the office which was blocked off for Covid and we waited and checked in outside. Perfect. We took a nice little stroll down the one road and Jeff spotted some a couple of seafood restaurants, one famous for chowder the other fish and chip. He needed to try both. Good for me. No cooking. After some time we made our way back to the dock and found that another small boat had joined us on our end tie. I heard a beeping and noticed that our power was no longer working. We spoke to the new neighbors trying to figure out what had gone wrong. We both tried several other pedestals to see if that would work and it didn't. A nosey neighbor lady finally stuck her head out and told us that power never works on that end tie. Fantastic. We tried to call the office which was unfortunately closed for the night. Nothing could be done. We fired up the generator which I'm sure annoyed the neighbors but it was essential in order for the motors to have enough juice to leave in the morning.
Bodega Bay Marina
Stroll Through Town
Fortunately Bodega Bay was only a one night stay and we headed out early at 5:00a.m. to make our 100 mile journey to Fort Bragg. I wasn't feeling to well that entire day and spent most of it sleeping during my breaks (Jeff and I take 2 hour watches) and just tried to get through the day. Other then my sickness the long day was uneventful. We fortunately got to see some more whales too.
Entering Fort Bragg
Coast
Not Feeling So Good
Jeff and I really didn't know anything about Fort Bragg other then it was a good place to stop and got us pretty far along up the coast. We knew that there would be a lot of fishing boats but had no idea what to expect. We had some difficulty finding our slip because nothing was marked and the docks were pretty dilapidated. After calling the dockmaster he told us to just pull in where we were. After settling in and taking in the fairly empty marina we made dinner and crashed early from our long day.
Fishing Boat at Marina
Pulling into Marina
Old Fishing Boats Across From Us
Arrived Fort Bragg
The next morning we were awoke early to the dock master calling us and telling us we had to move slips because the owner was coming in along with a large fleet of fishing boats and we were holding everything up by being in the wrong slip. Now mind you this was the slip we were told to pull into but nonetheless we got up and quickly got dressed and moved. It wasn't but a few minutes later did this entire fleet of tuna fisherman pull in. One after the next. It was quite the scene to watch. We even noticed one of the boats was from San Diego like us. After things died down a bit and the fisherman retreated to their bunks we took off on a walk across the bridge into Noyo village. It was so charming and full of old buildings propped up on stilts along the river we had entered the day before. It was seafood restaurant after seafood restaurant and Jeff was in heaven. After carefully scoping them all out Jeff found one he thought would be the best and got crab bisque and a crab roll and we found a nice secluded bench to dine.
Us and the Fishing Fleet
Coasties Across from Town
Building on Walk to Town
Crossing Bridge
Arial View of Noyo Village
San Diego Boat
After talking with the fisherman and checking the weather we realized that we would be here for a few days till the small craft warning ended and the seas and winds calmed down. Because we had enough room in our slip we were able to launch the dink and head up the Noyo River. It was so beautiful and charming - tree lined and a seal swam most of the way upriver with us. It was a great way to see more of the river on our own.
Boat on the Noyo River
Boat on the Noyo River
Trailer Park Up River
Dingy Ride Up River
Cruising on the Dink
Charming House on the River
Noyo River View
Our Buddy the Seal
After a very nice day on the river we came back and had some libations and chatted with our neighbor Bob who was part of the fishing fleet that came in. He told us that every year him and his two buddies come up here to tuna fish. Two of the boats are from Morro Bay and the other guy is from San Diego. While we listened to his stories and had drinks he worked on the back of his boat. As I looked around I began to notice not only are we one of two pleasure craft in the entire basin but we are the only ones not working right now. Every fishing boat had 1-3 people on deck rigging, painting, unloading, reloading, prepping bait. It felt a little strange to be having cocktails and watching as everyone else worked so hard.
