Sunday, December 14, 2008 |
Author: Julia
A couple of nights ago we were anchored at Santa Cruz Island with our friend Greg on Nightcap. He had sailed out to meet up with us from Vintage Marina at Channel Islands Harbor. The plan was to spend a couple of days at anchor, dinghy ashore, explore the island (which is primarily National Park), do some hiking and generally enjoy the island.
We'd been listening to the NOAA weather radio forecasts about the nasty storm that was supposed to sweep the west coast bringing gale conditions and big seas but when we finished dinner and went to sleep that night, the gale warnings were forecast for the outer waters, not the inner waters where we were. By the time we had coffee the next morning the gale warning had expanded to include our anchorage and so we decided to head back to Channel Islands Harbor along with Greg for a few days until the storm blew through.
So we are currently at the harbor where we first saw Pisces, had her surveyed, hauled and prepared her for the trip back up to San Francisco. Our initial thinking was to stay at the anchorage and tough out our first storm at anchor. It has to happen sooner or later right? Greg made the point that if there is a storm approaching and a harbor available, then the prudent action is to take advantage of the harbor. Being on shore and leaning into the wind made me really glad we were in the shelter of a marina rather than on constant watches at anchor, ready to slip the anchor if we started dragging. We are less than two weeks into our cruise, and are grateful to have the flexibility to head into a harbor at this point when storms come through. After spending the afternoon yesterday on the bus to Borders bookstore, we are ready to get back out to enjoy the isolated beauty of the Channel Islands.
There is another storm forecast for Monday, so we will be here until that blows through and then head back out, probably to Santa Cruz for a few days. Until then we are enjoying being here, last night was the lighted boat parade in the harbor, and afterward we went back to Nightcap, drank scotch and Greg gave us a primer on celestial navigation and showed us his sextant collection.
Today I will dinghy over to the farmer's market, do some laundry and we will get some diesel before heading out again.
We have some photograph galleries that we are updating as we go along. The current one is our California Coast gallery.
Thanks also to Jeff from Fancy for the great pics of us (looking really nervous!) heading out under the Golden Gate.
34 10.5' N 119 13.4' W
We'd been listening to the NOAA weather radio forecasts about the nasty storm that was supposed to sweep the west coast bringing gale conditions and big seas but when we finished dinner and went to sleep that night, the gale warnings were forecast for the outer waters, not the inner waters where we were. By the time we had coffee the next morning the gale warning had expanded to include our anchorage and so we decided to head back to Channel Islands Harbor along with Greg for a few days until the storm blew through.
So we are currently at the harbor where we first saw Pisces, had her surveyed, hauled and prepared her for the trip back up to San Francisco. Our initial thinking was to stay at the anchorage and tough out our first storm at anchor. It has to happen sooner or later right? Greg made the point that if there is a storm approaching and a harbor available, then the prudent action is to take advantage of the harbor. Being on shore and leaning into the wind made me really glad we were in the shelter of a marina rather than on constant watches at anchor, ready to slip the anchor if we started dragging. We are less than two weeks into our cruise, and are grateful to have the flexibility to head into a harbor at this point when storms come through. After spending the afternoon yesterday on the bus to Borders bookstore, we are ready to get back out to enjoy the isolated beauty of the Channel Islands.
There is another storm forecast for Monday, so we will be here until that blows through and then head back out, probably to Santa Cruz for a few days. Until then we are enjoying being here, last night was the lighted boat parade in the harbor, and afterward we went back to Nightcap, drank scotch and Greg gave us a primer on celestial navigation and showed us his sextant collection.
Today I will dinghy over to the farmer's market, do some laundry and we will get some diesel before heading out again.
We have some photograph galleries that we are updating as we go along. The current one is our California Coast gallery.
Thanks also to Jeff from Fancy for the great pics of us (looking really nervous!) heading out under the Golden Gate.
34 10.5' N 119 13.4' W
4 comments:
J+J, so glad that you are keeping us so well informed of your journey, it is a real pleasure to read of your adventures, decisions and sights. Hope that this weather blows through quickly so that you can get on your way out to sea again. Enjoy Santa Cruz Island. Sending you love, Anna
Glad you guys are well ... we're thinking of you and hope you make it down here soon!!!
Love,
Joel, Jessica, and Dora
Yay! Your adventure sounds soooo amazing; we're excited for you guys! Let us know when we can meet up with you somewhere.
Love,
Jack and Ellen
STORMY REFLECTIONS
I just wanted to reflect a bit on our mutual encounter with a beast of an early winter storm. Given the weather forecast there should have been perfect conditions for us but given the imperfect nature of weather forcasting we should have sat out another day in Channel Islands Harbor until the low pressure was well on its way east.
What the S/V Nightcap learned:
1. Never leave port with half a tank of fuel.
2. Single hook further out when on a lee shore.
3. Chafe is your enemy.
4. Patience is your friend.
At least now you two have a very good yard stick to measure future bad weather experiences by. All that was lost was a little bit of sleep.
Your sailing skills are now at a higher level.
Greg