July Trip

Wednesday, July 15th. It was very foggy when we left Morro Bay and the visibility most of the day was less than one mile. The wind was very light until 1400 so it took a long time to get north of Point Estero. The afternoon wind was just right for smooth sailing. I didn't want to spend a night floating around out in the dark fog so we headed for San Simeon Bay. With the help of GPS we entered the bay (very slowly) at 2330 in thick fog and got anchored.

At daybreak it was very foggy but the sun was bright in the bay by 0930. Another boat was anchored near the beach. He sailed over to talk. He was delivering the boat to San Francisco, the motor had stopped running and he had no electricity for the lights. He was going back to Morro Bay to get the motor repaired. Delivering a boat can be a challenge!

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I had a nice sail that afternoon out to Point Piedras Blancas and back. It wasn't foggy but the clouds were low with visibility of three miles. At least the wind was just right for sailing. When I returned a family from Port San Luis were busy getting anchored.

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The next day I left earlier and took a longer sail out toward the ship lane and then north to Ragged Point. The wind was 15 to 17 knots which is just right for upwind sailing with the jib reefed. The photo shows us heading back to Piedras Blancas on a broad reach. We are making more than 5 knots and I am happy.

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On the way from Piedras Blancas to San Simeon the fog caught up with us. But then while sailing the last mile to the buoy the fog cleared out and San Simeon Point could be seen in bright

sunlight. The Castle is on the ridge just left of center. The bay is behind the point.

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Going back to Morro Bay on Saturday the fog finally cleared and white, puffy clouds could be seen above. The sailing conditions were still near to perfect.

We were home at 1600. Another very nice little trip was finished. So far this year I have had good luck in picking times to go sailing when the sailing conditions were excellent.

June Mini-Trip

There was another excellent 3-day trip in June. When the weather is perfect its hard not to have a great trip. The NW wind was mostly around 11 knots, rarely going over 15 knots, and the waves stayed below 3 feet. The swell was too small to be noticed. The mornings were cloudy (but no fog) and the afternoons were sunny and warm. I said warm- that’s hard to believe for this ocean.
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The first day ended in an interesting way. As we approached San Simeon Bay I saw whale spouts ahead and they appeared to be in the bay. I wondered how I would anchor with whales swimming so close. They were a little south of the buoy and we snuck by them on the north side.
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The second day began with a beautiful sunrise.
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There was a light breeze by 0930 and we tacked west toward the Piedras Blancas lighthouse.

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-The sea was smooth and the AM clouds were beginning to clear.
In the late afternoon we were passing the deep canyons just south of Cape San Martin. Just before dark I somehow spotted whale spouts ahead in the gloom and we changed course to pass them downwind. We reached Cape San Martin at 10:45 PM and then headed offshore to begin our return to Morro Bay. We sailed slowly with small sails until sunup (better for getting some rest).
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-The wind on the final day was inconsistent but it never died completely. When the wind was light every scrap of sail was up to try to capture a little more wind. When we arrived at Estero Bay the whale show began again. There were so many whales jumping that several other boats had stopped to watch the show. Better wind arrived too and we made over 4 knots for the last five miles.
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As I said, what fine weather! During 2 days of upwind sailing the front deck hardly got wet. Overall we traveled 132 miles and used less than 4 motor hours.