Well, we are storing our latest provisions, checking the weather, and getting the last "must complete" stuff checked of the list. A weather window is developing for Saturday, October 27. This looks like it will be our latest sailing date. We did get a lot accomplished at Half Moon Bay. The whisker pole is ready to go now. Yanmar parts finally arrived, and now the single sideband radio is up and running. So, are you curious about our trip from Bodega Bay to Half Moon Bay? And whatever happened to those plans of cruising San Francisco Bay? Well, here is the story: We left Bodega Bay, bound for Drakes Bay. The weather was decent, light south winds, with north swells averaging about 8 feet. The light winds on the nose were tolerable, but we spent the 5 hour trip mostly motoring. Drakes Bay is a large bay tucked around the corner from Point Reyes. The scenery was beautiful, pastoral with cows mooing in the fields and a couple of fishing boats anchored near a pier. The night started out fine, with no wind. We were anchored in 18 feet of water, the shallowest we have ever anchored. We are not accustomed to small 6-7 foot tides! The winds were supposed to shift to the west, but by 2am, it was blowing 15 from the south, and were were totally exposed to them. We sat up, listening to the weather and decided not to leave at 3am for San Francisico Bay, just lay low until the blow passed by. While were were setting up an anchor snubber, I continued to check on how we were holding. We started dragging at 4:00, going to 9 feet of water in just a few minutes. Up came the anchor, and we motored back and forth deciding on our next move. The weather report did not match our observation. The wind was blowing 18-20 directly into the bay. We had two choices, stay, hope that the wind would shift, or get out of the bay and make for Half Moon Bay. We had missed our tide window for San Francisco. We decided to leave. We knew we would get hammered in the ocean, but it sure beat getting washed up on the beach! The move turned out to be a good one, although it was the worst trip I'd ever been on. We had 14-16 foot seas from one direction, chop from another, and south winds on the bow gusting to 30 knots. We had 1/2 mile of visibility with heavy rain, most of the way and only found the freighters and other boats by radar. When we arrived at Half Moon Bay, I was never so glad to see a breakwater! It was also the first time I've ever been really seasick. Let me tell you, it was not fun! The weather continued to be poor for another day or two. We would have played anchor games at Drakes Bay for another 48 hours! We managed to get our West Marine parts by driving down to Monterey where we had them sent. While there, we visited the Monterey Aquarium and walked down Cannery Row. The aquarium was spectacular!!! I highly recommend it! We also made a trip back to Saulsalito, and did go over the Golden Gate Bridge. Not as exciting, but it was a beautiful day, and we drove around the city looking at all the beautiful buildings. We sure have enjoyed staying at Half Moon Bay. The Princeton Seafood restaurant does have a great crab sandwich!!! That is saying a lot from an x-commercial fisherman!