My wife & I made the trip last summer. She had never sailed before and I was trying not to put fear in her bones the first trip.
Check out our blog, I'm letting her write this trip in her own words, I wanted to see what this experience was like from her eyes. It only goes to
Newport, Or. at this time, more will follow.
Left Warrenton, Or. late July out the CR bar and headed south.
Stopped at
Newport, Be cautious here, can be bad, but was good this time of year. Nice harbor & friendly staff.
Next sailed to Charleston, Or.[Coos bay], had to wait 10 day's for southerly storms to pass [45-55knt winds].
Then to Brooking's. This place was nice, but too much damage & no
power,
water, had been repaired at that time. Waited out another storm for 3 more day's.
Left for Eureaka,Ca., really enjoyed it there. Free
WiFi in the harbor. only place we found free
wifi. Meet a lot of new friends there cruising, 1 north & 3 southbound.
Left to go around Cape Mendomcino,& Punta Gorda, recommend staying at least 20-30miles off these points.
We stopped at Fort Bragg because another front moving north. If you stop here, it's a tight little harbor. Stay at the private
dock across from the coastie station at the Italian Restaurant, great
food, great people, $20 a night.
Then to Bodega Bay, nice harbor, but a long walk for
food.
Then crossed the
SF Bay outside the southbound
shipping lane. We stopped at Half Moon Bay for 1 night, but would not stop there again.
On to
Santa Cruz, We stayed here for a week, fun place,but we got trapped for a couple more day's w/ a bad southerly swell that put dangerous breakers in the channel.
Next stop was Santa Barbara, Ca.. We kind of enjoyed it there, Cruised out of there to the Channel Islands for a month.
Decided to
haul out for
repairs, went to Channel Islands harbor. That was a screwing that I won't forget for the rest of my sailing days.
Stay clear of Point Conception & Point Aquello at least by 20 miles.
I don't think I will ever sail south of Eureaka ever again. Other than sailors, the people are not friendly. I would bypass and sail to
Mexico. At least you could get screwed by a foreign nation.
That's my storry and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!
Michael