Journey of a Lifetime

They made SF bay about a half-hour ago in the fog!!! More to come I am sure. I had heard through the grapevine that they ran out of Klondike bars and Doug would not give up the helm until they got to SF for resupply!!
 
Day 8
Today was a real record breaker for us. We left the dock in complete darkness at 0446, our earliest start. We crossed the bar coming out of Eureka in total darkness and fairly heavy fog, our first. We headed out into the ocean and had run almost an hour before the first signs of daylight showed up, our first predawn departure. And today will be the longest day we’ve been out, both in total hours and total miles.

As I’m typing this it’s almost 6:00 p.m. We’re about 45 minutes out of San Francisco Bay. By the time we enter the bay we’ll have well over 200 miles and by the time we anchor for the night (another first) we will have cruised somewhere around 13.5 hours, another first.

Fortunately it’s been mostly a relaxing day. The swells have been less than 2’ most of the day and there haven’t been many areas where there were wind waves. The bar crossing coming out of Eureka was pretty flat and we expect to enter SF Bay on a slack tide or slight ebb. That should also be a non-event.

Dinner is in the crock pot (Pork Tenderloin with potatoes and carrots) and cottage cheese and maybe some broccoli. Stuart doesn’t like broccoli so that may get nixed.

This afternoon we had to go off the autopilot and weave our way through a fleet of fishing boats as we got within 50 miles of SF. That was about the only excitement we’ve had all day. To be honest, it’s been somewhat of a long, boring day, but that’s better than the rough day we had going to Ilwaco.

Well we finally make it. We passed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge around 7:00 and were anchored inside around 7:15. We made it. It seemed at times like we were never going to get here, but we’re in. Tomorrow we’ll make the 72 mile trip up to Stockton and the trip will be done. Doug and I will be flying back to Seattle on Tuesday then I’ll jump in GW’s car and head for home.

As always after one of my long trips I’ll post some notes on my memories and thoughts about the trip. But for now, the first margarita is gone, there’s another standing by and probably another after that.

Tired but happy GFC

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I have some videos but I’ll wait until tomorrow a.m. to upload those.


We're going to have some pork roast then probably another adult beverage or three, then we're headed to bed.
 
I uploaded the videos while we were dining, so here they are. Enjoy....


[video=youtube;n8cu9Dk_M3A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8cu9Dk_M3A[/video]

[video=youtube;y82lOvzHVuM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y82lOvzHVuM[/video]

[video=youtube;JNAo85KpD5U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNAo85KpD5U[/video]

[video=youtube;rF_EZWHY1j8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF_EZWHY1j8[/video]

[video=youtube;izvH0uafmN0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izvH0uafmN0[/video]

[video=youtube;YEi0Sfat5xs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEi0Sfat5xs[/video]

[video=youtube;aa-L_Z1hiXE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa-L_Z1hiXE[/video]

[video=youtube;NKaILBeybAw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKaILBeybAw[/video]

[video=youtube;9ci_r9XfPJk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ci_r9XfPJk[/video]

[video=youtube;VHO7yUnAlfM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHO7yUnAlfM[/video]
 
We anchored out last night in Richardson Bay(?) and got the snot beat out of us. I had left one of the forward hatches open so I could fall asleep listening to the fog horn. It was great to fall asleep to but at some point in the middle of the night I was awakened by a hurricane going through my cabin. Between the wind, the boat jumping around on the anchor and the waves slapping against the boat it was kind of tough to get back to sleep.

I woke up at 0600 this morning, showered and now feel like a new man. Doug had the coffee ready and life is good.


Here's the name and slip number of the marina we're headed to....
River Point Landing
4950 Buckley Cove Way
Stockton, CA 95219
209-951-4144
B7003. “B” dock, 70’ slip 03.

Stuart had mentioned an informal dock party for any who wanted to show up. The beer will be cold and the smiles large!

If you're in the area and would like to come down and share a cool one, you're more than welcome!
 
I haven't chimed in on this thread yet, but have been following it very closely. Sounds like an amazing adventure, good and bad! Hope you have a great final day on your journey and enjoy those well earned beers at the finish line!!
 
that's a very nice accomplishment. well done to the captain and crew.

I've found when I complete a long trip that I experience some kind of post partum depression. The build-up, planning, excitement, stress, exhaustion, euphoria, and all the range of emotions leading up to reaching the final destination, then...it's suddenly over and your back home wandering around looking for something to tie a line onto or hang a fender from. strange feeling...
 
