2016-26: Anacortes to San Francisco

Monday, October 3, 2016: Anacortes to Neah Bay

8:00 AM:  This morning we started our "re-positioning cruise" to San Francisco.  Crewing with us is Dick Squire of Malibu and Denny Haythorn of Los Angeles, both veteran ocean cruisers.  Our motoring goal is daylight running, stopping each night in port, with one anchorage near Mendocino.  This is the same plan we followed to SF in September, 2013. We will stay in port or run overnight if needed to avoid nasty weather.

Wild Blue 2016 Anacortes to San Francisco Tentative Cruise Plan:

Oct 3-Monday: Neah Bay 10 hours; Makah Marina

Oct 4-Tuesday: Grays Harbor 12 hours;  Port of Grays

Oct 5-Wednesday: Tillamook 12 hours

Oct 6-Thursday: Yakima-Newport 7 hours;

Oct 7-Friday: Coos Bay 10 hours; Charleston Marina

Oct 8-Saturday: Crescent City 13 hours;

Oct 9-Sunday: Eureka 7 hours; Woodley Island Marina

Oct 10-Monday: Little River Anchorage 12 hours

Oct 11-Tuesday: Bodega Bay 9 hours, Spud Point Marina

Oct 12-Wednesday: San Francisco 9 hours

We cast off at 6:15 AM to get an early start and and to check out night running mode.  While inside Skyline Marina we "hit the lights"  to check out night visibility.  You can see the results six (6) seconds into the video below.  Best to turn up your display brightness, and turn down the room lights.

Coastal Explorer says we should arrive at Neah Bay today around 5PM.  Weather forecast is for 4 foot swells at 9 seconds with easterly winds from 10 to 20 knots. You can watch our progress up the Strait of Juan de Fuca on MarineTraffic.com.

Today's route takes us through Race Passage off the southern to of Vancouver Island. We will post updates if anything noteworthy occurs.

6:00PM:  We arrived today at 4PM.  Seas remained calm in the Strait.  Fog filled then cleared throughout the day.  We saw dolphins, about 30 small sportsfishers, and several large ships.  We'll get going tomorrow at 6AM with hopes to make Westport by 7PM.

A container loaded ship was anchored in the fog off Victoria.

When the fog cleared, we guess the bankrupt Hanjin Line ship
was probably negotiating unloading with dockworkers, who are
obviously worried about getting paid.

Makah Marina is Neah Bay is filled with commercial fishing boats.  On our
last cruise south in 2013, the Marina was nearly empty.