Seeking Whales in Santa Cruz - Part II

Day 4, Sunday October 25. Explorations in the Monterey Bay. Joy, Danok and I met in San Francisco, where we bought some food (Asian mushrooms, Pho soup, a steak, salad, bananas, tuna fruits and ingredients for making Mexican sopes). Since Chelsea B was still almost fully stocked when Danok and I left her in Santa Cruz a week earlier, there was little need to buy much more food for the voyage back. From the market, Joy drove us to Santa Cruz. The plan for today was for the three of us to sail around the Bay and hopefully spot some whales, before returning Joy to Santa Cruz from where she would drive back to San Francisco. Danok and I would spend the night at harbor, where my friend Erez was to meet us to join us for the sailing journey back to San Francisco.

Joy and Danok eating quesadillas in the Monterey Bay

The day was beautiful. Good wind and no clouds. Danok even devised a fishing system, and we trailed the line behind us most of the day. And while the fish didn't express much interest in our bait, we did spot a few marine mammals from the distance, probably orcas or porpoises. We even saw one California sea otter basking in the sun right outside of Santa Cruz.

After having dropped Joy up at the harbor, we waited a few hours until Erez met us that night. The next day was going to be a long one.

Monday, October 26. Santa Cruz to Pidgeon Point and Back: Danok, Erez and I left Santa Cruz at 6 AM, motoring and getting started on a day that was projected to encompass 12-15 sailing hours. The weather forecast predicted a storm for the following day, but we were confident that we could make it to the nearest harbor in Half Moon Bay by tonight. We could then leave the boat there, go back home for a few days and return the boat to San Francisco once the storm had passed (Half Moon Bay is about halfway, or 50 nautical miles, between Santa Cruz and Redwood City). Sailing north against the wind was hard from the beginning - the boat was heeling, water was splashing unto the boat and the cold wind was blowing hard against our faces. This may sound like no big deal, but when you're outside and cold wind that has been traveling for over 1,000 miles from the seas of Alaska blows right in your face hour after hour while you're rocking up and down in 7-foot waves, you can quickly be drained of your energy.

Erez and Danok sailing north from Santa Cruz towards Half Moon Bay
(note Danok's hair as the perfect indicator of wind direction)

But the main problem with these northerly winds was that they forced us to sail upwind in zig-zag (it is impossible to sail straight into the wind), which slowed us down significantly. Even worse, the weather forecast now predicted the gale-force 35 knot storm to start at 2 AM instead of the next morning. Current weather conditions were labeled as "small craft advisory", and boats our size were advised to stay at harbor. And yet by 3 PM, or 9 hours after departure, we only had traveled 20 of the 50 nm we needed to get to the next port. To go faster, we decided to motor, but a glitch in the fuel system killed the engine after only one hour (we ended up repairing it that night). It was a tough call. There was no place to stop between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, and we had at least 10 more hours to go. But that meant an arrival at 1 AM in strong winds and into a harbor surrounded by rocky reefs that have been known to sink many a boat.

Pillar Point Harbor by Half Moon Bay.
To enter, one has to navigate through the narrow gate.

We decided to take the safe route and turn around. By then Erez, with whom Poseidon had not been particularly friendly, was sleeping deep inside the V-berth. Danok and I turned Chelsea B around and took her on the long downwind stretch back. By sunset, the seas had grown to 10-feet high, splashing hard unto the deck several times. Still, running with the wind was much more comfortable than beating against it (even though the waves coming from behind were scary as hell!). When the weather report started reporting 45-knot gusts up in San Francisco and a long dark cloud covering the horizon behind us started creeping up, we knew that we had taken the right decision. We arrived in Santa Cruz in calm winds, protected by the northerly shore. Erez had woken up, Danok had cooked up some warm beef stew, and we were beginning to recover. We then dropped the anchor almost exactly where we had dropped it just one week earlier.

Tuesday, October 27. Repairs and Returns. The next morning was beautiful. Shining sun, a fresh breeze of wind, and no hints of a storm. The weather report was still talking about the big storm, but that seemed to be happening further offshore now, not where we were peacefully anchored. We spent that morning cleaning the mess inside, repairing the engine (we had to replace the secondary fuel filter, which had gotten clogged with debris), and getting ready for our return home. Before leaving, though, I decided to go on a short swim with my newly acquired diving gear to inspect the hull underwater (I was mostly afraid that gigantic pieces of kelp algae had wrapped around the keel and caused us to slow down significantly. This concern ended up being unwarranted). When all was ready, we motored back to the harbor, once again arranged for a docking spot, and left Santa Cruz to catch the next bus home.

Danok enjoying one last well-deserved beer before our return home.