We made it to Monterey! 105 nautical miles from Berkeley, in 16.5 hours. The harbormaster was astounded, but we let him know that there were no men aboard to get in our way, or to tell us what to do.  (his words, but good ones)

Breakfast in Monterey, on the pier.

Left the dock in Berkeley at 4:30, Karin, Caitlin, Leigh, Paddy, and me. I used to be Sharon, but right now I answer to skipper.

Departing Berkeley in the dark

We motorsailed out the Golden Gate, heading out nearly to the shipping channel buoys, searching for a wind angle that would allow us to clear Point Montarra and head south. Unfortunately, we had a fairly light southern wind until the afternoon, when the wind clocked around and pushed us from the northwest at speeds in the 20s, gusting to 30. I remembered that old lesson: the correct time to reef is when you first think of it. I thought of it, then got distracted, and remembered again 30 minutes later......not perfect. But we did get a reef in while being pushed from behind over large wind waves, and we sped into Monterey Bay at speeds up to 10 knots over the ground. Much too fast for real comfort, and once into Monterey Bay, the winds lightened as we turned south, but the big rollers kept slamming into our beam. So we made a fairly squiggly path into Monterey, trying to avoid adverse angles to the big waves.

All good, a FAST trip, and relatively non eventful. Not even a whale. One sun fish, one caught piece of kelp on the prop. We shook off the kelp by putting the engine in neutral, and it spun itself right off.

It's Sunday morning, and Will just came to pick up Caitlin and Karin, and three of us are left to enjoy a leisure trip back up the coast, sailing and paddling. We'll enjoy ourselves here for as long as we want, and then leave for Moss Landing and paddling in Elkhorn Sough.

We'll welcome anyone who wants to come down and take us out to dinner! We'd even let you use the paddle boards. This week we'll be in Monterey, Moss Landing, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and then finally back to Berkeley next Sunday.

Leaving the Golden Gate at sunrise

Rough sailing in the open ocean.

Morning in Monterey, let the paddle boarding begin!