Leg 2 - Ucluelet to San Fransisco

Saturday September, 16^th, 2006

            We all had a sleep-in ready for our big day to start our leg two of our trip.  We just had a few things to do before we headed out Ucluelet Harbour.  As we tackled the jobs, the hours began to tick by and we found ourselves sitting for lunch deciding what to do.  We listened to the weather report and the outlook did not look good.  Fishing boats had been in harbour over the last couple of days waiting out a storm, but they seemed to be gone now.  We decided to do a shakedown cruise anyways.  We would head out of the harbour and practice heaving-to and discuss man overboard procedures etc… As we headed down below to put our gear on, John announced that he only planned to wear his floater suit at night and therefore would need a life jacket.  With all the packing and organizing I did do you think I could remember where I put the extra life jackets.  The life jackets were one of those items I didn't see as needing for guests until Hawaii.  We rummaged around for a while and then decided buying one was the easiest and fastest solution.  I had made up a list of all of our provisioning and gear by location on the boat, but so many things had been placed on decks on our last day leaving Bamfield, that there were several things now stowed away with no list to go by other than what our memories would serve.  So, off to the Government dock once again.  Life jacket bought, check, rubber boots bought for Wade, check, hydraulic fluid bought, check, and last minute munchies and one more case of beer bought, check.  We headed out of the harbour to only see the skies part.  There were big gray clouds formed around the land behind us and blue skies before us.  We listened to the weather report again and we all decided that the bad weather was going to hit the Queen Charlottes which were to the north of us.  We were heading south.  We all had our gear on.  I had my sea bands on that my mom gave me for sea sickness and everything had been lashed down.  So, we grabbed our bottle of wine from Steve Clark and decided to keep going and head for San Fransisco.  At one mile off shore I was uncorking the bottle and pouring half the wine into the sea for the sea hand and safe sailing.  We all took a swig and made a toast to our journey.  I went down below to our log book to record our decision.  Soon after I was throwing up in the head.  The seas were quite calm and Jon and I decided my sea sickness was due to nerves.  I figured this way we had more wine in the holding tank if we needed to appease the sea gods later.  I grabbed my stash of sea biscuits; soda crackers, and headed back out to the cockpit.  Thanks Sheila, the crackers tasted great!  Jon and I took our rest first.  Jon made everyone hamburger with mushroom sauce on a bed of rice.  I ate from the bed only raising my head to take a spoonful.  I was obviously not feeling well and found life much easier horizontally.  As soon as I sat up, I was sick.  Jon and I awake for our watch at 11 pm.  Wade stayed up with Jon an extra hour to give me a little more rest.  I joined Jon at 12 am.  Jon was right that the phosphorescence coming off the waves and lighting up the sea was spectacular, but I just couldn't sit and enjoy the view.  The sea seemed massive.  In the dark I could only see blackness swelling all around us with flashes of light from the phosphorescence.  The winds had picked up and the waves were a swirl of rage.  I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and I continued to have strong heaves with only bile left in my stomach.  I had taken two motion sickness pills and threw them up.  I resorted to the suppositories but they did nothing more than offer a strange feeling.  I still had on my sea bands but they were not helping much.  When I could I would eat crackers but I would only end up throwing them up.  We finished our watch at 2 am and I curled up in bed.

Sunday, September 17^th, 2006

            Jon didn't wake me for our 5 am watch until 7 am.  I went into the cockpit and clicked on my harness to the safety line.  The winds were howling and the sea was a jumble of waves bashing into one another.  I wasn't scared.  Last night in the dark I was definitely nervous.  The boat was handling herself well though.  She was that bull however, that I spoke of earlier bucking at the dock, only now she had been let out into the ring and was tossing us from side to side, up and down, forward and backward.  What I call damn uncomfortable.  Not  Sonadora's fault though.  She was only doing the best she could with the sea conditions.  Wade had resorted to sleeping on the floor in the saloon.  His forward cabin bunk was just too bouncy.  He said every stitch of his clothing was wet and here we had only been out less than twenty-four hours.  This was not the first cruise we had all dreamed of.  We should have gone with the weather report and stayed in harbour.  We were now 100 miles off shore and in the thick of it.  No sense in turning back.  Discussions are going on about heading back to a port though.  Engines are running right now to charge the batteries and the boat is acting like one of those animal seats on a large spring you see at a playground.  I don't know how much more of this any of us can take. I am lacking in my watches, everyone's tired and we've attempted to heave-to several times to no avail.  The wind needs to let up.

