My first update

This blog is supposed to be by the two of us and Bonnie has been doing all the work.

What a trip so far.. and such a big difference in the weather north and south of Point Conception. I can hardly believe it, but am very thankful for it.

Bonnie wrote a few words about our crossing through Point Conception, also described as the Cape Horn of California. It was by far the worst wind and waves that I have ever experienced, or imagined.

The day started with fog in Morro Bay, then a little sun, so we headed out. Light winds forecast, no worries, should be a smooth crossing. Fog rolled back in, and we used the GPS for all the navigating, taking a wider berth to avoid the shoals and rocks close to shore. The wind finally picked up a bit, the fog lifted and we had good sailing under cloudy skies up to near dark. About then, we got an advisory from the Coast Guard indicating that winds were going to pick up to 15 knots, gusts to 25. At this time, we had gone past the turn point but it did not sound to bad. None of the wind forecasts had reached the forecasted winds yet.

The winds did start to pick up and got quite brisk. We were making great time, with some of the fastest sailing we had this trip. About dark, the winds really started to step up and we rolled in the jib with the furler so that we had about 3/4's out. Still making 6+ knots, when bang, the wind really started to blow hard. Just then, we got another weather update indicating winds to 25 knots, gusting to 35.

Bonnie has proven herself as a great helmsman, stays on tack, good sailor, but the winds were starting to get pretty heavy. I reefed the jib so that we were about 50% and then strapped on the safety tether to my harness and moved onto the deck to reef the main sail. It was rock and roll but Bonnie kept the boat as steady as she could while I put in the reef. This helped a lot but Bonnie had enought and turned the helm over to me.

We continued to move ahead with the seas around us increasing in size and the wind holding steady. The boat held course, by now it's dark and we were trying to take a wide berth around the point to keep away from the rocks, thanks to the GPS. Suddenly the winds really started to blow and I was struggling to hold the helm. Bonnie took the wheel and I furled in all of the jib, then climbed back on to the deck to put a second reef in the main sail. It was like riding a wild bull while getting beat with base ball bats and sprayed with sleet. The boat slammed back and forth with the boom smashing me in the chest at least 5 times, knocking me over at least once, but I was tethered to the boom. After what seemed like forever, I got the second reef in and the boat became more manageable. But the wind continued to scream and howl while the seas continued to rise.

The wind was behind us and the seas were moving with us. The rollers were about 20' high and would come in behind us, pick us up, and push us forward, speeds up to almost 9 knots as we slid back down the wave and into the trough. Each wave, I fought the wheel to keep the boat from broaching and would turn it back ahead at the bottom of the trough. Well ahead of us was a light that was right on our path. As we got closer, we could see it was a drilling platform. I steered us as close to it as I could and came within a 100' of it. We could see the windsock standing straight out, but there was no place for us to pull in. Waves were crashing over the lower level platform. I ducked behind the platform and used it as a break from the wind and waves. It is as large as a small island and gave us a few minutes to catch our breath then carry on. In the wind and waves, I could hear a pod of dolphins following us but I did not have time to look for them or enjoy thier presence.

As we neared the point, I was trying to get us behind the land form to shelter us from the big rolling waves but with the reefed main and no jib, the boat would not turn. We could not have controlled it as well anyways going across the waves. Eventually we got far enough in that the waves started to ease and we continued to be pushed ahead with the wind the double reefed main.

By about 10 or so, we were past the point and headed for shelter at an anchorage called Cojo. Bonnie and I both looked back and saw some sort of light that we thought was a marker buoy that was not on the chart. A few minutes later, it disappeared. Around 11:30, I thought I saw some red flares being fired off near land, so I called the coast guard on the emergency channel. I got an immedate response from a vessel asking us to identify ourselves and were we the vessel off of his port bow. We looke back and saw these light from a patrol vessel. Turned out it was not the coast guard but a navy ship sweeping the area to insure there was no stray traffic in the area because of thier missle tests. We were in a area that was to be closed in a half hour to all except the military. They were having trouble hearing me on the radio because of the wind. After verifying our destination, we were given permission to continue on to Cojo, although I am not sure where else we could have gone. They had not seen the flares but were going to watch for them. A few minutes later, all of thier lights were out, but we know they were watching us pretty close.

As we headed west, the skies cleared, the seas eased, and we whipped along with the reefed main, Bonnie laid down for the last hour, and I woke her as we came into Cojo so she could help me set the anchor. Lots of swells in the anchorage, and the wind continued to howl until just before dawn. I slept little, getting up to make sure the anchor was holding.

Come morning, we pulled the anchor and headed down the coast to Santa Barbara with light winds, gentle seas, sun, and warm enough to wear shorts and t shirts.

Bonnie did a great job in some of the worst conditions I could imagine, and without her help, it might have been a different story. We did discover that there are limits to the effects of dramaline that she takes for motion sickness. The wave height exceeded the forecasted by a long shot and the winds were steady at 35 or greater rather than 25 with gusts to 45 or so.

The safety equipment that I had bought was well worth it, I plan on picking up a few more items, and replacing a few. The new flag that I bought just 1 day before for the overboard pole was torn off or blown off by the wind. I had replaced the radio with a new unit that also shows your gps location when you transmit, which was a great thing. This is how the navy knew it was me off of thier bow. I also got a wireless mic which I can carry with me right at the helm, rather than going inside to talk on the radio, can't imagine what it would be like without it. The GPS we bought also ties into the transducer on the bottom of the boat so it gives us sonar as well as depth and sea temperatures. This has been a big help as well. As a side note, I was amazed at how many fish there were out beyond the point as I was rounding it for the anchorage, not that anyone could be stupid enough to try to fish for them.

In contrast to our night of hell, the last two days have been exactly what I pictured crusing to be about. Sunny, warm, light winds, easy sailing, and all care free. Hard to believe it is all part of the same trip.