Originally, my plan was to sail to Half Moon Bay and then onward to the San Francisco Bay. I got an early start at 7:12am given predictions of some coastal wind. However, it was largely non-existent. After a little while bobbing about near the Santa Cruz Wharf, I decided to motor at about 3 knots for about two hours until 9:12am. I could have gone faster, but wanted to conserve my gas reserves. Strong northerly winds were encountered once clear of the Monterey Bay. I sailed upwind for a while with my genoa until it became just too difficult to manage. On a tack near shore, I swapped out my genoa for the class jib. Eventually as winds picked up, I would also reef the main. The sea conditions had lots of swell and it was a wet ride. I started to get the hang of how to avoid slamming the boat over the swell without deviating too much from my course. … Continue readingAño Nuevo – March 2022

Consistent southwesterly winds prevailed throughout. I sailed with my genoa and full mainsail close reach to close hauled on a starboard tack for the entire trip. About halfway to Monterey, I spotted perhaps five boats flying spinnakers in my path. They seemed odd bunched up in the middle of the Monterey Bay until I realized they must have been sailing together out of Moss Landing. One of them in particular never seemed to change direction relative to me, and sure enough came pretty close when crossing paths. Right around then, I also passed a half-deflated balloon floating floating on the ocean’s surface. Always up for a chance to practice man-overboard procedures, I quickly came about and managed to pick up the balloon before continuing on to Monterey. Around 5pm (Lat: 36.670431 Lon: -121.907301) winds picked up, at which point I switched from the genoa to the class jib and reefed the main. It was an invigorating last hour or so approaching the scenic Monterey area. … Continue readingMonterey – March 2022