WA to Hawaii to Sea of Cortez

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I guess the West Coast is pretty general. I was thinking North of San Francisco or so... San Diego.. no problem. Wash, Oregon, Northern Cal get pretty darn rough for extended periods. Sometimes Oct is a lamb, but I wouldnt count on it! Strong winds and 30 foot waves are common and it seems like recent years it's been really bad. Some do it no doubt, others turn tail and head in to port to sell the boat! It's called the graveyard of the Pacific for a reason I guess.....

Yeah, I don't think I'd care to start from much north of Punta Concepcion/Point Conception after November 1st.

TaoJones

[windsaloft]

We bludgeoned our way north from San Diego to San Francisco this Dec '07 - Jan '08 in our 33' sailboat. Due to prevailing winds, those huge systems that kept coming through, we chose to harbor hop north the whole way vs. go far out and get smacked by some of the monsters that came through this year. Dec 24 to Jan 19 was our timeframe, and we cowered in some of the finest harbors I've spent time in as systems swept by. The big move (Santa Barabara to Monterey) was the most committing in terms of needing a clean window ---- we didn't have the weather or swell conditions to either anchor at Pt Concepcion or enter Morro Bay or anchor at Pt San Luis........so we just budgeted for the big move. We ended up getting hit with wind (30+ kts) and swell (10-12') off of Pt Sur and spending about 24 hours longer out there than budgeted, but it all worked out careening our way into Monterey. Making harbor there at dawn was the best accidental mistake we made (we had though that we could come in during darkness and anchor outside.......not so, it turned out).

All this said ----- heading north out of season up the Pacific Coast, even in a sound boat with solid crew is just a workout and not particularly fun. I was thankful that, unlike the delivery crews we saw (who seemed to be the only other sailors out there!), we didn't have a sense of schedule or get-there-itis.........which seems to drive most of the bad situations and decisions I've made or heard about.

Heading further north from here (San Fran) I think we will look/wait for that nice window of April/May of whatever year we head up.