Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Reporting in on progress:

Had a very enjoyable sail from Marina Del Rey to Oxnard. I shoved off at sunrise. It quickly became a nice warm and pretty calm day. I was able to go up front and do a bit of reading on the bow for a bit. The morning haze wore off right away and I could see some of the billowing smoke from the remaining SoCal fires far away.

Picture #1 Had an amazing sunset by the channel islands on my approach to Oxnard. At the time of this picture, I am still a couple of hours out. I did not make it to my assigned slip until it was quite dark...

It was fun trying to make my enty into the harbor. Dredging operations were underway in the entry channel that night and it was hard to make out the anchor bouy lights from the background. The handy 1.5M candlepower spotlight came out to light our way. (This is a handy thing to have on board if sailing in unfamiliar waters!)

Unfortunately, the key that was to be left for me in the 'hiding place' by the friendly marina staff was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, I ran into a few of the locals enjoying a nice community dinner on the dock and they provided a loaner key for the night. Their BBQ'd fish smelled great... They also had a bit of mellow live music going on... They extended an invitation, but I had an early start and it was already late...

Carol arrived at the marina around 9:00 pm. She was not feeling all that well ... (Hmmm, not good...) and was a bit tired so she went right to bed as I grabbed a quick bite. Fortunately she was feeling better the next morning. We cast off at around 7:30am for Santa Barbara.

Picture #2 is as we approached Santa Barbara under Sail... Certainly a beautiful day and unusually warm. (Read: 'not cold'...). We pulled into the fuel dock sometime after 3:00pm and after fueling-up and having a chat with the locals about the weather forecast at Point Conception, and thoughts about rounding the point over the next couple of days we were pointed to the guest dock where we could hang out for 3-4 hours until our departure scheduled for a few hours later. It was the prime spot for people watching... It was nice & warm (in the mid 70's) in the Marina.

Kristen showed-up after we'd had a nice dinner and Carol had a nice nap... We chased after a 2.5 gallon jerry can to store some extra fuel for the 130 or so mile passage (- just in case) and set off towards Point Conception at about 7:30pm. I hate these new so-called 'safety spouts' on Jerry cans. They are not safe, contrary to their promises (they leak!) and are not very convenient to use...

Our goal was to round the point in the very early hours of the next morning . The next two pictures are of Point Arguello, and were taken soon after sun-up just after rounding the points.

Picture #3 The camera flattens out the largest seas... The swells were impressive around the point, but far enough apart so that they were not a major issue. (Compare with the next shot and see how much land you can see...) The swell reflections from each of the two points caused a bit of a mess even at 15-20 miles out at sea where we were on our approach to Point Conception and Point Arguello in order to avoid this very condition. We took a bearing close to due North as we reached past Point Arguello and actually got fairly close -to the point where the installations of Vandenberg Air Force Base were visible. (Picture #4).

The reflected swell made the seas quite messy. It was impressive to see the large swells coming at us from both the West AND the North East (reflected off the cliffs).

We took down the main after the winds clamed in the early morning and rode the washing-machine around the point. Not the most comfortable ride, but I guess it is better to have too little wind here rather than too much... We really cannot complain... We were clear of the point at around 7 am and we had a further 85 miles or so to Morro Bay.

Prior to rounding the point it is important to check the missile test schedule at Vandenberg Air Force Base as they test all sorts of projectile weapons there... On top of the weather, wind, swells & current issues you also have to worry about being blown out of the water by a stray missile! Fortunately, no missile firings were scheduled for that night.

-Further details on the rounding of Point Conception are included in my next post below.


As I write this post, we are sitting in Morro Bay Yacht Club Guest Dock (1st picture in my next post below) enjoying a nice calm lazy afternoon after a 130-some mile sail from Santa Barbara which included the rounding of Point Conception. We consumed about 7 gallons of fuel and had 3 to spare on arrival.

Around sunset, we decided to skip Port San Luis on the coast west of San Luis Obispo and sailed a further 23 Miles to the Morro Bay. We came over the harbor bar at Morro bay Harbor at about 9:30pm last night.

It was a very DARK moonless night during the climb up from about Port San Luis to Morro Bay, and it was a bit of a slog as the northerly winds developed -albeit lightly in the late afternoon along with a steep 2ft swell -both right on the nose slowing our progress by at least a couple of hours overall.

We were running low on fuel and we decided to re-fuel mid-Estero Bay as I did not want to risk running out of fuel going over the bar at the entrance of Morro Bay harbor. Fortunately, the bar was not a problem that night . A quick hail on the VHF to the Coast Guard informed us that there were only 3 ft swells, with an occasional 5 footer coming over the bar but none were breaking.