Congrats to all 3 of you! What a great story and trip. Thanks for letting us follow along.

Enjoy your cold beers at the dock party! Wish I could "drop by".

Mark
 
We anchored out last night in Richardson Bay(?) and got the snot beat out of us. I had left one of the forward hatches open so I could fall asleep listening to the fog horn. It was great to fall asleep to but at some point in the middle of the night I was awakened by a hurricane going through my cabin. Between the wind, the boat jumping around on the anchor and the waves slapping against the boat it was kind of tough to get back to sleep.

I woke up at 0600 this morning, showered and now feel like a new man. Doug had the coffee ready and life is good.


Here's the name and slip number of the marina we're headed to....
River Point Landing
4950 Buckley Cove Way
Stockton, CA 95219
209-951-4144
B7003. “B” dock, 70’ slip 03.

Stuart had mentioned an informal dock party for any who wanted to show up. The beer will be cold and the smiles large!

If you're in the area and would like to come down and share a cool one, you're more than welcome!
One of our club members is in that marina and likes it a lot. I would swing by but that's a long ride from where I am. How long are you going to stay with the boat?
 
Tom nailed it....we plan to get in the marina ~3:00p.m. We'll stay on the boat tonight then Stuart and Lin are going to drive us to the airport in Sacramento. Our flight leaves at 11:50 and we'll be in Seattle around 1:37. That means I should be home by 6:00 or so.
 
That fog under the Golden Gate wasn't actually that bad, I've seen it so thick you can stand on the SF side headland and not be able to see halfway up the tower, let alone the bridge deck. Fascinating trip, thank you for sharing your pictures and videos! I just found out I might need to do a long trip later this summer, though in less hazardous waters, unless there is a hurricane. I might get the chance to bring a GB Eastbay 49 from Maine or Maryland down to Palm Beach. I'm certainly taking some pointers from your voyage.
 
I've found when I complete a long trip that I experience some kind of post partum depression. The build-up, planning, excitement, stress, exhaustion, euphoria, and all the range of emotions leading up to reaching the final destination, then...it's suddenly over and your back home wandering around looking for something to tie a line onto or hang a fender from. strange feeling...

I could easily see how that would set in for some time after I trip like this. In fact, I feel like I will have some of those symptoms in not being able to read up on the progress every day!

A while back it was mentioned that when the wave period and wave height equal the same number, things begin to get uncomfortable. That's an interesting correlation that I'd never heard of before. But it makes perfect sense here on Chesapeake Bay too where the wave periods are generally 2.5-3 seconds. Once the waves get near 3 feet, it's not much fun....especially in a boat my size. I will always remember that magic number!

Tom
 
Tom, it's a new calculation to me also. If you take the swell height + the wind wave height and that starts to equal the seconds between waves, it starts to get real nasty. When I boated on Lake Huron we'd be out in 3'-5' waves where they're less than 5 seconds apart, but we were dumb kids and thought that was a kick in the pants. Shows what we knew, right?

Some of the swells we encountered on the way to Ilwaco were a good 7' tall plus a foot or two of wind chop. I don't know the time period between swells but I know it was way too close for my comfort level.
 
Pulled you guys up on vessel view and to my shock you were crossing the Rockies. Upon closer inspection and a previous post found the AIS track was correct.

Glad you guys made it and thanks for the ride.
 
That fog under the Golden Gate wasn't actually that bad, I've seen it so thick you can stand on the SF side headland and not be able to see halfway up the tower, let alone the bridge deck. Fascinating trip, thank you for sharing your pictures and videos! I just found out I might need to do a long trip later this summer, though in less hazardous waters, unless there is a hurricane. I might get the chance to bring a GB Eastbay 49 from Maine or Maryland down to Palm Beach. I'm certainly taking some pointers from your voyage.

The fog in that video was a medium overcast, not fog! I came under on the way back from Monterey in my 320DA following friends since I had no radar. We never saw the bridge, just a darker spot in the fog and the fog horn sounded right when we went under the bridge. Talk about needing to change your underwear! I thought a ship was about to ram us! About a half a mile later there was bright blue sky's. Very strange stuff this SF fog...
 
I am assuming that you are now safely tied up at the dock. Sure wish I could be celebrating dockside with you all! Your trip sounds like it was a great time! Thanks for all the photos, videos, and details Mike, Stuart and Doug!
 

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