Sailing around the world on the traditional gaff rigged schooner Windjammer

It had been a fairly challenging 5 day passage from Port Townsend and we were glad to see the structure of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. We had decided to pick up a mooring outside the Sausalito Yacht Club, which turned out to be one of the more difficult pickups we have encountered, well done Jordan. After securing the mooring we headed ashore to the yacht club where the members and staff gave us a very warm welcome.

The following day, an 80' schooner dropped anchor behind us (once owned by musician Neil Young). They had just completed the same passage as us, however they had a bit of bad luck, with the main mast delaminating. This prevented the hoops and sails coming down eventually both masts got carried away. Not a pretty sight.

All crew headed up to Chinatown for a Yum Cha brunch to farewell Jordan. We then had a scout around the city where we encountered huge fur seals commanding the docks downtown, entertaining but smelly and a waterfront which was adorned with America's Cup trials paraphernalia. The weather was great and the AC 45's were flying around the Harbour. Over the next few days with Rick and Karen, we took Windjammer out into San Francisco Harbour to watch the AC trials and the spectacular flip of Oracle with Jimmy Spithill and crew, very entertaining. Rick and Karen flew back to Seattle and we were once again on our own and looking forward to the next few months in Sausalito. We secured a berth at the "Fish Dock" right in front of the Bay Model building in Sausalito. A great position with a lot of dock area to undertake the work we had planned for the next few months. One of these tasks was to replace the rigging on Windjammer in preparation for our southern ocean voyage. We had a few riggers down to quote on the job and after quotes around the $20,000 mark, we decided to do the job ourselves. We had some spelter sockets forged from the foundry in Port Townsend and ordered new stainless wire from the importers in Oakland and away we went. Less than $2000 and a couple of weeks work the job was completed. We managed to load test one of the stays and it passed with flying colours which gave us some confidence in our workmanship.

Sausalito is a nice community which also has an eccentric boat basin community where flower power is still the order of the day. The local council I am sure would like to move these people along but they have the right to remain, and they add a colourful element to the place. Our penchant for good Indian curries was very well satisfied by the local Indian restaurant which we frequented on many occasions. We were such regulars that we were invited to their annual dinner and celebration thanking their regular clients. Whilst in San Fran we cycled all over the city attending concerts, events and just exploring. We also did a tour of the Napa Valley and the Central Valley where we stayed with some friends we had met in Alaska. We did manage to get quite a bit of work done and were keen to get moving again. Our two girls Alex and Maggie flew in from Australia to spend Christmas with us and sail south to San Diego. We spent a few more days in San Fran, seeing a show on Broadway, exploring the restaurants of Little Italy and Chinatown, the girls shopped, and then we sailed for Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay.

Santa Cruz is the quintessential surf town, a few old hippies with an alternate vibe. We also visited the Monterey aquarium on Cannery Row. They are famous for their "caring for otters" program. This is a fabulous aquarium and we spent almost an entire day exploring.

It was then on to Santa Barbara, where our son Sam joined us, which was thoroughly enjoyable with its elegant shopping areas and walkways. Our next port of call was the Channel Islands, however on arrival the weather turned foul and we decided to give the islands a miss and then had to beat our way to Santa Monica for 24 hrs.

We secured berthing at the Pacific Mariners Yacht club in Marina Del Rey. Our Shag Island Vice Commodore Yacht Club cards held us in good stead and they gave us free berthing for 3 days.

The kids explored Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Malibu, Disneyland and of course Beverley Hills and Hollywood.

On Christmas Eve we watched the Parade of Lights in Newport Beach where multi-million dollar yachts, kayaks, canoes and other small boats light up the harbour as a dazzling array of holiday lights and music fill the air. Many of the boats were brilliantly decorated with animated Christmas scenes accompanied by music and costumed carollers. The Christmas floats wind their way some 14 miles around the harbour with hundreds of viewers gathering for the affair. We were not aware of event but turned up just on cue to see the start of the parade. Next day we had a lovely family Christmas lunch on board and settled in for a relaxing day.

It was then on to San Diego where Alex and Sam left to return to Australia, Maggie continued with us to Ensenada in Mexico where we were to spend the next 6 weeks in the boatyard getting ready for South America.

We are currently 100 miles from the entrance to San Francisco Bay, ghosting along in 5-6 knots of breeze in fairly heavy fog. A welcome change however after the past few days with 25-35 knts and gusts between 45-50knts with a maximum 55kn. Getting good at reefing in the dark now!! A good introduction for Karen on her first passage! All are well on board if not a little tired. Looking forward to arriving tomorrow afternoon. As Karen said yesterday, now she understands why the guys who have been out to sea for a while head straight the pub on their arrival.

We left Port Townsend yesterday morning at 5.00am bound for San Francisco. Stopped at Neah Bay to refuel and headed out into Juan de Fuca straits and a funny thing happened. I looked astern and there seamed to be a black beacon following us ... looked again and it was still there....turned out to be a US submarine which eventually lifted its conning tower out of the water and overtook us. No amount of fiddling with the radar could bring up a target not even its wake?

Nice to see and feel the Pacific swell again. We have three crew with us. Rick and Karen Ranney who we met in the San Juans last year. They have their own boat in Blaine and plan to go cruising in a couple of years time. We also have Jordan aboard who we met up at Elfin Cove in Alaska earlier in the year. No wind to speak of so currently under motor. Forecast is for 10-15 NW later on today so hope that fills in. Looking forward to seeing the Golden Gate bridge. There will also be some America's Cup racing there just after we arrive, so that should be fun.

Been in Bellingham for 4 days now, had a day skiing up at Mt Baker with a friend. Conditions were fantastic, sunshine, clear skies and LOTS of snow. Weather here in the marina last couple of nights has been very windy, although today much better, 2nd day if spring. Bellingham is a lovely town, lots of students, funky shops, cares and breweries

Here till Friday and then on to Vancouver

Windjammer is currently tied up alongside at Shipyard Cove Marina at Friday Harbor and will remain there until early spring while we attend to business in Australia. We had a wonderful cruise around these stunning Islands and met some really interesting people with a common interest in classic boats. We also sailed down to Seattle then to Port Townsend for the wooden boat festival before returning home to Friday Harbor.