            I had managed to fall asleep and woke up about 11:30 to much calmer seas.  I even felt better.  I heard two guys in the saloon having a snoring contest so that must mean Jon's at the helm.  I was able to walk with little bracing through the walk through which was a huge improvement.  I found Jon sitting among a million stars.  There were wisps of dark gray clouds amongst a black void of stars.  The phosphorescence could still be seen along the remaining waves from the storm that has hopefully past. We all needed a break from the bashing a constant bracing.  I sat with Jon for a while and actually drank a whole can of ice tea without heaving it up and over the side.  I tool the wheel about midnight and Jon went below to warm up.  Wade got up at two and relieved me from my watch duty.  I slept most of the night waking to the boat on a pretty steady heal.  You could hear the propeller going, so we had definitely picked-up speed.  Jon had turned off the engines last night and put up the full main and Genoa.

Monday, September, 18^th, 2006

            It's 8 am.  John is at the helm.  We are on a pretty good heal.  You have to use your legs to brace yourself from sliding down in bed.  A few things on the port side of the boat hang suspended from the bungies I had rigged up to hold things in place.  Jon just reported that we are doing about 6 knots.  I nodded in and out of sleep during the morning anticipating I would need to take watch soon.  With Jon's gentle nudge I relieved John up at the helm at 10:30 am.  The skies were parting and the sun was coming up.  My stomach seemed to relax, so with a desperately parched mouth I decided to try and drink some ice tea.  Glad to say I drank most of the can and kept it down.  I stayed on watch fro four hours and in that time watched the squalls go by us with only one hitting us slightly.  Saw my first boat, fishing boat I believe.  I ate and kept down my first protein bar.  I came down below leaving blue skies in front of us to have a lay down. 

            Jon has definitely earned his water wings or whatever you earn as a good sea captain.  He has been taking care of his crew, making sure we are all fed, and well rested.  He has been the cook, the dishwasher, the navigator, the sail changer, etc… He's in his element.  He has gently with me as I have been trying to get over sea sickness.  He pulled out one of dad's moose stews, added some ground beef and egg noodles.  I really wanted something warm to eat so I thought I would try a little.  I hadn't taken part in a meal since our first night.  The seas have gotten sloppy again and I threw-up just before dinner.  I still wanted some and somehow I managed to keep dinner down.  I didn't do any night watches though.  I didn't sleep well either.  I think I've been in this bed too long and with the seas continuing to be sloppy.  Sloppy meaning that the seas are coming from all different directions as if they are not quite sure how to collect themselves and move in unison.  The boom thrashed around a lot.  I did manage to get up in the night and check on Jon.  I made him a hot chocolate, got him a snack and tried to roll him a cigarette and went to the washroom all without getting sea sick.  Maybe things are turning around.  I even felt like I could share a little in the excitement of passing the Columbia River.  Things would be so much better if I felt better.

