Windy Spring

We had many windy days in March, enough to limit my sailing time. And then we had a REALLY windy day. The weather forecast was quite amazing. “Strong to very strong NW flow will affect most of the coastal waters thorough Wed Evening. Rough and Dangerous seas will affect the waters through Wed night.” Our forecast was, “Storm Warnings in effect until noon today- NW winds 25-35 with gusts to 40 knots, increasing to 30-40 knots with frequent gusts to 50 knots.”
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April 21st- I finally visited Morro Bay on Sunday. It seems that the wind on Tuesday set a record. It was the strongest sustained NW wind that anyone could remember. Diablo Canyon recorded gusts to 68 knots and in Morro Bay at the Harbor Office the wind was said to be 50, gusting 70 knots. During storms the south wind often gusts above 50 knots but this was a sustained wind that averaged 50 knots for several hours. Because the tide was flowing slowly and the wind was with the tide the waves in the mooring area were only two to three feet. I noticed that the mooring lines were very tight on the deck cleats but there was no damage that I could see. A mooring is probably a safer place for a boat during a storm than tied up against a dock where large waves can pound the boat. At least one boat at the docks was damaged. At the weather buoys the wind was 35 knots for three hours and the gusts reached 51 knots. The significant wave height was 22 feet.

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This is a 20 knot wind at the mooring. Imagine what two or three foot waves would look like!

February Mini-Trip

Feb 25th- High pressure was covering our area again and light to moderate winds were expected for the next few days. It was time for another little trip northward. We left Morro Bay at 0930 and there was an 8 foot swell breaking over the breakwater- otherwise the water was reasonably smooth. A 9 knot breeze from the SW allowed us to make a heading to the west of Point Estero so no tacking was needed to get out of Estero Bay. It’s nice to be able to shut the motor off immediately outside the harbor and make a reasonable speed sailing in a good direction. Looking back I saw another sailboat leaving the harbor so we had a companion to sail with as for the first several hours until he turned around to head back.

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We had a pleasant and uneventful crossing of Estero Bay. The wind stayed steady and we averaged 3.6 knots, passing the point at 1218. We stayed on port tack until 1340 and were 4 miles north of Point Estero when the shifting wind forced us to shore. The view of shore was pretty today so we didn’t go too far offshore before tacking again to head north. We continued past Cambria and on towards San Simeon Bay. I wasn’t planning to stop at the bay but the wind often has a favorable shift along this section so I stayed close to shore to take the most advantage I could find. The sailing wind had been just about perfect, 10 to 12 knots, which allowed us to make slightly less than 4 knots. Several Gray Whales were seen during the day. They are heading north now, back to the Arctic Ocean.

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At 1740 we reached San Simeon and tacked to head offshore to get beyond Point Piedras Blancas. There was an interesting sunset with some high clouds approaching from the west. The weather forecast said there was a small chance of rain showers tomorrow morning. Gentle sailing continued and there were some useful wind shifts around midnight that allowed us to tack and make better than usual upwind progress (considering that the wind was light and we weren’t moving very fast). It was a dark night with no moon but the stars were bright and I could see the glow of distant town lights to the north above the mountain tops. Gentle breezes blew from various directions until 0400 when it finally became calm. Now I could hove-to and get some uninterrupted sleep.
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Feb 26th- At 0615 it was beginning to get light and I wondered what it looked like out there. Eventually I crawled out of my sleeping bag to have a look. It was an awesome sight with a yellow glow appearing between the smooth ocean and a band of dark clouds above. Little ripples on the water meant there was some breeze too and the waves and swell from yesterday were gone. When it is this smooth the boat will move in a very light breeze.

Our good sailing fortune continued (like yesterday morning) and the wind direction allowed us to sail north towards Point Sur without needing to tack. We were sailing so smoothly that it was almost like being at the mooring. The swells were almost undetectable but each time one passed under us the sails would flap gently before refilling in the light breeze. I looked out into the cockpit and saw little drops- it had started to rain gently and I hadn’t even been aware of it.
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The morning continued on like this and we made 13 miles north by noon when we turned to approach shore at Cape San Martin. At 1430 we headed south near the shore and as if by request a stronger NW wind arrived. An hour later the headsails were down, the main was reefed and we were making 5 knots as we headed for Piedras Blancas.

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We made the turn at Piedras Blancas at 1700 and headed for San Simeon Bay and we had averaged 5.1 knots since 1430. The clouds, cold air and wind had made me quite cool and I was looking forward to getting anchored so I could get into the cabin and warm up. For the rest of the way we played one of my favorite sailing games, “dodge the whale.” The whale’s path of travel was right on our course and I saw three within 100 yards and one that was directly ahead of us! I dodged but I didn’t see him surface again. Others probably passed by unseen. There was still plenty of wind and we made 5.2 knots with just the reefed main. Anchoring was finished at 1900 and it was now completely dark.

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This had been an excellent sailing day! From 0630 to 1822 we had traveled 39 miles and averaged 3.3 knots (and 5 knots coming back). Lots of fun and we were anchored just at the end of the day. During the morning we covered 15 miles northward- good progress in such light wind. On the January trip the wind direction had been less favorable so we had to tack upwind and then the wind died. On this trip it seems that everything worked to our advantage.

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Feb 27th- Sunshine woke me in the morning. It was a perfect San Simeon morning. A 12 knot NE wind blew across the bay but this wind died and was replaced by a light SW breeze before we left for Morro Bay at 0945. Not long after passing the San Simeon buoy we saw our first group of whales.

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We had a slow sail along the Cambria coast but found the usual wind in Estero Bay once south of Point Estero. As we passed Pt. Estero we crossed the whale highway. I was writing in the log book when I heard a snort. There was a whale swimming by only 50 yards to the port side and then another surfaced along side him. As they moved on I saw that there was a third whale in the group. By now we had good wind and were making 4 knots so the whales quickly passed by.
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The sea was very smooth so I decided to leave up the large sails even as the wind was building. Our speed was often above 6 knots and I was hand steering just to hold a straighter course. Its fun to do stupid things once in a while, isn’t it? I say stupid because later after the jib was down and the main was reefed we were still making over 5 knots with a lot less strain on the boat and helmsman. We averaged 5.3 knots crossing Estero Bay and this is “good speed” for Evening Tide. We were past the breakwater at 1600 in 20 knot gusts. Glad I got the sails down when I did!
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Maybe taking 3-day trips in the middle of winter is the best way to sail on our coast. Well, first be sure that high pressure is covering the area. High pressure in winter means clear skies, warm air and light to moderate winds. We covered nearly the same distance on this trip as the trip in January but I would say that the sailing conditions were even better this time. Our winds were favorable and we only needed 2.9 motor hours for the whole trip.