Our Christmas cruise: Out of the Golden Gate, into the Pacific Ocean! We found that we had a nice weather window over the holidays, combined with the ebb tide running out in the morning and coming back in in the afternoon. Perfect for venturing out of the Golden Gate! First night we spent at Angel Island, from where we left early in the morning next day out towards Half Moon Bay. This is a trip of about 26mls, so with the limited winter daylight no time for dilly dallying. Just outside the gate the scene was serene with lots of various sea birds circling the boat. Gradually, the hectic waves from the tidal flow changed to the long swells of the Pacific. We thought we could catch some wind outside the gate, as the forecast predicted a nice 14kn NE breeze. But alas, not even a whisper. Only around noon when we passed Cape San Pedro we got enough wind to (slowly) sail for about 1hr, the rest was all underwater genny work. Meanwhile we had to dodge hundreds of lobster buoys (or crabbing buoys I should rather say), apparently crabbing season is on!
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| Early morning leaving Angel Island |
Rounding Pillar Pt just outside Halfmoon Bay we observed with awe how the gentle swells transformed with fury into the famous Mavericks, towering breaking waves just outside the harbor entrance. You have to follow a good detour around the dangerous shoals in order not to get sucked into there. I was just thinking that hopefully the engine doesn't die, as there was virtually no wind to sail free and the swells were pushing the boat visibly towards the shore. So we kept a respectful distance and made it into the marina without incident, phew.
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| Halfmoon Bay sunset |
Thankfully the marina had an operating fuel dock, we were kind of low after combined 8hrs motoring so far! Refilled 12 gallons of Diesel and then checked in with the harbor master for a guest slip. Halfmoon Bay is a busy fishing port, and with crab season at its peak, we could see fishing boats coming in and leaving the wole evening. Dinner at the famous Halfmoon Bay Brewery, sampling their nice selection of brews!
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| Brews at HMB |
Next morning was quite foggy, so we motored our way through the thick fog with one eye on the AIS and one ear towards engine sounds. Visibility went down to about 100m, but otherwise the swells from yesterday had subsided, so no issue getting around the breakers. The fog stopped somewhere around San Pedro and we started sailing out into the Pacific! Coming back through the Golden Gate was no issue with the flood tide pushing us gently. We stayed overnight anchored at Aquatic Park, which is quite a nice setting with the bustling Fishermans wharf in the background. One peculiar thing about Aquatic parc: At any time of the year there are swimmers in that little cove. Of course in December the water temperature is really cold (about 47F or 8deg Celsius), so I really wonder how these guys can do it! Next day was an easy motor home, overall we had clocked 98 miles in 4 days, along with 16 hrs of engine time!
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| Marker in the fog |
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| Golden Gate! |
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| Anchored ships in the South Bay at sunrise |
