San Francisco here I come

We left Bodega Bay for Drakes Bay in the afternoon. It was nice sunny day, summer was in the air, until about 4pm when the fog rolled in over  Point Reyes as we approached. Drakes is around the corner from Pt Reyes and is part of the Point Reyes National Seashore.  We arrived just as it went completely dark. I guess it didn't make that much difference as you couldn't see anything in the heavy fog - a Radar approach and anchor exercise. There were only 3 other boats in this huge anchorage, one was our friends on Saben, so there was plenty of room. After we got anchored and cleaned up below we started to hear a bunch of commotion outside.  It was the Coast Guard cutter Hawksbill arriving to pick up their mooring buoy for the night. Once they got settled they turned on their fog signal. This is an electronic synthesized bell that goes off every two minutes... made for a noisy sleep.

Coast Guard Cutter Hawksbill in the fog the next day

 Next day we took the dink in to shore and did a hike on Pt Reyes.

Pt Reyes cliffs

Lazy seals under the cliffs

Lazy seals busy throwing sand on themselves with their flippers

Can you hear me now? Chris was trying to get a work call through - but, no their isn't any Verizon service on Pt Reyes

We spent two nights in Drakes Bay, then headed off to San Francisco. As we approached the Bonita Channel into the Bay, the wind picked up and we had a good sail in 15-20 knot winds, mostly against the current. You just can't beat sailing your own boat under the Golden Gate bridge from seaward. The bridge was in clear air, but Chris and I couldn't see the towers of the bridge. But we are pretty sure they are still there.

Point Bonita light with the Golden Gate bridge and the Bay Bridge in the background

Chris made it

Paul made it!

G.G.

The city

the Bay Bridge

We sailed under the Bay Bridge and headed to Almeda to get some sunshine. We got a reciprocal slip at the Oakland Yacht Club in Alameda. A really friendly place, plus good  hot showers. We'll stay here a few days and get some boat projects done before we head off to explore some more of the bay.

Paul