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Vancouver to San Francisco - 1 to 8
October 2009
 At
1100 on Thursday the 1st of October, we slipped from the float at the False
Creek Yacht Club and headed out, beginning our cruise on a bleak day, in a cool
drizzle with no wind to help us along. Bram braved the drizzle and walked out to
the middle of the Granville Bridge to shoot this photo of our departure, and as
we motored out under the Burrard Bridge, Edi released thirteen helium-filled
balloons.
We motored in still airs and fog out of English Bay, passing the bell buoy at
1202 and turned left to begin our southings, the first of what we anticipate to
be many. Winds remained very light the whole day, so we continued to motor,
transiting Porlier Pass at low water slack at 1530. By the time we had secured
alongside the False Creek Yacht Club float in Ganges at 1805, the skies had
cleared.
Friday dawned clear and it had warmed nicely by the time we left Ganges at 1055.
There was virtually no wind, so we motored again, all the way to Sooke, arriving
at 1805 to find the marina full. We were invited by David Carswell to secure
alongside his large sports fishing boat, The Rig. The three onboard had
just returned from a day of fishing, having quickly caught their limit of salmon
and spending the remainder of the day doing catch and release. We chatted and
sipped wine as David cleaned the catch, and he gave us a lovely filetted spring.
Edi and I then walked over to the Sooke Harbour House for dinner. We ordered the
seven-course Gastronomic Adventure and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to celebrate
our departure from Canada and the beginning of our adventures. By the time we
had finished our superb dinner, we were the last diners in the restaurant. We
walked back to the boat in the moonlight.
We slipped from alongside The Rig at the Sooke Harbour Marina at 0750 and
headed out in clear skies, calm seas and not a breath of wind. As we motored
across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Edi brought up the bagel toaster and we
enjoyed breakfast in the cockpit. At 0955 we crossed into the US and at 1110 we
secured alongside the Customs float in Port Angeles. We were quickly cleared and
for US$19, were issued a Cruising Permit.
We moved to the fuel dock and took on 725.8 litres of diesel for US$502.36. Then
we moved over to the guest float and walked about a mile up to the Safeway and
bought fresh provisions for our passage to San Francisco. I hanked-on the US
flag on our starboard halyard and we were ready to go.
We slipped from the guest float in the Port Angeles Boat Haven at 1505 on
Saturday, the 3rd of October and set off for San Francisco. We caught the
tail-end of the flood, then washed out the Straits on a strong ebb, rounding
Flattery at 2147 under a full moon and clear skies.
We headed south west to clear the continental shelf and find strengthening
northerly winds.  We
sailed southward in following seas and winds, which were generally 20-25 knots
from the N and NW. By mid afternoon on the 6th, we had crossed the latitude of
the Oregon-California border, and we were about 100 miles north west of Cape
Mendocino. The winds were up to 35 knots, the swell was in the 4-5 metre range
and we were surfing off every second or third wave. In the evening, the winds
were up over 40 with spikes above 45, and the seas were 5-6 metres and continued
thus through the night. We kept watching the boat speed gauge as it went from
the mid-5 knot range to up in the 12 and 13 knot area as each wave passed under
us. We saw several surfs in the 14 knot range, and the fastest we saw was a 15.3
knot spike.
Throughout the blow, the skies remained clear and with the bright sun and full
moon, we were very comfortable. It was not a storm; it was simply a funnelling
of winds down the inside of the huge high stationed off the coast from northern
Vancouver Island down past the tip of Baja. It seems we passed through the
throat of a venturi.
During the trip we continued our breakfast routine of bagel toaster in the
cockpit for bagels and cream cheese with capers and lox, dishes of yogurt and
mugs of freshly brewed coffee. Our lunches alternated between hot paninis and
arrays of cheese and crackers with fresh fruit, olives, artichoke hearts, nuts
and so on. We made water to ensure the watermaker worked in rough weather and we
even ran a couple of loads of laundry through the washer/dryer.
We maintained a course that kept the seas just slightly off the port quarter and
the auto pilot was able to hold us with only two broaches in the 36 hours or so
of the worst of the blow. Our speed made good was in the 8.5 knot range for much
of Tuesday and through Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon, the winds started
abating, and the seas eased so that we could start bending our course back
toward the coast.
At 0305 on Thursday morning, exactly four and a half days from our departure of
Port Angeles, were at the entrance to the traffic separation lanes off San
Francisco, and we were in the lee of the land and protected from the northerly
winds. Edi made a wonderful Ghirardelli hot chocolate to sip as we dawdled north
eastward into Drake's bay to kill time waiting for daylight and a tide change to
make our transit under the Golden Gate. We motored into Sausalito Harbor and
secured to a mooring ball at the Sausalito Yacht Club, a free reciprocal of the
Bluewater Cruising Association.
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