Seeking Whales in Santa Cruz - Part I

Two weeks ago Chelsea B completed her longest journey on the Pacific since I bought her two years ago. After numerous expeditions both inside and outside of the Bay, it was time to take the adventure to a next level. The goal was to sail from Redwood City Marina, where my 32-foot sailboat is usually docked, around San Francisco and down south past Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz.

The projected route: Redwood City around San Francisco to Santa Cruz

While by car the Redwood City to Santa Cruz drive takes little over an hour, the same trip takes about 24 hours of sailing time. That is because, first, you have to sail all the way around San Francisco and, second, even with good winds a cruising sailboat like Chelsea B will move about 15 times slower than your average car.

A trip of this scale is significant not only because of its duration, but also because it requires you to have the boat, yourself and your crew prepared for 24 hours of self-sufficiency. After all, if something goes wrong when you are over an hour sailing distance from shore, there is no one but yourself to take care of things (be it a broken engine, a leak of water into the boat, a torn sail, etc). You can't just drive to the side and call 911 or AAA. This trip in particular had been on my mind for several months now, when my friend and crew-member Danok and I first discussed it during a previous expedition. Due to time constraints we had been unable to do it back then, and now we had the time and the wind to do this (plus this will be our last chance this year, as winter calms will soon engulf the California coast).

Day 1, Saturday, October 17. Across the Bay to San Francisco: The journey to San Francisco promised to be fun, as we had a full 4-person crew on board. My girlfriend Joy and my friends Maia and Danok were aboard as we sailed northwards inside the Bay. The winds were typical for this time of the year, with about 15 knots blowing steadily from the northwest. We left Redwood City at 2 PM and crossed the San Mateo Bridge only two hours later, as the 3 knot ebb pushed us on our way north. At about 8 PM we delivered Joy and Maia, who were unable to join us the day after, at South Beach Harbor right south of the Bay Bridge. Danok and I continued to Pier 39 where we docked for the night in preparation of our departure from the Bay Area the next morning. We were not alone, though, as two gigantic sea lions spent the night slouching on the dock right next to us, at times threatening us - the intruders - with their loud groans and moans.

Sunset on day one. Joy is sitting in the cockpit wearing her newly acquired foulies, while Maia is sitting on the transom talking to Andy.

Our friendly neighbor on Pier 39. This male sea lion and his friend were a bit disturbed by us intruding their territory.

Day 2, Sunday October 18. Sailing to Santa Cruz: We woke up at 6 AM to leave the Golden Gate Bridge, or Gate for short, by 7 AM. As usual when leaving the Bay, we decided to motor and leave this area known for its fog, strong currents and heavy container-ship traffic quickly and with firm steering control. Fortunately, this morning there was little fog and no traffic, making this first stretch easy to handle. Another hour west of the Gate and the wind picked up as a comfortable northwesterly breeze. As soon as the fog dissipated, we turned the motor off and hoisted the sails. The day was very slow, as there was barely any wind. Even though we motored for a few hours, it took us until 2 AM to arrive in Santa Cruz.

Danok on deck sometime during the San Francisco - Santa Cruz leg

We dropped the anchor in front of the famous amusement park, had one last bite for dinner and went to rest. Tomorrow promised to be a good day, as we were set to explore the waters around the Monterey/Santa Cruz Bay in search of whales and otters (The Monterey Bay is famous for its teeming wildlife. Especially at this time of the year, it is not uncommon to see grey whales and blue whales, as well as orcas, dolphins and sea otters. So maybe we would get lucky and spot something interesting).

Day 3, Monday October 19. Pandora's Box. After we set anchor Sunday night I decided to do one of the most dangerous things that had been done during this trip: I turned my iPhone on and checked my e-mails. After the download, I discovered one e-mail related to my work that required me to be back home by the next day. It was actually a very important e-mail. Pandora's Box had been opened, and I decided that we had to leave Chelsea B docked in Santa Cruz for the week, return to civilization and get our stuff done, and come back the following week to sail the boat back home. Monday morning we motored to the nearby harbor, where we arranged for a docking spot (while it would be possible to leave the boat anchored for a week, it is much safer to leave a boat tied to a dock if it is left unsupervised for more than a day).

Chelsea B docked at Santa Cruz Harbor