The Morro Bay harbor has a relatively narrow entry, but as a result it is very sheltered from weather providing almost completely still waters once you clear the bar.

We were feeling good about completing the long passage, but quite tired, and after tying up at the dock and a quick run to the bathroom, we enjoyed a bit of wine and some great food on the boat (everything was closed by this time). After enjoying some re-living the events of our passage and some tales about Kristin's previous adventures, we promptly fell asleep - as the proverbial rocks.

We had barely eaten anything over the last 24 hrs, we noted. But we really did not feel very hungry over the previous day... Probably had our attention elsewhere - especially coming around the point!

It was a relief to be past Point Conception. It is amazing how much of a psychological barrier it represents and how the 'lore of the Point' keeps many local sailors firmly either North, or South of it. Many never even think of attempting a crossing. I heard many words of warning about the Point; curiously and consistently from people who'd never been even close to the area. Those few sailors who I found had done it were only encouraging - as long as I watched the weather...

Kristin has sadly left us as of this morning. She could only manage to free herself from other comittments for this short portion of the voyage, and we were all sad that this leg was over so quickly. We were actually a bit ahead of schedule as I had included a weather day on the schedule for this leg... so Kristen felt as if her trip had been cut short. - But now she has many good stories to tell over thanksgiving dinner!


Ed - Thank you for the weather insight - We were a bit luckier down south as far as the weather over the last few days. I am still about 300 miles away from you in Santa Cruz, but I'll be getting further north and checking the weather closely as we make our way.

We have checked the weather this morning and I do think we will sit out this front for the moment as it seems like there are a couple of storms which will kick up the wind & swells - not to mention the rain- over the next several days.

The next stretch is also a long one (About 120 miles to Monterey) without much in the way of ports / anchorages / places to hide from the weather... So we will wait for the next suitable weather window.

This weather delay suits us nicely as we definitely need a day, or two for rest after this long leg. And Morro Bay is just the place to do it. It is very peaceful and most things are conveniently within a stone's throw of the harbor. We rented a movie last night, but I fell asleep with about 5 minutes to go...


I hear Big sur can be a bear also, do you have any insight on that area? Thank you very much!

Our next leg is also a long one - Morro Bay to Monterey - 120 miles. There is the anchorage at San Simeon, but this is only 20 miles north of Morro Bay. After this there are no other safe nooks until a small anchorage just west of Carmel, but this is only a handful of miles South of Monterrey.

I have found that the local advice from the fishermen, the fuel dock attendants, the local sailors etc. is invaluable. While attempting to ask the people who 'should' know best (harbor officials / Coast Guard, etc.) this produces only non-answers to any questions... I assume for fear of liability or (???). I wonder where this sort of general attitude will lead us eventually...



Thanks!

[Ed Ekers]

Ricco, glad to hear you got around the point, and assume it was a mild passage.

Big Sur is an area that I do have a little more insight to. The winds and fog can be tough in the summer but this time of year the main issues again would be the seas and temp coming from the north. If you have ever been to the Big Sur coast area you know that there are huge cliffs all along the coastline. These cliffs can cause for a very confused sea with the swells reflecting off and washing back out to create steep peaks. Staying in deeper water is a general rule of thumb.

If you find that you want to get out of the weather, there is a great little anchorage called Still Water Cove in Carmel (Pebble Beach Golf). The cove is protected to the north and the anchorage is walking distance to the town of Carmel.

Hope this helps and let me know if you think you will be coming into Santa Cruz…..ed

[Ed Ekers]

Rico, Here is some shots of what is going on up in this area. If you don’t know, Maverick is just south of the Gate at Half Moon Bay…..ed
http://www.maverickssurf.com/Common/...x?albumId=3570

[Rico]

Thanks Ed,
I heard about the 15ft breakers - it looks like fun - on a surfboard! (maybe...)

I will wait for the next weather window to continue North. It looks like this system will bring 10 - 12 ft swells... with the wind on the nose. There is no fun being in that.

I am planning to make a stop in Santa Cruz. I'll keep you posted. It would be great to meet a fellow A-C owner.

Thank you for tips on Point Sur, I can use all the info I can get...

The rounding of Point Conception was a great adventure. It was fairly mild as we were shooting for what looked like, and ended-up being a very good weather window (Certainly by Point Conception terms) but it was still a long passage and a lot of work.

We left Santa Barbara at about 7:30pm and I went to sleep at about 9:00pm. Up until that point, it had been a clear, starry night. My watch started at midnight when I was awakened. It was quite different then. I was surprised to feel the boat moving quite a bit in the swells and the sound of strong winds. I went up on deck and assumed watch with Kirstin. We were feeling the swells and wind as if funneled around the point already.

