And We're Off!

Departure day...zero visability...yikes!

With a departure time of 10:00 Monday morning, Dad and I readied the sails, took our final showers, and put on our foul weather gear. Although the fog allowed next to no visability, we still managed to make it across the Coos Bay bar into the open waters of the unpredictable Pacific Ocean.

Me: excited, nervous, anxious...the list goes on

Heading 12 miles west, then making the turn south, we set the sails and the autopilot and enjoyed the gental rocking of the boat (or at least Dad did. I, on the other hand, wasn't as fond of the constant movement.)  I was never physically sick, however the nausea was enough to keeep me from eating anything more than pretzels and water.



Dad enjoying his first day of sailing



During our first day out, the weather was gorgeous - blue skies, 3-4 ft. swell, with 2 ft. wind waves. There was still that familiar Oregon Coast bite in the wind which kept our heavy jackets and sweaters on, but other than that we couldn't have asked for a better first day.

We saw a variety of marine life including dolphins (or were they porpoises?) a family of whales, seals, and all sorts of birds.



By 3:00AM, near Cresent City, the weather changed slightly causing the wind to shift and eventually forcing us to take down the sails and continue our trip motoring. Night sailing has it's moments and will definitely take some getting used to, for me at least. Dad is in his element - or at least he fakes it well.

We conintued to motor down the coast for Tuesday and Wednesday. The fog was constant but the water was like glass. We reached our Eureka, CA destination at 12:00AM Wednesday morning, earlier than expected (who knew traveling at 4+ knots, would be so efficient). We decided to wait outside the harbor entrance for the night and Wednesday afternoon (after wating for the fog to burn off) we turned east and manuvered our way to Eureka.

Other than a little more wind, a little less fog, and a lot warmer weather, we couldn't have asked for a better start to our adventure.





Our whale friends





Our first sunset

 

Another sunset to add to the photo album, priceless