We're here. All safely. More to follow later. Now, to the showers!

Since the wind hasn't filled in to more than a very sporadic 5kts from the N, we had to motor all night last night, and headed to Ft Bragg to refuel and since we were there, get more coffee. Our current situation is as follows: No wind, motoring. Approx 18.5 hrs to the Golden Gate Bridge at an average of 6kts. Sunny weather, tho fog not far away. Humpback whales galore! Deciding between roasted chicken or grilled salmon for dinner tonight. We hope the wind will fill this evening to the forecasted 15 - 20 kts and we will be able to sail again. Fingers crossed. Spirits are good, but I think having to hit another port (in which Rachelle lost her phone over the side of the boat) took its toll on the general moral, (although the whales did a good bit to bring it back up) and people are very ready to be in Alameda. Will be in touch.

Hi all, not much to report today other than very calm seas, no wind, more motoring (working great, knock on wood). If we don't get wind again by midnight tonight we will be heading into Ft Bragg to get fuel and replenish our coffee supplies. We are seeing many whales today which is nice to break up the monotony of motoring. Also, we hope to catch some tuna, and the lunch hook is out. That's about it from Non Sequitur. Will be in touch.

Sometimes it seems like we have to acheive escape velocity over and over again. We awoke this morning, had breakfast burritos and coffee, checked weather, made sure everything was stowed, topped up the fuel tank, and headed out the channel. Meanwhile, I keep wondering if going out into the tail end of this blow is the best idea, or should we wait another day for the waves to die down a bit more. But everytime I reanalyze the data, my conclusion is "Go. Go Now!" The weather looks like if we start heading south it'll be a bit lumpy for a day or so between Cape Blanco and Cape Mendecino (It usually is and the forecast is for much more mild conditions than Scott, Mary, Marcus and I saw the last time we were here, but it still doesn't exactly look comfortable. Well, one day of discomfort and two days thereafter of what appears to be some really great sailing, if we go now.

So I pulled the trigger. We motored out the channel and I was struck by the thought that we hadn't checked our propane, so we did. One tank was empty, which we knew, we had switched out tanks 2 days ago, the first we had started in Nanaimo on our shake down cruise, so has been in use for the past month. No surprise there. The tank we were using felt extraordinarily light to me and I didn't want to risk us being unable to cook for the next 3 days, so we spun the boat around and headed back to the marina. We had failed to break orbit. Ugh....

After locating the local propane dealer (which fortunately was right next door to the Marina) we once again got under way, and having only lost about an hour, still had the option to cross the bar before the tide turned, which would seal us in Coos Bay for another day. As it was, while motoring out the channel, there were breaking 4-5' waves at the tips of the jetties, and some 4-8' swells rolling through the channel outside of the jetties. Wind was light, and we couldn't really sail in that slop, so we kept motoring with the main up for stability to the SW until we got into the breeze. This was surprising since the forecast had been for fairly big breeze, even close in to shore. After motoring for about an hour, we were able to pull out the jib and sail. The wind had built to 10-15 from the N, and we were moving right along between 5.5 and 7.5 kts through the water depending on which side of the waves we were on. We have two fishing lines out behind us, and hopes are high to get a tuna to hit. The sun is out, and is warm. There is some sizable swell out here, but is a following sea. It feels great. Escape velocity achieved.

We are roughly 380 NM from SF which should put us in a little over 3 days from now. We are estimating 5kts average boat speed (although I'm trying like mad to make it 6) and at 120NM per day, that makes it 3 days and 4 hours. So, we'll see.

Currently, Scott is on watch, Eric is keeping him company in the cockpit, Rachelle is making beef stew and fresh baked rosemary bread for dinner, and I just woke up from a nap. All is well, knock on wood.

After a great sail south from Newport, we arrived at the entrance to Coos Bay at 5am, in extremely thick fog and with it still being dark, we hove to just outside for the next hour. At 0600, we pulled down the mainsail, and motored to the entrance of the channel which is well marked by buoys and day marks, which can be seen very well, unless there is thick fog. We only saw about half of the buoys, heard those with sound signals, and managed a uneventful bar crossing and entrance to the bay. The entire fishing fleet from northern California and southern Oregon are holed up here is well. As Rachelle puts it, "Maybe we are doing the right thing." The current forecast is for winds to begin easing south of Cape Blanco beginning early Wednesday, so we will see whether the forecast holds. Until then, we'll see what the great town of Coos Bay has to offer.

After extensive testing, we are again confidant that the head is fixed after further work on it in Newport. Also while in Newport, we fixed the speed transducer which has been uncooperative since we hit a log going North in Bute Inlet. It is now as good as new.

After putting the boat back together this morning, saying goodbyes to Rachelle's parents and siblings, we headed out of Newport Oregon, and made our L turn for Coos Bay. We are planning for an overnight sail with winds increasing to the mid 20's through the night. Fog just caught us, so of course, radar running. Our plan is to get to Coos Bay at first light and hopefully have a reasonable entrance at the river bar. The tide should be flooding all morning, which would be favorable for us. Our boat on the other hand is flying along well, with easy 6kt + boat speeds, and speed over ground into the mid 6's. This will get us in a little early, so again, we find ourselves killing time. This is very counter to my racer intuition background. I believe the crew has started feeding me various drugs to stop my jitters.

I think the drugs are also making me see whales because they have been hopping around us all day. We've had about a dozen very large, gray in color whales hopping and smacking their tails on the water in our vicinity, which has made for some great viewing.

All is well with the crew, the ride is comfortable, and the boat is much happier sailing than motoring. We've put one reef in the main in preparation for nightfall and the forecast of building wind. Didn't decrease boatspeed much, still doing steady 6+'s and the boat has its happy hum.

Well, I'm off to bed, midnight watch is coming soon.