IIRC, this fellow made it to Alameda with no issues. I think he stayed way offshore for the majority of the trip.
I did make it home. We actually bought the boat as a live-aboard, and since we don't have another place to live, we didn't really have a choice to leave it up in Anacortes, as nice as that would be.
The trip down was a mix of off shore and coastal, with the first run from Neah Bay to Grays Harbor being the shortest and closest to the land. That really sucked. Bad wind and seas at the cape, followed by a long day of headwinds and current, and a rather "exciting" entry to Grays very late at night.
We went out about 60 miles for the trip from Grays to Crescent City, and had a lovely smooth trip while we watched thunderstorms to our left almost the entire trip. We made such good time in the smooth water that we kept going and made Eureka Ca. as out next stop. From there it was an easy coastal chug down to the SF Bay and home to Alameda.
Im normally a sailor, and have done many deliveries along the coast from Mexico to Canada. This is the first time I have done it in a power boat, and although some of the variables change, the process is the same. Knowing the speed, range and your particular boats ability to handle wind and waves is a necessary part of any trip planning. (Example: Im delivering a 42 foot Catalina this week from Southern California. I know it can motor pretty fast in smooth water, and I also know that I don't trust the in-mast furling on a light cruising boat like this, so Im not going to sail out past the weather system that is coming down the coast. instead, I'm going to sail up to Point Conception, and hide out in Cojo until it goes past, then motor the rest of the trip to the Bay... Not as good as sailing the coast, but it beats breaking a clients boat and or something much worse.)
