Offshore to Californ-i-a

The docks at the Newport Marina were getting a little crowded, what with everyone waiting out the strong winds and heavy seas pounding the southern Oregon/northern California coast.  The high winds finally subsided though, as they do, and the bevy of eager boaters made a break for points south.

After a minor setback with our autopilot, which forced us to make a U-turn a mile outside the Yaquina Bay entrance and head back to Newport (a wiring issue, Aaron discovered, that couldn’t be fixed while we were rolling around in the washing machine-like seas), we were on our way again the following morning.

For the first 15 hours or so, we traveled in light winds, rolly seas and dense fog.  But in return for such soggy, drab conditions, we were fortunate enough to see dozens of gray whales.  Some would spout and dive off in the distance, and some ventured close to the boat, perhaps to check out this similarly sized creature plowing through the waves.  It was such a fantastic experience to see these huge, graceful whales up close.  At one point, we passed right through a pod of maybe 6 or 8 traveling in the opposite direction.  Amazing!  By the time I realized I should go get the video camera, it was a little too late (and my excitement coupled with the bouncy waves made for a less-than stellar video).  But here’s what we managed to capture:

A very crappy video of some very cool gray whales

I was on watch in the wee hours of the morning as we approached Cape Blanco, Oregon.  No light from the stars or the moon penetrated the thick fog – the only illumination came from the soft glow of our instruments and our stern light, shining off into the distance behind us.  Winds around Cape Blanco were predicted to be in the 10–15 knot range overnight, but quickly rose from 5 knots to a sustained 26 knots with gusts nearing 35.  Seas that were moderate in the evening steepened dramatically to perhaps 10 feet high. When Aaron climbed up the companionway steps to relieve me, I saw his eyes widen as he took in the wall of water towering behind us.  It’s nothing Bella Star with her sturdy canoe stern couldn’t take, and we felt safe despite the wind and seas.  By the next morning, the winds had died out again and the seas calmed considerably.  Although the fog stuck around… sigh.

Day two was an exciting one, as we entered California waters for the first time!  Although it looked exactly like Oregon in all that fog, it was still a great feeling.  Relying on our trusty radar and chartplotter, we navigated through the rocks and around the curved breakwater of Crescent City to anchor for the night.  The marina suffered significant damage in last spring’s tsunami (following Japan’s devastating earthquake), so anchoring out is the only option now.  I wish the fog had lifted even a little bit to give us a glimpse of the city, but it wasn’t meant to be.  No matter, we were still in California!

Crescent City, CA in the fog

Yesterday, escorted by beautiful brown pelicans and under our first glimpse of blue skies in days, we navigated across the Humboldt River bar and into the town of Eureka, California.  Greeting us on the dock were friends we’d met in Newport, Carolyn and Kathy on the lovely s/v Shannon.  And we saw s/v Anna sitting snuggly on the dock just down from us.  Tonight the six of us are hitting the local Irish pub for dinner and live music.  All I can say is, eureka!