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Well, here we are in Sausalito after our first ocean passage. We left Neah Bay on Friday, August 8, at 7:40 am, motoring out into big swells, but no wind. At noon the northerlies filled it and we started sailing south. We broad reached 60 to 80 miles offshore all the way. We had a day and a half with light to no wind, otherwise it was downwind with 10 to 25 knots most of the way. We traveled non-stop approximately 780 miles and it took us seven days. The boat never felt overpowered, but the passage was very uncomfortable at many times. The boat did a tremendous amount of rolling because of its design, waves and the wind over the stern. It took time to secure the galley to reduce the amount of noise caused by objects hitting walls because of the rolling. The noise and the rolling made it hard to rest. The all night watch requirement also was hard to adjust to, and we got pretty tired. At one point in the passage, we had to run the engine to charge the batteries, which provide power to everything, including the GPS (Global Positioning System), our location information. We started the engine and the batteries were not charging! We had to unload the boat locker with the bicycles in it, and Colin had to climb into it and diagnose the wiring problem and fix it. Fortunately he succeeded! We saw minimal sea life. One or two whales, from a distance, and sea gulls and sooty shearwaters, big dark gull-like bird that glides within inches of the wave tops. Our food provisioning was very adequate, and except for the rolling galley problem that one time caused me to dump hot coffee grounds all over the my front and the interior of the boat, we ate well. We had plenty of fresh vegetables, etc, and they lasted fine on the passage. We did not fish. We did not even want to fish, we were so busy with everything else we had to do. I suppose after getting used to this type of passage making, there might be time to fish, but we did not find the time. One blessing was that neither of us got sea sick. Wrist bands and small doses of Dramamine helped a lot. We felt a little queasy at times, but nothing serious, so we never missed a meal and ate very well. The admiral had banned alcohol during the passage, but we didn't really miss it. That first beer when we dropped the anchor tasted really good! The passage got colder as we headed south. It was very hot leaving Washington and down through Oregon, but when we got to California the temperature began to cool and fog settled in. We sighted Point Reyes on Thursday afternoon, August 14th, and anchored just round the corner in Drakes Bay, so called because Sir Francis Drake anchored there in the 16th century. It is a wild and desolate area, a nature reserve. The anchorage is well protected and quiet and is used by fishing boats. So we had a seven day passage, which is about average. That first night at anchor felt so good. We shared the anchorage with a Nordic 44 from Seattle. They had left Neah Bay on August 4th and had gunkholed down the coast. They had no wind after the first couple of days and had motored all the rest of the way. The next day, Friday, we sailed 30 miles from Drakes Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and up to Saulsalito. It is still cool and foggy, and according to the local Sausalitans, will be this way until September. We are VERY glad to be gunk-holing again. Sausalito is like Eagle Harbor, full of funky boats that are at anchor, and some just slowing sinking. It is very shallow, we are in the deepest part at 18'. This a.m. we went to a Farmers Market on the shore and got some great fresh vegs and herbs. Tonight we are going to a rock concert because last night a man Colin befriended gave him these tickets, and the pass includes free beer and pizza. Colin will go a long way for free beer and pizza. More news soon. Colin & Patricia Shannon-Garvey |
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