Camelot V - Update 2
Aug. 12/98
Sailing Vancouver Island to San Francisco
Aug 12/98
We are presently sitting in Coos Bay Oregon listening to the wind and watching the fog roll by.
We had gotten most everything done on the boat we wanted to. Our Grandson, Justin, who is crewing for us arrived, we sold the car. We were ready to go!
We got away from Newcastle Marina in Nanaimo at 14:00 hours on July 31st.. Our friends John and Donna from the Cheviot Rose helped us push off and stood on the dock waving as we drifted down the channel.
We motored through Dodds Narrows and on to Clam Bay where we anchored and were invited aboard Star Tracker for cocktails with John and Helen.
After super Justin and I put the skiff in and went through the pass to the Marina and fueled up the outboard motor. Just one of those things we had forgotten.
The next morning we left at about 9:00 and sailed most of the way to Port Browning to take in the BCA rendezvous which we all enjoyed as well as meeting some other boats leaving for Mexico soon.
We had a slow start on Monday morning and after all the good byes and exchanging email addresses we left at 12:30. We stopped at Sydney Spit and the next morning crossed the Straight of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles Washington, our first 'foreign port'. Cleared customs and stayed a couple of days before leaving for Neah Bay. We had head winds all the way to Neah Bay where we anchored for the night.
The next morning weighed anchor at 05:00 and motored out around Cape Flattery in light fog and calm winds. About noon we tried to sail for a while but there was not enough breeze and we had to put power back on. Until 16:00 when there was finally a light breeze and we were able make way under sail until midnight when Muriel woke me to say we were down to 1.8 knots.
Easy times
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We powered then all the way to Newport Oregon where we were scheduled to make our first stop south of Cape Flattery. But plans change, we scouted around the edge of a fog bank and were only a few miles from the harbor entrance when darkness fell. We then prepared to go on in in the dark, but less than a quarter of a mile from the harbor entrance the fog rolled in and we lost all visibility. So we did a 180 degree turn and headed for the safety of the open sea. And stood on through the night to arrive off Coos Bay the next morning shortly after daybreak.
But again in fog! We followed the marker buoys into the harbor entrance with radar in about 300 ft, visibility. Then the exact opposite of Newport happened, the fog cleared and we powered in under clear skies.
Three friendly young fellows from the US Coast Guard welcomed us in and checked us out for safety and pollution regulations.
We then fueled up and tied to the transient dock where we are now enjoying good hospitality and friendly people of the Coos Bay area.

Aug 17/98
On the morning of Saturday the 15th we left the dock at Coos Bay and felt our way out through the channel in thick fog. We had about 300 feet visibility at first but that soon diminished to more like 150 feet. But we had plotted our course well and with the use of radar we managed without a hitch. Out past the entry buoys we steered away from the coast and were soon out of the fog, but no wind so motored until 13:00 hours. At which time we set the sails and sailed on in steadily increasing wind. By dark we had double reefed the main and taken down the heads'l and were still sailing at 6 and 7 knots in 30 knots of wind. By 04:00 we could have increased sail again but did not want to get to our next stop of Crescent City until daylight. So we enjoyed the slow sailing until we were almost stopped before we fired up the engine and powered on in to port to tie to the dock at 07:00.
Sea Lion
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After checking in with the port authorities we walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast then spent the rest of the day resting and taking walks around the harbor area and into town.
The next morning Justin and I rowed across the harbor to get some pictures of the sea lions. Then we rented a car and toured some of the sights around Crescent City. Although Muriel and I had seen the redwoods before it was the first time for Justin and we all enjoyed them. We'll have another sight seeing day tomorrow before getting ready for the next leg of our journey.

Aug. 26
After our sight seeing we spent another two days in Crescent City waiting for nicer weather. Then we left at 07:00 on Aug. 22. We powered for 24 hours before getting wind and put up sail. But the wind was not content to blow gently and we steadily reduced sail until we were under storm sail alone by 17:00 on Aug. 23. We sailed on in 30 knot winds with gusts to 35 knots doing 6 to 7 knots in seas to 20 feet. We reached Drakes Bay and had the anchor down by 02:30 on Aug. 24. We had 3 hours sleep then continued on to pass under the Golden Gate Bridge at 12:00 noon on Aug. 24. We toured the San Francisco water front before going to Sausalito and tying to a mooring buoy where we are now laying around in the sun and telling ourselves that was easy.

Golden Gate Muriel + Dale


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