Fishing Boat Going Out
The Other Pleasure Craft-An Old Coast Guard Boat Turned Private
We knew that our time at Fort Bragg was coming to an end so we spent the next day prepping the boat- filling water, taking out trash, cleaning, securing things and took a walk up the hill to the market for some produce and fill in items. It was really nice to have a fisherman fleet to discuss weather with and departure dates and times and find out how everyone else was seeing things. The big departure day would be the next day and we would pass the elusive Cape Mendicino known is the most dangers area of west coast cruising - known for it's high seas, lots of fog and it's own weather patterns. We were defiantly on edge that night when we went to sleep.
The next morning due to timing the bar in both Fort Bragg on our way out and Eureka on our way in we had to leave at the crack of dawn. We woke up to pea soup fog in the pitch black. Fortunately the channel was well lit and then it was black. We could see nothing. The boat was pitching all over the place the fog was up to our pilot house window and it was pitch black. The back lights to our instruments were too bright and blinding to try and look at and the fog in the air was making our windows so filled with liquid we couldn't see out. We finally propped open the doors and jeff looked out the port side and I stood outside the starboard and told him steering directions like, "you're getting to close to the rocks turn to port!" It was the hairiest exit and hour of our life. Normally as soon as we leave port and it's jeff shift I go back to bed. Not this day. I stood for the first 30 minutes then as it became pre-dawn sat erect in my seat constantly scanning the horizon in the fog. Jeff told me after that we would never leave in both the fog and the dark at the same time. One or the other but certinatly not both. As the day progressed and we got closer to Mendicino the seas began to increase. At one point during my shit while Jeff was downstairs I looked up to a giant wall coming towards the boat. I got super nervous and was shouting, "Pooter! Pooter!" Jeff quickly came up, took one look at the seas and said, "let me drive." I was so glad. I was way out of my comfort zone and didn't know how to take on such huge waves. We later learned from the fleet and some weather apps that we saw 10-12 foot waves that day. After our sphincter clinching 14 hour day we finally made it to Eureka. We both couldn't stop moving despite being tied up in our slip. My legs were vibrating and after stopping we both felt a little queezy. Quick dinner and early to be for us both.
Fisherman Shortcut Thru Blunts Reef
Cape Mendicino
Eureka Marina
Coast Guard Station Humbolt Bay
Weather wise we could have left the next morning for Brookings but I told Jeff physically and mentally I couldn't do it. After that long traumatic day I needed at least a day to recoup and regain some sold ground. This is a big no-no when you're trying to get somewhere quickly as we are because when you have a weather window you have to take it. Otherwise you get stuck for a few days which is exactly what happened to us. But, I didn't care. I needed it. We really did make the best of the situation though. We put on our tennis shoes and walked across the bridge into the town of Eureka which was a bizarre mix of what probably used to be cute shops (now closed due to cover-19) and a ton of homeless strung out looking people. It kept us on our toes and scratching our heads. Jeff decided if weathered in we should rent a car for a few days and explore. We were in the Redwoods and a beautiful area. Fortunately the Enterprise was right downtown and easy to find. After I gave it the Joy Dornick Covid-19 santitizion that I felt made it safe we hopped in and headed to a little Redwood nature walk on the way back to the marina. It was mind-blowing and finally Jeff wasn't upset about my decision to stay and be weathered in for a few days.
Famous Carson Mansion
Walk to Eureka
The Pink Lady
Redwood Walk
Walking into Town
Redwood Nature Walk
Murals in Town
The next day we got up earlish and headed to the Redwood State Park and did a hike to the "big tree." The drive north up the 101 was gorgeous and the scenery only continued to impress as we got closer to our hike. We were mesmerized by the abundance of Redwoods and just how giant they are. We looked up for the majority of the hike awestruck.