Tuesday, Sept. 19^th, 2006

            Winds were good last night and we made some good progress.  Woke to a dying wind.  Ended up turning the engine on around 9 am and kept it on all day.  With lack of wind and a pretty calm sea we all took advantage.  Each of us had a needed shower.  I chose to sit in the shower thinking I could focus more on the shower than bracing myself for the swells.    Wrong!  Add soap and I was sloshing around uncontrollably from side to side and all around like a skateboard moving from side to side on a half pipe.  We still haven't managed to fix the water gauge on the showers, so I added scalding water to the fun.  I was able to brace myself at a knee bend with toes flexed long enough to wet myself down.  Everything takes effort, but the shower sure felt good!  I even rushed my teeth and changed clothes.  That's right, first time on the trip!  Yuck hey!  I even managed to change the sheets on the bed before throwing up.  Progress at least.  I am able to get some tasks done before getting sick.  Spent most of the day in the cockpit.  Worked on another sea sickness remedies.  Actually felt good for most of the day.  After Wade woke up we all sat in the cockpit and chatted and shared stories.  I enjoyed listening to some good sailing stories.  I needed them.  This being my maiden voyage and being sea sick for most of the journey so far, I have to say I was having a hard time seeing the purpose.  I took the helm at about 1:30 pm and everyone else went below for a rest.  The sun was shinning and the seas were picking up somewhat.  The only issue was when the boat hit from the side by a swell.  This was pretty much impossible to stop from happening since the sell was coming from North and West.  I enjoyed the afternoon alone and was able to be just in the moment.  Jon woke only briefly at 4:30 pm.  I thought he was staying up.  John had joined me in the cockpit and we were starting to feel a slight breeze.  Ever hopeful, I attempted to hoist the main although nervous about standing on deck in the bobbing sea.  I got the main ¾ of the way up and then I couldn't make the main go any higher.  Something was stuck, but what!  No ideas and John wasn't sure, so I went to get Jon.  He was lying in bed and I was hesitant knowing how much he needed his sleep.  However, I also didn't want to leave the main part way up to flop around in the breeze.  I felt bad, but I didn't know what else to do.  We are all relying on Jon a lot.  The sheet had gotten tangled around the stays and tiredly Jon got the sheet loose only to have the sheet re-tangle on the other side.  He was finally able to get the sheet untangled and the main hoisted.  He also helped me get the Genoa out only for us all to watch the sails flop in the slight breeze.  Ever thankful we awoke him for this he began to trim and adjust the sails to try and find something that would work.  With the wind and the sea on our side this was no easy task.  He also began to explore this squeaking noise we had been hearing high up on the mast.  Trying to decide if something was too tight, too loose…. To his weary eyes he came across stress cracks on the cabin top.  Now with little winds and a rocky sea he threw on the concerns of weather damage had been done during the gale on our first night out and the problem solving of how serious was this and what to do.  My heart went out to him because I did not want him to bear this all alone and yet I found myself out of my element with little knowledge to help.  My only suggestion was to head for a port and assess the issue.  Jon felt if we couldn't fix whatever out here we wouldn't be able to in port either because our pockets wouldn't be deep enough.  Going through a gale of wind forces of 45 plus knots and sloppy seas where the waves reached the first spreader (at least) on our mast to no winds and now this we were both wondering why this was all happening.  With all our hard work and other peaces falling into place to make this dream trip possible it was all starting to feel like the trip was falling apart.  I tried to get Jon to rest knowing that we were all tired and could think better rested.  He lay down only to listen to the squeaking in the mast and the boom thrashing, thrashing with every swell of the sea even though the boom was tied down.  So up he got and on deck trimming and adjusting the sails to find something that would work.  Finally finding some consistency and speed he came down below to rest.  This was short lived as the wind unfortunately and in a couple hours he was back up on deck trimming and adjusting to no avail.  He finally gave up and turned on the engine and the autopilot.  We were like the seas weighted down toy as we swayed back and forth, back and forth with each swell.  The swells began to subside slightly in the early morning and I relieved Jon at 3:30 so he could once again try to rest.  The stars were out and in the distance you could see the lights of fishing boats.  Jon came back up at 5 am for one more hour and then John and Wade took over.  I think Jon even slept for 2 to 3 hours straight.  Wade is looking tired too.  We will see what the new day will bring.

Wednesday September 20^th, 2006

            We have wind!  Sails went up at about 9 am.  We are on a steady heal, not to far over.  Can actually walk around with little bracing.  I woke up hungry today, which I take as a good sign.  Joined John and Wade in the cockpit and had some oatmeal for breakfast.  I took over watch shortly which wasn't much work since all I had to do is sit there.    Jon had a good sleep and got up and wanted to get Finnegan running, the autopilot and the boat was handling herself.  I even attempted to do a little reading.  So this is what sailing is!  Not so bad!  Near the end of my watch I decided to have a mango juice and then return to my bunk to warm up.  Well, the mango juice tasted good going down. L  Why am I still getting sick!  I was enjoying the day taking pictures, watching the guys laugh and come to life.  This sailing day was what they were waiting for.  Of course the performance could be better (according to Jon J ) so trimming the sails, changing the sails…soon we were on a good heal and from inside the boat we sounded like a freight train.  The Genoa furling line had been chafing somewhere and snapped today.  The Genoa flapped in the wind as Jon monkeyied his way up to the bow to find a way to bring in the Genoa.  Succeeding to the point of bringing in the Genoa most of the way he had to do a little more thinking on how to tie off the Genoa so that it would not unfurl making for a dangerous situation in the night.  A wet and smiling Jonathan stood before me in the walk through,.  "You are enjoying yourself aren't you!" I said, "Yeah." He relied with his smile widening.  "I just like to know we can handle things out here."  The boys laughed, told stories and cheered the winds with their cool beers.  They were having a good time and I was happy for them.  I lay in bed and wrote about the days events.  Still don't have that iron clad stomach.  I pulled out my Sony Tanya gave me hoping that music would lift my spirits some.  They were lifted!  Jon peered around the walkthrough as I sang out loud.   As I sang I found my thoughts drifting around touching on different memories of my life.  Some brought tears and some made me laugh.  As I lie here I guess I have time to reflect.  I began to smell scalloped potatoes and found myself wanting to eat.  I am improving however slowly.  I enjoyed a small bowl of scalloped potatoes with ham as I listened to the winds howl outside.  The guys cannot believe we are doing 6 knots with a storm sail and double reefed main.  We've covered a lot of ground today and look forward to tackling the California coast as we say goodbye to the Oregon Coast.  I listened to John tell another story as I lay bouncing with the rhythms of the boat.  I found myself enjoying his stories and even had comfort when I couldn't hear them but just knew they were being told.

