California Coast

[IolantheSF]

Am sailing a boat up from Morro Bay to San Francisco. Any suggestions? Plans are to leave around June 8. Have no idea how long it takes. Should we Motorsail ? Should we go from port to port?

[Randyonr3]

turn the key on and motor up.. it an overnighter to Montery.. and another to SF..
if you are in a hurry, dont stop.. you want to sight see, then stop..
check your milage to the fuel used as you might not have an option and need to stop for fuel.

[David M]

Watch the weather. It has been nasty along the coast lately from high winds. There are high swells with short periods. You may want to wait for a window to quickly motor yourself up.

[Loco Gato]

I'm in Morro Bay also.Anyway if you plan on going non-stop to S.F. stardb'd tack out then a port tack in. Take a look at Passageweather.com and you'll see what I mean. Other than that, enjoy the beat!

[bobconnie]

Watch the weather ! and FILL the fuel tank FULL!! and go for it !! if the winds right ya can sail a mile and a half off the shore line and have a great trip! if the winds wrong ya can motor or sail off shore and tack back, its a 1 and a half days or 2 if ya stop ! not a bad trip if the weathers good !!

[gjordan]

It depends on your time schedual! If you are in a hurry, use the iron wind and tie (securely) several jugs of fuel on deck so you dont have to stop. If you are not in a hurry, then enjoy it. There are a number of good anchorages between Morro Bay and SF. As long as the wind is out of the NW you can anchor at San Simion only 30 or so miles from Morro Bay and the next day move on to, Phiefer(spelling?) Cove just before Point Sur , abot 60 miles from San Simion. If you get around Point Sur during the day time you can make Montery and anchor off of the beach until morning. Montery is a fun layover point. Anchoring off of the beach in Santa Cruz is another option. Pillar point Harbor is another good stop if you are too tired to make the last grind into SF. A lot will depend on your fatigue factor, your prior expierience, and other crew members attitude. Now for 4 cents worth of advice ( 2 cents isnt enough) Take 3 or 4 extra fuel filters and know how to change them and bleed the system. Unless the tanks have been polished recently ,the motion going up wind can stir up enough crud to clog filters at an alarmingly fast rate. If you are going to fill from extra jugs, do it before you run out of fuel so you dont have to bleed the system in rough conditions. Take enough motor oil for a change and a spare filter. That one learned the hard way. For the same rough weather reasons take a case of drinking water, becouse your water tank may get stirred up and put out nasty stuff at the fawcet. In the 70s and 80s I did that coast 15 or more times and my all time favorite anchorage was Phiefer Cove. Again, if you have the time make a cruise out of it rather than a grind. Enjoy it.____Grant.

[Paul Elliott]

And if it's been a while since you've cleaned the fuel tank, carry extra filters.

[Loco Gato]

Just remember that if you tack out and back in, you get a chance to play that old computer game.....FROGGER!

[gjordan]

I have no idea what FROGGER is but if you are going to tack up the coast, tack out at night and in during the day. There are 2 reasons for this. #1 is that there is nothing hard to hit tacking out in the dark, and the second reason is that the wind tends to shift at night as the coastal range cools and that effects the winds for quite a distance off shore.You can gain 5 to 10 degrees of sailing angle with the typical shifts. In the day the heat sucks the wind up the coastal hills and makes an inshore tack more preferrable. In other words the heat tends to swing the wind a little more to the west from the NW and makes a port (inshore) tack more effective. If you are actually sailing the trip north any little bit helps._____Grant.

[Astral Blue]

Here is a list of fuel stops available along the route going north:

1. Monterey Bay
2. Moss Landing
3. Santa Cruz
4. Half Moon Bay

If you arrive after the fuel dock closes you can (in some cases) tie up to it and spend the night, waiting for it to open. You'll be in protected waters and will get some decent sleep. I would advise against anchoring outside of any breakwater along the Northern California coast if you plan to get any sleep.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Astral Blue

Here is a list of fuel stops available along the route going north:

1. Monterey Bay
2. Moss Landing
3. Santa Cruz
4. Half Moon Bay

If you arrive after the fuel dock closes you can (in some cases) tie up to it and spend the night, waiting for it to open. You'll be in protected waters and will get some decent sleep. I would advise against anchoring outside of any breakwater along the Northern California coast if you plan to get any sleep.

Just curious...Does the harbor charge for spending the night at the fuel dock?

[Astral Blue]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Just curious...Does the harbor charge for spending the night at the fuel dock?

You're not "spending the night." Rather, you are "waiting for the fuel dock to open." It's all in perspective.

[John A]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Just curious...Does the harbor charge for spending the night at the fuel dock?

Some fuel docks hide a key for fishing boats or USCG to fuel fuel up early in the morning.
Besure to tip the fuel dock operator, otherwise, leave at daybreak.

[Astral Blue]

In mentioning the option of tying up to a fuel dock, I should have noted it is for when you need fuel...not to just tie up and leave before it opens. If you arrive at the marina prior to the fuel dock opening and have a legitimate need for fuel, I have never heard of a marina denying a customer an opportunity to wait for the fuel dock to open.

[gjordan]

As a different opinion, I must say that I consider sleeping at anchor to be one of the joys of cruising. Of course I am a firm believer in oversize anchors, plenty of scope, anchoring in deep enough water so that if a swell kicks up you dont end up in the surf line, and in places like Montery or Santa Cruz I use a stern anchor to keep the bow into the swell. If you need supplies or fuel or to pick up guests, a marina is a great thing, but certainly not a requirment. It depends on what the OP wants out of this trip. He may only want to go point A to B as fast as he can, or he may want to make a cruise and learning experiance out of it. The two coves that I mentioned are fine as long as the wind is in its normal direction and you dont have some odd cross swell. Limiting a trip to marina hopping is missing some of the best of cruising. As I said, a different opinion! I hope they have a wonderful trip.____Grant.