We’re off!!

After saying our goodbyes the night before, we left our slip in Grand Marina, Alameda before 6 am on Thursday, October 1. There’s something magical about motoring in the dark and calm, looking at the lights while the city sleeps around you. The sun slowly rose behind us as we made our way across the Bay. We were fighting a bit of a flood tide (the water was flowing into the Bay and the tide was rising) so the going was slow, but that also meant that the water was fairly smooth going out the gate. During an ebb tide (water flowing out the bay) the outgoing tide can meet the incoming swell and create dangerous breaking waves, not good to a little boat like ours! The best time to leave the gate is during slack tide, but that would put us into Half Moon Bay after dark and we hate to come into any port in the dark, even one we have visited before. Here are a few pictures as we passed by and left San Francisco.

Here’s the sun just coming up on the city:

Here’s Coit tower:

Goodbye San Francisco!!:

We had an uneventful, though not real comfortable trip to Half Moon bay. There was little wind so we motored the whole way and the swell was hitting us on our beam (the side of the boat) so periodically the whole boat would violently rock back and forth accompanied by crashing sounds below as poorly stored items careened around the cabin. We had thought that we had secured everything well but the chaos below proved us wrong. Luckily nothing got broken and the only damage was a few scratches in the cabin sole (floor). Ginger (our cat) was very unhappy and loudly proclaimed her opinion whenever we ventured down below. We anchored in Half Moon bay in the afternoon and soon everything was returned to normal and Ginger forgave us (after many treats).

We pulled anchor the next morning in the dark and headed for Santa Cruz. This trip was a little more comfortable, we had stored things better so there was less crashing sounds and there was enough wind to roll out the jib sail which smoothed out the ride somewhat. It’s strange how the boat reacts to different waves. There were waves that looked really big, well over our heads, with the top breaking over. We thought that she would be pitching for sure but Sunny just rode these waves up and down as smooth as could be. Then there would be what looked like a tiny swell, only a few feet high that would cause the boat to pitch side to side. Anything not attached would go flying! We learned very quickly to never be without a good handhold. We got into Santa Cruz in the afternoon and docked under Aldo’s restaurant:

We hung out in Santa Cruz for two days, visiting old haunts (we both went to UC Santa Cruz). A lot has changed, but it’s still a dynamic town.

Early on Sunday, October 4th, we left Santa Cruz and motor sailed to Moss Landing, which is a small harbor in the middle of the Monterey bay. We lucked out and were invited to stay for two days for free at the Elkhorn Yacht Club. We got in just in time to watch the San Diego Chargers lose the Sunday night game (*sigh).