Arrived in Foggy California

We did it! After an abortive attempt to escape Coos Bay when the bar was closed to all vessels under 36 feet, we finally sailed out around supper time on Sept 10. The winds were good until about 3am when everything went quiet and we took down the sails. The swell made for a sleepless night with everything banging around down below.

Around 6am, a light wind came up from the South (completely different from the forecast) and we sailed slowly toward Crescent City. Around 3pm it became obvious we would not reach California that day, so we turned on the motor and headed into Brookings, Oregon. The fog closed in and we entered the very narrow Chetco River entrance using the GPS and waypoints from our cruising guide. Rani called the coast guard to check out the bar conditions and they asked us for our customs clearance info (both coast guard and customs are units of homeland security). The coast guard were waiting to greet us on the pier and gave us info on Brookings after checking our clearance papers.

The next morning held a mystery. I had left my rather elderly 'Gilligan' hat behind in Coos Bay (which made Rani openly happy). However the hat came back, appearing in our cockpit overnight, wrapped in a safeway plastic bag. We walked around the marina but failed to uncover anyone we knew from Coos Bay who might have dropped it off. We can only think that Faye and Ken off 'R Genesis' must have left early in the morning, dropping it off on their way out???

Around noon we sailed for Crescent City finding the same light wind on our nose. We beat into it for about 6 hours, sailing through the fog and tacking between Point St George and the Reef about a mile offshore. Thick fog and a current running against us made this a memorable experience! We came into Crescent Bay at dusk, again using waypoints and GPS due to the fog. I chose to anchor out off the boat basin breakwater ostensibly to save some $$ but actually to make it harder for Rani to 'do a runner' (as she puts it).

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks:



Kite surfer at Bullards Beach near Bandon



First Order French Fresnel lens at lighthouse at Umpqua River - these lenses are rare with about a dozen in private collections around the world. Apparently one sold at auction recently for over 1 million dollars.



Our friend Faye Husch hiking the dunes north of Coos Bay. Note the dune buggy tracks behind us.



Rani hiking high in the dunes. She regretted turning down an offer to ride down the dunes on a motorbike!



Our friend Ken Husch in Bandon. We spent a lot of time enjoying Ken and Faye's company while on Coos Bay and spent a day in the rental car together, touring the local coast.



Lighthouse and bird near Bandon.