The Redwoods
Hiking in Redwood State Park
Hiking Along
Stream in the Redwoods
Bridge on our Hike
The Big Tree
Me Inside a Redwood
Jeff In a Fallen Redwood
After a great morning of hiking we were ready for some lunch. Coincidently just the summer before my best friend Vanessa and her husband came to this area for their anniversary. She told me that they stayed in this seaside town called Trinidad and it was right between Eureka and the Redwood State Park so we decided to stop. She gave us a recommendation for a restaurant but we decided instead just to head into town and see what we saw. We weren't sure what would be open during Covid but came across this cute diner like place that also functioned as a gallery. Fortunately they had a veggie burger for me and a nice crab melt for Jeff. I wasn't comfortable eating at the restaurant even though it was outside dining only because all the tables were crammed together, packed with people and a ton of people waiting. We placed our order to-go and found a nice bench overlooking Trinidad Harbor. Perfection.
Trinidad Harbor in the Fog
Trinidad Harbor
Trinidad
We were so happy and the day just kept getting better. Tonight for happy hour we had a Zoom scheduled with our friends Randal and Michelle and looked forward to telling them all about our day in the Redwoods and how our trip was gong since we last saw them. Great day.
The next day we would drive the car south to the famous "Avenue of the Giants"- a 31 mile scenic drive though the Redwoods and to the famous Redwood tree that you can drive your car through. This day again was mesmerizing. It was just so incredibly beautiful and scenic. Jeff found a couple of short hikes we stopped at and walked around basically just to stretch our legs and get out. The drive was spectacular and driving through a tree was a total trip. I was convinced we were going to damage our rental car. But somehow we didn't.
Driving Thru Tree
Watching Car Drive Thru Tree
Jeff-Avenue of the Giants
Redwood
Redwoods
Driving Thru Avenue of the Giants
Another great day in the Redwoods had come to an end. We returned our rental car and walked back to the marina in anticipation of an early morning departure to Brookings, Oregon. We were super excited to finally be leaving California and making our way on up the coast. Again timing is everything on this trip. For this leg we had to time the low tide (our boat sat on the bottom of the marina most days) with the flood of the bar leaving Eureka also with the flood entering Brookings. Not only were we becoming meteorologist we were also turing into professional jugglers. So much to time, balance and take into account. Needless to say we got out with no problem and the bar was only slightly hairy - 4 foot rollers. Again we saw whales which always makes us happy and we successfully tied up at the guest dock in Brookings which is just a long 350 foot dock. We were told days earlier just to tie up anywhere and someone would be by to register us and take payment. Since it was after-hours we assumed this would happen in the morning. We celebrated our first Oregon stop with some Prosecco. Midway through our second bottle we were told by some deshelved looking fisherman that we had to move our boat because we were in someone's spot. I assumed that he was just trying to bully us and didn't take it seriously. But after pointing out the sign that said permentant dock of.... and not to dock there we started listening a bit. Annoyingly we got up, untied and Jeff somehow drove us back 100 feet to an opening out of the way. Welcome to Brookings.
Cruising to Brookings
Brookings Coast Guard Going to Work
First Slip Brookings
Cruising to Brookings
Debris inWater
Final Slip in Brookings
We once again found ourselves weathered in Brookings where we currently sit. Jeff unfortunately spent a couple of those days with a debilitating headache and was down for the count. I got some cleaning done and made some challah bread for the first time. We got to Zoom with the Pollak's for Dylan's first birthday and walked into "town" to see a whole lot of nothing. Brookings is very small only 6,500 people and the main street is mostly fast food restaurants and a few shops of goods I'm not sure who would want. But as I always say it's nice to stretch our legs. Jeff found a park near the cliffs that we walked through with our masks and tried to skirt as many people as possible. Although the Covid numbers are low here (only 13 cases) we are still super cautious. This morning brought thick fog and we decided it's not worth it to try and leave. So we sit and wait and hopefully will be on our way to Coos Bay on Wednesday.
Dylan's Birthday Zoom
Tidings in Brookings
Cliff Park Brookings
Walk into Town
Cliff Park
Cliff Park
Cliff Park
Walking to Town