Thursday, September 21^st, 2006

            The winds did not pick-up last night as forecasted.  We kept up a speed between 3 and 6 knots through the night.  Hard to sleep again.  We still have the West swell on our side and there would always come a wave that liked to send Sonadora into a pendulum swing.  I think everyone is happy to have Finnegan, the autopilot on.  No one has to be at the helm.  Having Finnegan's working parts right under our bunk however is noisy as he makes adjustments.  Sleep can be restless at times with the sound.  I took watch on at 9:30 am.  The motor had been running for a few hours.  Wade and John saw our Canadian flag begin to show life and were eager to get the sails up.  I said we should wait for the wind to be consistent.  Wade replied with, "Cathy doesn't want to sail."  I replied, "It's not that I don't want to sail, but you need wind to sail."  Wade didn't wait much longer and put up the main sail and the storm sail.  For the next three hours they both flopped around with the boom continuing its banging with each swell motion.  Jon came up and took down the mainsail early in the afternoon just so we could have some quiet.  It wasn't like we were going anywhere.  The bobbing of the boat with the swells was getting to us.  The feeling was frustrating.  There wasn't even a whale or a dolphin or anything to throw some excitement or entertainment into the day.  At one point I saw another patch of seaweed and something white.  I thought great, my third piece of garbage I've seen, looks like a plastic bag.  Jon looked at this white mass and said no, that IS something.  Some excitement!  Turned out to be a sun fish!  I have never seen one before.  We turned on the engines to get a closer look.  The fishes shape reminded me of a parrot fish down in Mexico.  Not all the pretty colours.  This fish was just a pale white or gray colour.  He was big and round.  The fish almost looked like it was all head and no body.  We contemplated between the marvels of our first fish and could we eat it?!  I got our Al's gaff and Jon took a couple of swings at the fish.  He said the fish was hard as cement.  He never even punctured the fish.  Weirdly enough too the fish didn't even seem phased. He swam down about 6 feet and then just came back up.  No fast motions.  John and Wade came up a little while later and we told them about our adventure.  We all settled into the cockpit, guys with a drink, I wasn't drinking yet!  I had just passed through my first 24 hours of not being sick and wasn't going to test myself with a beer.  A beer doesn't taste THAT good!  I questioned the weather report of rain and 10-15 knot winds as the clouds were breaking apart and I had been wearing sunglasses for a few hours now.  Jon made a chicken curry for dinner.  A little daring for my stomach I thought but the meal sounded good and I was hungry.  I even helped prepare.  I went to get butter out of the freezer and a swell caught both Jon and I by surprise.  All I could do to hold balance was hold onto the side of the freezer and my other hand let go of the lid.  The lid crashed down on my hand.  Just another small bruise of many but the nav station board separated from the freezer lid in the crash.  Another job to be done.  Some of the things breaking etc… were definitely adding to frustrations.  Jon and I had just discovered the one metal plate on the main sheet traveler was bent up.  This is not an area to get strain so all we could think was a rope had gotten caught underneath and reefed the plate up.  Disheartening really what wear and tear occurs out here at sea.  We all sat out in the cockpit and enjoyed Jon's chicken curry dish.  This would mark my first meal with the crew.  After dinner Jon and I went to lie down and Wade and John took on watch.  A beautiful evening, but Jon needed to rest for the night watch and I needed to work on keeping my dinner down. J The winds started picking up around 8 pm and Wade put up the sails.  Same situation where the wind was strong enough to fly our flag, but not the sails.  Within an hour though the winds were great and we averaged 6 to 7 knots all night.  Still a westerly swell, so for anyone trying to rest the outcome was not what was intended ~ rest.  Have you ever stood up at the same time of lying down? I have.  A most awkward position.  I had indent marks on the bottom of my feet from bracing against the base board.  The swells were just loving rocking this boat!

