Cloud formation off of Monterey Bay.
Log Book
- Port of departure: Pillar Point Harbor (El Granada, CA)
- Departure date and time: 7:30am on Sunday, November 11
- Port of arrival: Santa Cruz, CA
- Arrival date and time: 7:00pm on Sunday, November 11
- Total travel time: ~10.5 hours
- Nautical miles traveled: ~49.5
- Engine hours stat – end – logged: 783 – 790 – 7
- Gallons of diesel start – end – used: 30 – 27.2 – 2.8
- Weather forecast: N winds at 10 knots, becoming NW at 10-20
knots in the afternoon/evening and evening. Wind waves 3-5 feet. NW swell 2-4
feet at 13 seconds.
We got a later start than expected given that
neither one of us likes to take direction from alarm clocks. The wind was
coming from the E/NE in the morning and blowing at about 10 knots so we decided
to raise the sails. We’re still a bit rusty – Exhibit A: it took us 30 minutes
to get all the sails up and set just right. We sailed with a reefed main and
full jib for an hour or so, making 5.2-5.5 knots (probably didn’t need to reef,
but it’s good practice). When the wind died down and started blowing from the SE,
we shook out the main and crawled along slowly at about 2 knots. The wind picked
up a little bit and started blowing from the SW (couldn’t make up its mind). We
changed to the Genoa (which provides more sail area) and cruised at 4 knots or
so.
Jeff discovered that the boom was looking a little off. He
went up to inspect the gooseneck (where the boom attaches to the mast) and
discovered that the bolt holding them together had busted. Not sure when or how
that happened, but he put in a new bolt and we’re going to keep our eye on it.
The wind mellowed out around noon, but we took our time to
enjoy lunch before lowering the jib and starting the motor. We motor sailed for
the rest of the day. As promised by the forecast, the wind started blowing at
about 14 knots from the North in the evening. We were a couple hours from Santa
Cruz with less than an hour of daylight left. We opted to continue motor sailing.
At one point we were cruising upwards of 7 knots fairly consistently (this
helped us make up for lost time earlier in the day). The seas also picked up
and started tossing us around a little bit. It reminded us both of our passage
around Cape Mendocino.
Navionics chart showing our course.
During the afternoon lull we played a game of Words with
Friends on our iDevices (an electronic equivalent to Scrabble). I got my
backside handed to me. This is the first time I’ve witnessed an actual “Scrabble”
(in which the other player uses all their letters and reaps a hefty reward).
Jeff spelled MEASURES vertically, adding an S to HOG and hitting two triple
letter and one triple word tile. It was a 76-pointer. I lost by a solid 100
points (or more).
We sailed through an opaque cloud of jellyfish that were hovering
just beneath the surface. We’re not sure why they congregate here – I might do
a little sleuthing to find out. Update – here’s what the Monterey Bay Aquarium has to say on the matter, according to this website:
Jellyfish are found in Monterey Bay throughout the year; at
some times of year, there are “blooms” of different species, and
they’re here in larger numbers than usual. That was probably the case with the
jellies you saw recently. The bloom of orange-brown sea nettle jellies
typically occurs in late summer and early fall. It’s so dense that it attracts
migratory leatherback sea turtles all the way from Indonesia. They swim to the
Pacific coast just to feed on these abundant jellies.
It was pretty incredible to see. Upon searching for more info about the Jellyfish in Monterey Bay, I came across this article about a man who swam across the bay to raise awareness about the marine environment and ended up with countless stings from swarms of jellyfish. He persevered, which made for a really interesting story.
We approached Santa Cruz in the dark (dodging several crab
pots) and dropped anchor just east of the Santa Cruz pier (13 feet, mud and sand). The anchor locker
slammed down on my leg as I was dropping anchor and I have a pretty nasty
bruise to show for it today (approaching the size of a small orange). I was in an impenetrable funk last night so Jeff
made dinner again (mac ‘n’ cheese with broccoli!) while I tried to tackle the
NY Times crossword puzzle. The anchorage was quite pleasant last night, but it’s
pretty lumpy today. Porpoises and seals abound in this anchorage, which makes
up for the rocky ride.
Sunrise in Santa Cruz.