Third Times the Charm

Well, that's how the old expression goes, and for us it was the truth. It took us three attempts to make it to Eureka, CA. The first attempt was a week and a half ago. We were preparing to leave around midnight when Scott noticed we weren't getting much water out of the exhaust. After checking into it our muffler was leaking badly and would need some welding done. We watched Ventured, a boat we have been sailing with, sail off without us. The next day we found a welder and got the muffler back after 2 days. We still had a problem, which Scott once again tracked down quickly. The through hull was blocked, which caused water to back up into the muffler and caused the crack. Well all things fixed we had to wait for weather.

Attempt number two: We finally were underway around 1 in the morning last Thursday. After a very smooth bar crossing, we had a very boring and smooth morning, followed by a quiet early afternoon, but we had the afternoon and evening to contend with. By mid afternoon the wind switched around from the south and we started getting sustained winds of 20 knots to gusts of 30 on our nose. This began kicking up rather uncomfortable wind waves that were coming in the opposite direction of the sea swells. We checked the weather again and decided it might be more comfortable a little further off shore, and it was, just a little. Before dark, we started hearing a suspicious noise under the boat. We both were a little nervous that is might be the prop. We slowed the throttle and babied it while we checked to see if we could diagnose it from the boat. Scott finally thought it was just hearing the seas at different angles that we were accustomed to. After 4 hours of only making 2 knots we decided to try upping the throttle a little and he found the seas died down enough we weren't making that noise any longer. We were finally running a long at 4 knots. We ended up battling the wind and waves for over 16 hours. It took us almost 10 hours to go from Cape Sebastian to pass Brookings, OR. This is a trip of just 4 or 5 hours normally. We were concerned about the fuel to make it all the way to Eureka. So a decision was made to head into Crescent City, CA. Crescent City was recently the site of most of the damage of the Tsunami last March. When we arrived they still didn't have any spare slips, as a matter of fact they barely had any marina at all. The fuel dock was intact and we were given a ride to a local convenient store. Everyone was so nice an helpful. They really wanted the boating traffic back. They advised us where we could anchor in the bay (free anchorage my favorite). We anchored and enjoyed a nice cocktail and discuss the events of the last 24 hours. To say we were nervous is an understatement. It turns out that we didn't make a mistake. Our friends on Ventured went to the NOAA station in Eureka and found out the wind storm was not predicted. It apparently stretched a huge part of the coast. Our friends tried to make for Bodega Bay and turned back with 2 other boats.

Attempt 3: Saturday dawned and it was clear we had a weather window to jump down to Eureka. Eureka was only 65 miles away and about a 14 hour trip. As the day went on the sun came out and we left Crescent City around 1:30 pm. It was very smooth and only showed a little building of the seas, but the wind was still on our nose, but nowhere near the winds we had on the earlier leg. It was slow going averaging about 4 to 4.5 knots. Scott and I stand 2 hour watches and it seems to work for us. I was a little nervous when darkness hit, but it was an uneventful evening. Little bumpy, and a little windy, but we'd gone through some really rough stuff and this wasn't so bad. Around 2 am we spotted the lights of Humbolt Bay and started our approach. Scott and I picked our way through the jetties and up the bay to Eureka, when fog set in. We would have been OK but for a loading crane with a very bright light still on. It was nearly blinding us. Well, around 3:15 we were safely in the marina and tired off enjoying a glass of wine. Having a much easier leg and managing our first night crossing of a bar helped rebuild some of the confidence I had lost during the trip from Coos Bay to Crescent City.

The boat handled all of this like a champ. She is strongly built and handles the seas much easier than we could have hoped. She really took a beating and we are tracking down a couple of areas that need a little more caulk, but all in all everything inside stayed put and we are happy with the job she did. We are safe and sound and enjoyed a nice day off yesterday with a few errands and boat projects to work on while we wait for the next weather window, hopefully with northerlies.