The weather looked OK and we had seen what there was to see in Crescent City. We were prepped for the long journey to San Francisco. Up at 5:30 and engine start.
We got out of Crescent City in the total darkness since it was a new moon. The buoy lights guided us out around the island and rocks just outside the harbor. It was a pretty rough ocean starting out, but we have become used to that when close to land. We made our way out to 10 miles offshore and it got a bit better but, as predicted, the waves were 8 feet at about 10 second period. This is not really comfortable but tolerable. We continued throughout the day and and it got a bit better, the wind was behind us and the waves calmed to 6-7 feet.
As it got later into the evening things calmed a bit more. The new moon and a bit of fog made the night incredibly dark and we were flying on instruments. By daylight, the seas calmed down to nearly flat and the wind was zero. The sea felt like we were travelling on the Puget Sound. There was incredible sea life, we watched porpoise, sea lions and whales for hours.
The second day dragged on forever. We were excited to get there but we still had many miles to go. Barb made spicy gruel with spinach for breakfast and we sat outside in the sun on the bow for awhile. Finally, late afternoon, we arrived at the bridge. Thirty six hours of travel is really a long transit.
There is a great deal of satisfaction making this cruise. It was a big undertaking and we accomplished it!
It is fleet week in San Francisco and there is no moorage to be found. We had anticipated this eventuality and we knew there was a free anchorage in Sausalito so, completely exhausted from the 36 hour cruise, we dropped anchor next to our friends on Illimite (Gary and Noelle) and I went immediately to bed for 12 hours.
It is great to be in San Francisco and we will likely stay here for a couple of weeks and have some fun. After that we will be on to Southern California and a bit of fun in the October Sun!!
Technical Data
Time: 35 h 49 m ( 05:26 to 17:16 ) Distance: 287.50 nm
Fuel: 124.69 Gallons Fuel Rate: 3.48 GPH Fuel Economy: 2.31 NM/G
Avg Speed: 8.11 kn Max Speed: 9.99 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 3034.30 Hours Runtime End: 3070.10 Hours Fuel: 124.69 Gallons Fuel Rate: 3.48 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 5.68 GPH Avg RPM: 1342.92 Max RPM: 1529.00 Avg Oil Pressure: 52.48 Low Oil Pressure: 30.75 Avg Temperature: 184.27 Max Temperature: 194.00