Friday, September 22^nd, 2006

            We are still heading through the swells like a freight train.  A gorgeous day!  No clouds in the sky.  After 3 ½ hours at watch and having several swells wash over the boat and me, I was quite content to go below and warm up.  Lots of talk going on about making landfall.  After just rounding Cape Mendacino we have 180 nautical miles to go to reach San Fransisco.  We are talking about Bodego Bay though as our first land fall.  Bodego Bay is only 138 nautical miles away.  We figure that things are probably less busy there and a good place to shower, do our laundry, and clean-up the boat before reaching busy San Fransisco.  For now we just hope the winds keep up so that landfall can be possible in a day or two.  Jon just made me some homemade chicken noodle soup.  I am am warming up in the bunk and the guys are enjoying cocktail hour and tales of the sea.  As I lay my head down on the pillows I hear John say, "there's no fishing boats out here, they know better."  The guys must have been talking about having a look-out for ships.  Since 12:30 pm no one has been up on watch in the cockpit.  They just stick a head out every now and again for a look around.  Jon just turned on the radio for a weather report.  "Small craft warning off of Cape Mendecino…winds 35 knots tonight…hazzerdous seas tonight…"  Lovely!  You know there is nothing like the gentle rock back and forth, back and forth where you ever so slightly begin to slide down your bunk.  Eventually your head is not longer on the pillow and the fitted sheet beneath you befins to let go of the two upper corners of the mattress.  Eventually you put a leg out to brace yourself ever hopeful that your leg can stay ridgid while you attempt to fall asleep.  On this particular night with the seas whipped up by the winds we were fortunate to experience a few rogue waves.  Absolutely delightful!  The boat's side is lifted in this suspended air and crash as gallons of water are dumped onto the boat and she uprights herself with a flick and a jolt.  Most pleasant.  Thankfully as the night grew the seas didn't.  I think I got a few good hours sleep.

Saturday, September 23^rd, 2006

            "Land!" Jon and I are both awoke to John singing out, "Land!"  And there she was with the sun just popping up for the morning.  As we did a sail change a little birdie, looks like a chickadee, came and hung out on our safety lines.  A glorious morning.  I even felt in the mood to do up some dishes and maybe make some pancakes for breakfast.  I got half way through the dishes, threw-up for the first time in the last 64 hours and went back to bed.  Isn't there something said about it's the thought that counts.  This sea sickness is frustrating.  I must be setting a record.  I went out on watch at 10 am.  Simply beautiful out.  Another bird joined us.  I tried to feed him crackers but I think he was more interested in just resting.  Jon made us some ham alfredo around 2 pm.  My appetite has been coming back   I was hungry.  I ate my whole bowls worth.  My stomach of course gave some pains to this but a little lie down in the sun and the breeze were just the cure.  At 6 pm we were in the fog. Our first fog.  I was somewhat anticipating the fog with the last sunny hot days.  The boys are hoisting our radar reflector to make us more "visable" to other boats, and are taking us back out to sea.  After learning yesterdays noon talk of San Fransisco being 180 nautical miles away was a dead reckoning and at 2 am this morning according to our 'course' we were 180 nautical miles away.  Here we are now 6:30 pm and moving away from the land after I spent most of my watch moving towards the land.  Was this not using up time we needed in order to cover the 'ground' necessary to make land fall tomorrow?  Jon is out of cigarettes and going batty and I want a warm shower and laundry clean!

Sunday, September 24^th

            I woke up this morning to little wind and the motor running.  We are still in the thick of the fog.  We motored all day with the winds never rising more than enough to flip our Canadian flag once and awhile.  Everyone was anxious for landfall and we called out our distance often.  Birds and more birds of several variety were pretty much the point of entertainment.  The fog was pretty thick and I felt like we were in a Jurassic Park movie with the pelicans coming out fo the fog like pterodactyls. We arrived in Bodego Bay at 7:00 pm through the fog.  We really wanted to see the entrance to this bay and the channel for entry, but we did make the journey and arrive safely at dock.  The channel into the bay is dredged and there is no room for error.  Literally you are looking at sand bars on either side of you.  We were working through 12 feet of water.  There are markers all the way through this narrow channel with the objective being to keep the red markers on your right and the green ones on your left.  The markers are all numbered.  At marker 33-34, you turn directly left.  There are two new pillars that are hard to see the markings at first and then new smaller marks lead you in to Spud Point Marina.  There are two other Marina's but for a cruising sailboat this Marina is just what you are looking for.  We tied up at a dock directly across from the gas bar figuring we could ask the gas attendant what to do.  He said that we register with him. Bodega Bay is not an official port of entry, so I guess we are illegal aliens!  We paid 21.58 US for the night and asked for directions to the showers and dinner.  Being Sunday night and a small community around the bay the gas attendant said we had a mile walk to the nearest restaurant.  The restaurant, The Sandpiper, closes at 8 pm and we started our hike at 7:30 pm.  Now coming off a boat after 9 days of bobbing around walking is no easy feat. You body is swaying around and your legs feel like jello.  We found the restraint and at 7:45 hoped they would serve us.  I walked up to the waitress at the front and said, "I know you are about to close but we have just been offshore for 8 days and really would love a meal."  I had no problem with a little begging after all our walking and the 8 days at sea.  We had been told of another restaurant up the hill, but wanted to make sure we ate.  They sat us with no problems and we had a very nice waiter.  A little bit more of a fancier restaurant than we cared for, but there was food.  The prices were high and the selection was quite small.  I decided that this was our dinner out and I was going to enjoy myself.  I ordered the red snapper with shrimp and crab sauce.  The meal was delicious.  Jon had prawns, Wade had fish and chips and John had a jerk chicken sandwhich.  With bellies full, we took the directions of the waiter and walked up the hill to the nearest "open" store.  Jon still had not had a cigarette and was getting on 'my' nerves.  While he bought cigarettes, John and I made phonecalls to let family know of our arrival.  The walk home was long but enjoyable.  We did the walk there and back, dinner and the store stop over all in two hours.  We all laid down for a great sleep and found with the boat not moving you felt like you were sleeping on a board.  I think sailing screws your whole body up.  Not comfortable out at sea and now not comfortable on land.  What's up!

