Greetings from Fort Bragg

It was a wonderful afternoon sail. The sun was finally out, the water was deep blue, the swells and the wind both pushing our small world in the right direction. After being in cold fog since yesterday (10/27) when we left Brookings, this was truly exciting. The sails were up and pulling us at nearly six knots, and we were pretty sure we had another whole day of good weather, so we looked forward to reaching Bodega Bay, about 60 miles from San Francisco.

Then we started finding bits and pieces of what looked like a nylon bushing of some sort on the floor of the cockpit. Where did these come from?!? It didn't take long to figure out after our self steering stopped working. And we require two of these bushings which of course we did not have on board.

Now, in order to continue, one of us would have to be at the helm steering at all times, and the helm on Sojourner is completely exposed to weather. So we decided to pull into Fort Bragg, only 25 miles from our curent position where we could order and have the parts delivered.

While we enjoyed the rest of the sunny afternoon, we couldn't help but notice that the entire coastline (we had been sailing about 12 miles out) was completely shrouded in heavy fog. That of course, included where we'd find Fort Bragg at about 10 PM on a moonless night. We do have radar and and GPS, but the thought of navigating at night in thick fog to and into an unfamiliar harbor went against every advice I had ever read. Yet, our new mentor, Al, kept assuring us that it would be fine.

I was at the helm concentrating on steering a rather precise course and couldn't hear the conversation, but I did hear Al on the VHF radio "requesting assistance" from the Coast Guard at Ft Bragg. About a half hour later, we spotted their 47 footer which had come out to lead us in. Things were looking up!

It was about 10:30 PM when this tired crew crossed the Noyo river bar and began winding our way up river under a tall Hwy 101 bridge and then through a very old harbor district straight out of Disney's Pirates of the Carribean. Finally, I heard the Coast Guard directing us to turn right and into the 3rd slip on the right where we would soon be tied up for the night. E

It has taken us until today to get to Wi-Fi so we can post. Fort Bragg is a very pretty setting but you have to put on your hiking boots to get to the internet, groceries, & laundry. People are nice but like most other harbors that are focused on fishing they have taken quite a hit in the last 10 years. A fisherman told us yesterday that in 1988 the Fort Bragg fisherman pulled in the most fish (about 8 million pounds) on the Pacific Coast. Many of the fisheries have closed & fishing boats are for sale. Emrick was right about the Pirates of the Carribean image when we sailed under Hwy 101 to enter the harbor. Quite a sight but we were so focused on entering the harbor & docking that it was impossible to interpret all we were looking at. Our trip down here was pretty good, still cold but the ocean was great. Sailing in fog was really eerie & following the coast guard (actually following their white light because you couldn't see the boat at all due to the thickness of the fog) was a trip. There was lots of hollering back & forth between Al & Emrick during the process. We should have used the headsets Eli but we completely forgot about them. Live-n-learn. C

We're still here . . .

Yes, we can still be found at the transient dock in Brookings. Our third crew member Al is returning this week & we will be looking for yet another weather window which will allow us to move on down the road. So far the weather looks like it has us locked in until early next week, but you never know. I believe that Emrick & I have walked almost every inch of Brookings Harbor. If anyone has any questions about the harbor please feel free to ask. We have tested the "best clam chowder in the universe" (it was pretty good), watched football in the VooDoo lounge (& tried out the game machines), done some woodwork on a small boat in the marina and I have personally hit the Salty Dog coffee bar more times than I care to admit. The last few days here have been overcast & cooler. We have watched quite a few boats come & go on the dock here. Some we are able to talk with but others are only here for a quick stop & out again very early the next day. Jenifer, Kristen & Linsey came to visit for a Friday evening about a week ago & Kristen came out for an overnight this past Friday. She was kind enough to stay for most of Saturday so we could use the car to get laundry & food shopping done. Maxine has not complained a lot but I did hear a grumble recently about how her skin was beginning to look rather pale due to lack of sun & she keeps talking about fish tacos . . . .
If you are interested in reading a story about ocean sailing, pick up the book "Maiden Voyage" by Tania Aebi. It is about an 18 year old who sailed around the world alone.
So, I expect you will next hear from us when our plans are firm about going south. Hope you all have a great week. Me, I'm headed for the Salty Dog . . .

Ship's log October 12

I was awake early this morning, and heard the wind blowing harder than expected. Then at 7:00 when I stuck my head out to see the day, it was cold, low to mid forties I guessed. We were planning to escape from Brookings today, to sail past Crescent City to the next harbor at Humboldt Bay, CA, some 80 miles away. In a vessel that runs anywhere from 3 to 6 mph, it should be easy to understand that this simple trip would take longer than the 5 or 6 hours of a warm afternoon to complete. In fact, I planned the trip for about 20 hours. Now, we all know that I can't tolerate cold, so, what in the world was I thinking?