It was a very dark cloudy / foggy night which had Kristin & I navigating by instruments only while Carol slept. This is not the best way to hold a steady course in such messy seas... (Our GPS track proves this!) Our intended course took us about 15 miles offshore and the scant lights on shore were no longer visible. In fact the fog was so thick that the only light we could occasionally see was the glow from the offshore drilling platforms. This gave us at least a temporary reference to steer a course by before they quickly disappeared in the fog... Not even a faint glow was apparent for reference after that.

There was supposed to be a bright moon out that night, but he cloud cover was so thick that the glow of the moon was not at all visible, and the oil rigs were obscured by the fog just as quickly as they appeared! We could only see the glow from a distance of about 1-2 miles away. Further away it was just pure darkness everywhere. I did the 'hold your hand in front of your face' test - I could not see a thing!

We had some spectacular sightings of whales & dolphins. It was particularly impressive as we experienced bright luminescence which showed the trails of dolphins as they speeded underneath us, and jumped around the boat leaving ribbons of light... It was a spectacular sight!

The hightlight happened at about 3:30am as a bright luminescent glow became apparent, and then grew brighter just underneath and all around us in the boat... This became increasingly brighter & brighter... As I lifted my hand to point it out to Kristen -who was staring at the lit GPS a this time-, this huge fin rose out of the water only a couple of feet away from the starboard rail, and up to some 4 feet above the level of the deck! (This was at about 3:30am and it was pitch dark as I described above... but I could see the large shape of the whales due to the bright luminescent glow created as its body disturbed the water.) I could not make out what sort of giant it was closest to us on that side; but it was BIG.

I tried to hold a steady course as it was now apparent that we were in the milddle of a pod of whales of some sort... I could see them swimming all around us. They were holding our exact course...

I was uncomfortable at the thought of ending-up between a cow and her calf... or having one of these giants come up directly underneath us! - Just as this thought gelled in my mind... a loud BLOW screamed loudly just at the port side of the boat. This loud breath from a whale's blowhole and the sight of a big FIN coming up from the water caused Kristin to scream and jump down to the middle of the cockpit! I was It was quite a rush! I was too shocked to say anything and just held on to the tiller! Then, just as fast as they had appeared, they dove and as they did so, the glow faded back into darkness...

The whole thing happened quickly, but it seemed like it was much longer... It was an exciting moment during this long passage! It certainly made the time pass quickly as we talked about it for the next hour or so.

Carol slept through the whole thing... (fortunately Kristin's reaction was one of excited laughter - and not fear!) We almost woke Carol to tell her about what we'd witnessed, and so she could see this in case that they came up again close to the boat, but decided not to... Warmth & sleep are so highly valued! And I was hoping that they would not come up that close to us again!

About 30 min later I let Kirstin know that it was time for her turn to have a bit of sleep, and she responded: "Are you kidding!! I cannot sleep! After that I feel like I'm high on drugs!" this was followed quickly by: "Oh, and you are not going to sleep either!!" as she quickly realized what my next thought would be...

So Carol got lucky and got to stay asleep through to morning. She awoke at sun-up, eager to take over the steering; a task she is not only good at, but she seemed to enjoy for long periods at a time.

I performed our first refueling at-sea as the sun came up a few miles after rounding Point Arguello. We took advantage of calming seas while I re-fueled and managed to not spill a drop...



Pictures -

a.- The Morro Bay yacht club. I've been here a few times now and the people are great. There's not a lot of room, but everyone is very accommodating. This is their clubhouse. The whole waterfront is very picturesque and active - but calm & quiet. A great spot to spend some time.

b - Morro rock in the morning after our arrival. The light had an amazing quality for most of the morning... It reminded me of Holland.

c - My relaxed and fearless crew who made the trip very enjoyable... There are not many people I'd feel so comfortable having as crew. This picture was taken just after rounding point Conception (Point Arguello is visible in the background). I was incredibly fortunate to have Kristin and Carol along for the trip. It is amazing how many people said they'd want to join the crew, but in the end very few actually have the courage to do this sort of thing... Courage not because it is dangerous (although it could be!), but courage to get out of one's element and go do something out of the routine for a few days.

d- The Morro Bay Yacht Club's Resident Otter having a little snooze. We felt very welcome at the yacht club. We stayed there for three days a the guest dock and then left the boat out on a mooring while Carol & I headed up to San Francisco for a few days while the two weather systems passed...

We met couples from a handful of other boats that were cruising past (heading both North & South) during our stay. I was happy to see others out there as even freighter sightings were rare... Everyone seemed very comfortable, and having a good time. The weather was certainly
cooperating at this time...