Monday, September 25^th, 2006

We woke and motored the boat over to the gas dock.  We figured we would fill up with diesel and ask all our questions about a slip, showers, laundry, internet service etc… While Jon tended to the diesel tanks I spoke with the gas attendant. I was asking him about all of the RV's etc… He said that many people come in their campers and RV's.  not only because Bodega Bay is a beautiful spot with gorgeous beaches, but a hot spot for salmon fishing.  The salmon fishing season is not quite over here.  He also said that if we were in to snorkeling we could dive anywhere from 8 feet to 20 feet for abalone.  I have always wanted to try abalone.  You would need a fishing lisence of course and the lisence would allow you to get a limit of three.  The gas attendant said that three could feed ten people though!  They must be big.  I said that we came from a small west coast community but did not see the signs that we saw there in Bodega Bay, not even in the other neighbouring communities that are big on tourism and seafood.  Everywhere you looked in Bodega Bay there were signs stating fresh seafood: red snapper, tuna, crab etc…  Each of the restaurants we saw seemed to focus on seafood.  The one directly across the road from the marina was big on crab: crab cakes, crab chowder, crab sandwhiches…A guy interested in our boat came down to the gas dock and started asking questions.  Again, like many, he wandered if our boat was steel or cement.  I had to share this guy with Jon since he had come down to see our boat.  I thought that Jon needed to talk to him and have the pride of showing off his boat.  Besides the guy asked how much weight in the keel and I couldn't remember.  A good opportunity to get Jon talking to him.  Jon was just finishing off topping up the diesel cans on deck and I threw out the question.  The two started to talk.  All of a sudden there was a geyser of diesel and for a moment Jon could not stop the deisal flow.  The small, more manageable handle and hose was out of commission, so Jon was using a large, oversized nozzle.  Some how the trigger got stuck.  Luckily most of the diesel spill was on deck and not in the water.  I know that does not sound lucky, but the guy told us that if Coast Guard had seen that we would have had a heavy fine.  The gas attendant gave us several oil rags and suggested we start up our motors to disperse the diesel in the water.  Now I don't know if we would have been given a fine or what.  A protected bay etc… but we had an accident using the wrong, but only nozzle available.  Anyways, everyone was good natured about the whole thing.  That ended the conversation about the boat though.  The only other unfortunate thing was John had put out his sleeping bag to air and with the sleeping bag lying just in front of the diesel cans, the sleeping bag soaked up a lot of diesel.  Into the dumpster with that.  With all the drama we paid our bill, another $200 in diesel (Are we not  a sailing vessel!  Need wind!). We headed for our slip.  First on the agenda was showers.  I grabbed a towel and shampoo and off I went.  The showers were great.  The water pressure was so great that I could have forgotten soap and still had the dirt peeled right off my body.  Nice warm water.  Ahhhh!  After showers came the laundry.  Four loads!  A lot of wet gear though from our first two days at sea in the storm that just got smelly.  I worked on my journal and pictures while the clothes washed and called home.  I enjoyed sharing the journey with mom and dad.  In some ways I found telling the story of our sailing adventures as a past event weird.  Our second leg to San Fransico was almost over.  A journey behind us instead of infront of us.  We took one last walk oround the bay to the little corner store.  We picked up a few groceries to make pizza back at the boat and ordered cheese burgers for lunch.  While we waited for our order we saw a poster of the movie, The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.  The scene where everyone was running down the street was filmed right there.  So of course I had to go out and take a picture.  With pizza fixn's in hand we began our walk back.  Our little propane stove does not seem to get all that hot and only has a bottom element, so pizza was slow and allow the cheese was melted on top you did not have that nice brown cook to the top.  We all enjoyed the pizza though and the last one I made I rolled like a calzone.  We kept this for lunch the next day.