When we sailed away from Winchester Bay, we had a third person aboard - one experienced sailor named Robert. It was this third person, who could take some of the night watches and allow me to warm up that made the trip possible for us. But alas, since we've laid over in Brookings for most of his available time, and for other personal reasons, Robert had to bail out a couple days ago. And though I've stressed and agonized over it, I just can't convince myself that we can do this without the third person. We need to be in warmer weather.

A couple days ago I heard about a sailor living here in the harbor who had recently helped another cruiser get down to San Francisco. Last night Claudia and I were invited to a BBQ where we met a man named Alan - the sailor I had heard about. Today we showed Alan our Sojourner, and he agreed to help us get down the coast. He has other committments for a couple weeks, but then we should be getting this show on down the road.

Interesting how things work out isn't it?

Emrick

Escape from Brookings

One of the things that is most difficult about cruising is deciding when to make our passage to our next destination. We look for where we want to go, how strong & from what direction the wind is coming at us, how high & how frequently the ocean swells are occurring and how long it will take us to get where we want to go. We look for a weather window that will allow us to get there safely & with the least amount of "rockin-n-rollin". Since the weather seems to change hourly, the plans that you make one day may change by the next. That said, we are hoping to leave tomorrow morning, heading for Humbolt Bay/Eureka. We met the captain of the SV Patience a few days ago. He, his wife & their sailing dog Zoro are one their ways south as well & may be leaving with us. Just a few minutes ago a power boat settled behind us on the transient (that word does not have a nice ring to it, does it) dock. They are from Seattle & headed for Eureka tomorrow. Apparently another power boat they are with is about an hour behind them but will also be heading south. A flotilla!! It is nice to have people around again. Since our friends from Berit J left on Monday it has been very quiet around here. I sure hope they are catching tuna!
Emrick & Claudia

PS Emrick is the one who received the knock on the head from the boom, not me.

Maxine

Maxine has finally consented to being introduced to everyone. She thinks this blog is pretty outrageous but she is now willing to "go along" as it is her only way to get to warm waters.
Maxine was hired on as crew just before we left Salmon Harbor. She told us stories of having sailed with David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) and Jimmy Buffett (of Margaritaville fame). Recently she has been residing on the SV (sailing vessel) Footloose in Salmon Harbor. Her captain Ted let her know that we were bound for the Sea of Cortez and she decided it was time to see some sun. Maxine doesn't eat much, is pretty quiet, likes movies and enjoys sitting on deck, all of which is good, but her proficiency at sail handling and covering a watch leaves something to be desired. I guess I use the word "crew" loosely. Anyway, I'm sure you will see her in the future as she shares our passage. Well, Maxine is headed out on deck to absorb some much appreciated rays of sunshine. Me, I'm headed for the shower . . . . .

Weather weather everywhere

It's not that we don't like Brookings. I mean, we have a sturdy dock to tie to, shorepower, water, and even WI FI. And we've met some incredibly nice people here too. But warm waters are calling. Sometimes I even think I hear Maxine grumbling. Oh. I guess we haven't told you abour her yet. We'll work on that. And I'll try to get a pic for you, but she's been acting rather shy lately.

Anyway, yesterday, based on a forecast of poor but improving, we set out for Eureka, CA. This straightforward 80 mile trip should have been a simple overnight leg with stickman steering the boat for us. Instead, after 1 1/2 hours with conditions certainly getting worse, we turned back and are again tied up at the dock in Brookings Harbor for what looks like another week. We're waiting for a hole or window in the seemingly never ending parade of systems that are marching across the Pacific.

I'm confident that one day we'll be able to write you about exotic people and places, private warm water anchorages, magnificent sunsets, and all manner of experiences with sea life. But right now, as long as we're stuck here, it's about whether I can watch Monday night football tonight.

Hanging out

We're laid over in Brookings because of some strong weather that's arriving and looks to last a while. So it's a good chance to remedy the few boat problems discovered on the trip so far. On Saturday night in the nasties we did an accidental jibe where the boom came flying across the cockpit and nailed me in the forehead. That was bad enough, but had I been standing, it could have put me in the water. We are now rigging a "preventer". Also found a young man to dive under the boat and replace the prop shaft zinc that was lost somehow on the way here.

Yesterday in Brookings was the first day of a very short and long awaited salmon fishing season/derby. When we walked to the laundromat in the RV park at the shore in the AM, we were treated to quite a sight. The ocean looked relatively mellow, but good sized waves were crashing to shore, and behind them, almost lined up from the bar out the channel for maybe a mile, rising and dropping in the swells were about 40 or 50 small fishing boats. It looked almost like you could have walked out the channel from boat to boat. I had been whining about the fact that what used to be a simple 5 minute chore at home had become a 2 hour chore here in our new life. Shame on me. Had we been able to just walk into the laundry room, put in the clothes, and leave, we'd have missed both this spectacular sight and meeting up with Jimmy, our bartender from Monday Night Football at the local bar, who offered us a ride back to the boat. Life is good.