(photo above of Shelter Cove, courtesy of Shelter Cove - Lost Coast)

Mark called in late yesterday afternoon... his birthday, BTW! They had quite the adventure the night before and he recounted it as best he could.

As they headed north towards Cape Mendocino during the afternoon of the 16th, about 10 miles offshore, the winds (N) built, contrary to what NOAA had been predicting and at some point the engine died. So they sailed along as best they could with a strong headwind while they trouble-shot and found out that it was the impeller that died.

As the night progressed the winds built to 30 to over 40 knots (I think Mark mentioned 41). Mark tells me that since the engine had died and the weather was building, they advised the Coast Guard of their situation as a precautionary measure, just so they knew they were out there.

At some point, they decided that the wind, waves and current were too strong to round Cape Mendocino so they turned around to set a course for a safe haven. They sailed about 60 miles south bound for Shelter Cove.

Since it was still dark, Mark & Kent sailed back and forth for about 3 hours until it was safe to approach... and as they got closer... GUESS what? The wind died and it got foggy.

From what I understand it seems they found the spare impeller and Bob and Kent managed to get it installed (thanks guys!) and they got the engine started.

They got in to Shelter Cove safely, anchored and SLEPT!

The plan (remember, small p) is to keep an eye on the weather for the next few days and find a calm(er) time to round Cape Mendocino and proceed up the coast...

No cell coverage in Shelter Cove but I believe there is some WiFi at a local hotel.

Mark called in early this morning and says they will be monitoring the weather and will let me know when they will leave. In the meantime they are resting and recovering from the inadvertent adventure...

UPDATE: spoke with Mark and it looks like there may have a weather window today to round the cape so they may set out late this morning.