Cannery Row

After motoring out of the San Francisco shipping channel in the fog for a few hours we had a close hauled sail down toward Pillar Point. Had to start up the motor about an hour out and thread our way through the fog and the outside reefs. We dropped the hook in the outer harbor and spent a quiet night. Next morning we left in the fog again, motoring for an hour and a half or so in glassy seas. We thought it was going to be a motor boat slog all the way to Monterey but the wind picked up, the sun came out of the fog a bit and we set sail. We dug out the asymmetrical spinnaker and got the boat moving along nicely.

Note the CYC Edmonds club pennant

We put the spinnaker up to fool the wind. It tricks it into getting stronger. In an hour or so the wind picked up to 18-20 true and we decided to keep it mellow and dropped the spin. The wind stayed with us and the fog came back in. Chris was reading the unabridged Moby Dick on her Kindle. (It used to be our Kindle... but that's another story.) Just as she was getting to the serious stuff, I saw a splash in the distance and a weird sound came out of the fog. We were amazed as we were suddenly surrounded by six or so blowing and sounding humpback whales. Spray and flukes very near the boat and this occasional strange sound like canvas rubbing on canvas... whale songs? One very clearly stopped a few yards from the boat to check us out. Very cool. Not feeling like we were at the top of the food chain and knowing that hump whales have a propensity for J-Boats, we drove as we went through the flock  -- or the pod.

The closest we got to a whale shot. I know, no picture and it didn't happen.

Nope, these aren't whales. They're seal lions fishing as we entered Monterey Bay.

The Bay has a gazillion birds on it. We sailed through a continuous swath of these birds, thousands -- I'd tell you their name, but a I already forgot... getting old is tough.

Boaters try a lot of different methods in the Bay to try and stop the damage that the local sea lions can wreak.  This one just seems to encourage them, they were literally bouncing on this one!

Otter action in the marina.

We spent about 3 hours cruising the Monterey Aquarium. These sea nettles were in the aquarium and in the bay as well.

When evolution goes off track... a sea horse disguised as kelp. It should have just stayed a plant.

We spent a couple of nights in the bay at anchor.  Its a little rolly, but ships have been anchoring here for over 400 years. Off to San Simion and Morro Bay tomorrow.

'Don't drink and derive!'   -Monterey T-shirt

Paul

She's a pretty city, but a little stinky

Our friends Terri and Steve picked us up in Sausalito to show their place up in Santa Rosa and introduce us to the local wine. We left Jeorgia on a mooring in front of he Sausalito Yacht Club. We drove up to the Sonoma area and checked out some very cool small wineries. The pictures are few as the photographer was busy enjoying glasses of wine. Of course, it sure helped when Terri flashed her I'm in the wine biz business card. Steve graciously volunteered to be the designated driver and chef extraordinaire for dinner.

Headed off to checkout the grapes.

They're a couple of weeks from harvest.

Our hosts while in wine country, Samson and Paris

What good dogs!

Organic farming, Sonoma Valley style, at Red Barn Farms - think expensive but delicious lettuce.

We headed over to South Beach Marina under the Bay Bridge to get some serious city time in. The navigation notes for the Bay Bridge give the clearance going under the bridge with the proviso that it might be 10 feet less during heavy traffic and warm temperatures. We fit under this time with 100 feet to spare.

The night view from our slip in South Beach Marina

  The marina is right next to AT&T park where the Giants play. There was series going on with he Dodgers while we were their. Lots of folks waking around with their new bright orange t shirts: Duck the Fodgers. The marina is right near the Muni lines T & N, so two bucks gets you anywhere you need. And the Caltrans terminal is also just a few blocks away. $2.50 to get to the South San Francisco West Marine...to pick up boat parts.

If you are headed this way and want to stay in the city for a few days of being a tourist, the South Beach Marina is much nicer than Pier 39 on the Embarcadero. Pier 39 transient slips are basically untenable. The swells, surge and wakes make it one of the roughest anchorages you've ever been in. Not to mention the sea lions, who have the run of the place.

J-Boat parking at Pier 39

Original transient dock at Pier 39

We headed up to China Town with our friends Steve and Maria. I insisted that we ride the trolley car. Why else go to San Francisco?

That's the ticket taker on the right -- he thinks he's a conductor.

Chris and Maria shopping for weird things in China Town

Down from the restaurant we settled on, courtesy of Woo Hoo.

A gecko who escaped from the financial district hanging out at the rain forest in the Science Museum in the Golden Gate park.

Another SF character

We went out to a delicious tapas place, Lolo, with our friends Bill and Gary. Bill's sailing buddy David came along with his partner Patrick. We had some great dinner conversation and enjoyed the Mission District's local color. It must have been dark - no pictures... or it was the wine at dinner and cocktails afterward.

Looking for chocolate before we left SF

Rolex Big Boat Series was running on our way out of the bay

We couldn't see a lot of the bridge on the way out

A last view of SF

Off to Half Moon Bay and then Monterey.

Paul

Cruising the Bay

We left the warmth of the east Bay to head up to the north Bay, San Pablo Bay. This is the home of the other famous prison on the bay.

San Quentin Prison, the other red meat

A few miles north of the prison is the anchorage at China Camp. This was a busy camp in the second half of the 1800's to early1900's. It was manned by Chinese who used stake nets in the shallows of the bay to harvest shrimp. They cooked and dried them onshore and shipped the product back to China. The Exclusion laws and habitat destruction  basically shut the place down. At its peak the camp had 500 people, all pretty much isolated from the rest of the community.

China Camp and pier

Checking out rusty things. Bud Manufacturing automatic gas water heater 1909

For the Saben followers on the blog. They aren't lost - here they are arriving in China Camp.

We headed off from China Camp after a morning hike. Sausalito, across from San Fran, was the destination. It has a large, open, anchorage filled with all variety of boats, from high end cruisers to junk pile derelicts. The views of the city make up for the rolliness of the anchorage.

Big guy container ship coming out of the fog. The fog has a very specific pattern during the day, but we can't figure out what that pattern is.

Night view from the anchorage of  San Fran

The wind got light in the afternoon so we decided to take the dink over to Angel Island for a hike. The trip turned out to be more of a minor heroic voyage battling man against the elements. The Bay, its weather and tides, are not to be taken lightly. We didn't make it to the beach at Angel Is as once we got there we figured we better get moving back to Sausalito before conditions got worse or the fog rolled in. Angle Is has a military history back to the Civil War, it was a major induction center in WW I and WW II, and until fairly recently it was an Immigration processing camp.

Army barracks on Angel Island

Paul