Ex full time
delivery skipper out of SF here.
You will be motoring most of the way (if not the whole way). Winds are from the NW. Normal summer pattern is
wind starts building mid/late morning and crests mid/late afternoon. North of Conception/Arguello can be close to 30 kts which creates a steep, short chop on the nose that will stop you cold and keep you wet. The 15-20 miles between points Conception and Arguello are especially bad and can really churn.
From SoCal, I would time my departure to round Conception/Arguello around midnight when it was most likely laid down.
Anchoring at Cojo is workable if needed though challenging at night as there is a heavy kelp line to weave through
There are several problems with
day sailing and stopping at night. First, it means you're dealing with the strong afternoon winds. Second. You're dealing with them upon entering a port or anchorage. Third, when entering a port such as Morro Bay, you want to do so on high slack or mild flood to avoid
wind against an ebb. So timing is really important and can be complicated. Finally, entering a port or anchorage means departing from there - often well before first light. Departing Port San Luis at night isn't bad. Departing Morro Bay is. As a tip, I like to write down the
compass heading needed to exit - at night, nothing looks the same. Having a beating really helps keep the blood pressure in check.
Unless you have a strong desire to see the
California coast and stop every night, my recommendation would be to keep going until you have to stop (fuel, weather, mechanical, etc).
Heading north, if the
boat I was on had a strong
engine and line cutters on the shaft, I'd run close to the surfline in the afternoon to knock down about half the wind chop. As afternoon turned to evening and winds would pay down, id drift out to at least 600-ft
depth for the night. People often talk about heading to deep
water to reduce chop - has not been my experience (and frankly, my experience comes from prior
delivery skippers and
commercial fishermen). But do whatever makes sense to you.
From
San Diego, make a beeline to Conception passing between Santa Rosa and
Santa Cruz islands. Crossing the Santa Barbara
shopping channel is much easier now with
AIS but still, do so at a right angle.
For personal timing, if I have a choice, I'd wait until the Indian Summer that hits the central coast - the 3-weeks each Sept/Oct when San dranciscans wish they had
air conditioning. High pressure settle over Nevada desert and keeps things really calm and warm along the central coast. Beautiful weather to be on the
water. But it's usually only a few weeks so plan accordingly.
Good luck. Nice run.
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