Tuesday, September 26^th, 2006

We all awoke to the sound of trickling water this morning.  I had heard Wade get up to go to the washroom, so at first I thought that he was just washing his hands, but then the water continued.  John called out about water running and then I smelled that warm steamy water and knew where the water was coming from.  We have a hot water tank hooked up to our diesel heater but there is no thermostat regulator.  The water literally boils and then a release valve lets water out onto the floor.  This was at 6:30 am this morning.  Yet another item on the to do list.  We were planning on leaving harbour around 8 am, so might as well get up.  I started with last nights dishes and got the coffee on.  I made John and I an ommellette with the leftover pizza fix'ns.  Good! J  We followed the channel markers back out the harbour and were on our way to our next destination, Drake's Bay by 8:45 am.  The winds were not much better, but we did get our sails up.  We would be tacking, so of course more distance.  The distance from Bodega Harbour to Drake's Bay is 25 nautical miles.  At 5 knots we should be there within 5 hours.  Unfortunetly we started off at about 3 knots.  A nice sail for most of the day.  Didn't see much other than the birds.  A sea lion popped his head up just briefly to check us out and then was gone.  Some fisherman further towards the land spotted 5 whales.  We were further out.  Jon said he saw a fin at one point but that was all.  I kept scanning the waters, but never saw any whales.  When we came up to Reys Point just before Drakes Bay we saw the lighthouse on the end and the steep cliffs.  The scene would make a fabulous picture in the sun.  We had an overcast day, so the image is not so dramatic.  We had one cargo ship go by.  Would not want to meet one of those in the dark!  We arrived in Drake's Bay and dropped anchor at 6 pm.  Yep that's right, the whole whopping 25 nautical miles took us all day, 9 hours plus.  If you are in a hurry to get somewhere do not go by sailboat.  I really enjoyed the sail today.  I had a tuna casserole all put together and in the oven as the anchor went down.  I played around with pictures from the day and wrote in my journal.  There is an estuary here that I would love to check-out.  To get to the estuary is quite a distance in our dinghy at the far end of the Bay and not really safe to take our sailboat over.  And besides as illegal aliens probably not advicable.  We will clear customs tomorrow.  For now we will enjoy the evening.  We all just finished dinner.  Jon has decided to go up in the last bits of light to try his hand at fishing.  We are surrounded by fishing boats that have also come into the protection of Drake's Bay for the evening.  There is one other sailboat here.  All decked out with solar panels etc…  I would love to go and explore the land.  There is house here with trees surrounding the property.  Strange really.  I don't know if the pictures will give a good enough idea of why the scene seems out of place.  The rest of the land is barren and from what we have been told trees like these were brought in and planted to help with wind protection.  So the trees are not native to the land and therefore stick out.  We are all looking forward to tomorrow to see the Golden Gate bridge.  I am hoping for some sun as a picture of the bridge in any other conditions is probably not as pretty.  We have been listening to the VHF radio and are hearing about a boat that has gone down around the Golden Gate Bridge.  The last we have heard is that there are 3 to 4 persons, no longer on board and in a life raft.  Sounds like the Coast Guard have lost contact with the people and they are asking for any assistance from boaters in the area if they spot anything.  Scary.   The last thing before going to bed, I stuck my head out the companion way to have a look and found over thirty fishing boats all in an ark creating this oval of boats and land around us.  We were the only ones in the middle.  Were we anchored in the wrong place?  Was there something to anchoring formation that we were not aware of?  We were in plenty of water, so we went to bed.

Drake's Bay

Wednesday, September 27^th, 2006

            Popped my head out the companionway this morning to see hundreds of flies all over the deck! Ugh!  Most of the fishing boats that had come in last night to anchor wre dispersed and had started their day of fishing.  I wandered if the flies had come from the fishing boats?  The guys thought from land.  Those flies or most of them stayed with us all day.  I think the last ones were finally gone when we tied up to the mooring buoy in the wind nine hours later.  I checked the oil and transmission fluid while I waited for the coffee to brew.  Jon had his coffee in bed this morning.  I took the helm and Wade helped out with bringing out our route.  We were saying goodbye to Drake's Bay and very excited about todays destination ~ san Fransisco!  The sea was like a mill pond and with the straight course we had to take we were back to motoring.  This trip was eventful.  We saw whales.  One of the whales even brought her head right out of the water. We saw porpoises, seals, a sea lion and lots of different kinds of birds.  Maybe this is what the coastal cruising route offers!  The scenery was interesting but under a gray sky the pictures are not too spectacular.  Overall though with the cold weather and the pretty barren land we felt we had sailed to Newfoundland or England or something.  Our trip clipped by quickly and while looking for a green buoy marker that would signify where we needed to turn I spotted one of the towers to the golden gate bridge in the distance.  I saw the bridge!  We were almost there.  We figured that we really couldn't have asked for better weather.  Visability was good even though over cast and the seas still remained calm.  As we came closer to the harbour entrance the water became turbulent and there was quite a current.  All of this with calm seas and a flood tide!  I couldn't imagine what the entrance would be like in even a normal swell or with a breeze!  We chose to cross directly over to the other side where the current is not so strong.  A cruise ship had just passed but we could not see any more large ship traffic coming and therefore relatively safe crossing the shipping lanes.  We decided to go under the bridge with motor off and sails up.  There wasn't much wind but there was enough to help us along.  I was taking pictures everywhere and soaking up the moment. J Once we crossed under the bridge we saw other sailboats and the big city!  The winds began to pick-up and were qite brisk.  No problem sailing now.  We were actually surprised by the change.  We aimed for Saint Francis marina.  A friend of my mothers suggested we go there for a couple days for free guest berthing.  As we came to the entrance we decided to start motors and take down the sails.  The motor wouldn't start so we kept on a straight course until we got the motor started.  Yes, another item on the list.  We tied up at the dock in front of the harbour master only to be told they were full.  Slips were available on a first come first served basis and they were pretty much booked until October 9^th.  He said that there were a lot of events going on right now.  I grabbed our passports etc.. and as acting captain called customs.  The officer was very friendly.  He unfortunetly was not very helpful with directions and places to anchor.  He said he wasn't fron here and actually was from Texas.  I tried to get a barbeque dinner out of him, but I don't know if that was really, going to happen. J He said we could go ashore tonight and check-in at their customes office tomorrow morning.  He told me that we would probably find it easier to sail down under the Bay Bridge to Oakland on our left than to get a taxi.  From the water he said the customs office was ten minutes up the hill.   However, later in the evening we asked a bus driver if a bus could take us there (save us leaving our anchorage) and he said absolutely and bus.  Customs was only 5 minutes away????  We will have to figure out what to do tomorrow.  We left the dock and headed for the aquatic park where we were going to anchor for the night.  As we approached the entrance we read motor boats prohibited and watch out for swimmers.  So we steered out and raised our mainsail.  There was a good blow in the harbour right now and we figured the mainsail would be enough.  With motor off we headed into the bay.  Upon entering we saw several morring buoys.  On the cahrt we saw only two mooring buoys.  In front of us were many more to pick from.  There were a few other boats already moored.  Wade decided to go up to the bow to be our cowboy lasso man to get the morring buoy and Jon took the helm.  I was at the ready to drop the main sail to bring the boat to a stop.  While attempting to tie to a mooring buoy we also had to watch for swimmers and there were swimmers!  On a few tries we finally seemed to have lassooed a morring buoy and I dropped the main sail.  Shortly after releasing the main, Wade announces he lost the mooring buoy, so back up the main goes.  Jon told Wade to give me a hand with the main.  In the process the sheet somehow got knotted.  This meant the main was up but wasn't coming down until we could get the knot out and this knot was tight!  I now took the helm and then Wade took the helm.  I went to the bow while Jon tried to figure out the knot.  While Wade went by mooring buoy in the meantime I figured I would give a try at being a cowgirl.  However John followed me up to the bow and decided he wanted the honour.  So I pressed over the rope and headed to the stern of the boat.  After several passes to no avail and the know now turned into two as Jon and I attempted to get the first  knot out by winching the line we had become quite the entertainment for the locals I am sure.  Jon was able to get the first knot loose and began reading up on knots.  He knew of a way you could tie a second line to a primary line to pull and release tension.  With the book open to the instructions in my hand, Jon attempted to make the knot.  I finally gave the knot a try and got it!  I wrapped the line around a second winch and we were able to get the knot loose. Yeah!  Wade was passing another mooring buoy and I decided to grab a line to be ready in case John missed.  The buoy passed right by the starboard side of the boat.  I got right down on the deck, hung over the side and was able to wrap the line around the mooring buoy.  Finally we were tied!  We got the dinghy unlashed and inflatable tube pumped up and dinghy into the water ready for shore leave!  John decided to stay behind and Wade, Jon and I  rowed ashore.  While John enjoyed a bowl of soup and news on the TV.  Jon, Wade, and I walked the streets of San Fransisco.  We found a famous scotish restaurant.  Most people know this reastaurant.  I think the restaurants called, MacDonalds? J  Afterwards we continued to enjoy the sights as we walked and went to a comedy club.  The comedians were OK. Some were funny and other seemed to be trying to come up with material on the spot.  There was only 18 people or so in the audience.  I guess what would you expect on a Wednesday night.  A great first night ashore.

We made it!