I made the run from Seattle to Los Angeles last September on an Ocean Alexander 44 .The conditions for the most part were pretty benign. In fact, when we left Port Angeles, the sea was dead calm almost all the way to Newport, OR. We had the NOAA channel on 24/7 and listened diligently to the offshore reports. We found that quite often the most recent reports from a sea buoy that we were passing close to did not reflect the actual conditions we were experiencing. Most often, the wave height and wind strength were significantly less than what was being reported.
We had quartering seas for most of the trip. It was pretty cool to see our speed jump from 8kts to 10-11kts as a wave would pass under us. It was kind of a rush to feel the boat surfing, although we were never in danger of broaching. Occasionally when going into a port, we would have a beam sea which would give us a pretty intense snap roll. Fortunately, everything below was well secured. However, we did have one of the fold-up bikes fly across the sundeck on one particularly wild roll.
We stayed roughly twenty miles offshore which pretty much kept us clear of the many crab/lobster pots inshore, although now and then we would see one floating out where we were.
We did give the Columbia River bar a much wider berth though. Even at 2am when we passed through there was a lot of activity in the area. There was a CG pan call out for a skipper of a fishing boat that had been hit in the head with a block and was bleeding from the ears and seizing. Another boat had picked up the call and relayed it to the CG but didn’t get a location so all boats were on the lookout including us. It was kinda eerie.
When we were running down the coast we would make an assessment of the current (real time) conditions and the forecast for the next 24/36 hours. If conditions were favorable, we would decide whether or not to stay at sea and keep going, which would mean overnight runs, which we were prepared for. We did one stretch of three days and two nights between ports. By doing so we were able to eat up sizable chunks of mileage (300+ miles). We did get held up in Coos Bay harbor for two days while the wind blew 35-40 kts. Even the commercial fishermen weren’t going out. In fact, I think the steepest seas we encountered on the whole trip (except off Santa Cruz Island) was coming out Coos Bay.
The only real potentially hazardous condition we encountered was fog. The run from the middle of the Oregon coast all the way down to San Francisco was done mostly in fog. You really want to have a good radar unit and know how to use it. Most of the time we had less than an eight of a mile visibility. If you are planning on doing any overnight runs, you gotta have radar anyway. We did have a sailboat slip inside our half mile ring undetected (some of them make poor targets), and a whale sleeping on the surface that wouldn’t get out of our way, so even with radar you still have to maintain a good watch.
If you do get caught out in nasty conditions you should know where the nearest safe harbor is. The CG will shut down some of the smaller (and occasionally larger) harbors if the bar crossings get too dangerous (Brookings harbor was closed when we passed it) . Your navigator should have all the harbors that you intend on using at the end of your daily run plotted, plus possible alternatives. There aren’t a ton of all-weather harbors along the coast, so again, you should know in advance were they are. And as other folks have mentioned, you will want to keep an eye on the tides for theses harbors, entering against an opposing current could be challenging at best. We would often slow our speed down so that we would be arriving at a harbor as close to slack as possible. You’ll also want to be up to snuff on identifying channel markers as some of the inner harbor markers can get pretty confusing.
Otto did most of our driving as it’s hard to hand steer for long stretches. It’s important that your system can handle different sea states. Ours tended to wander if we took a big roll and would take a while to come back on course. Overall though, the navigation is pretty straightforward, just follow the coastline. You gotta be extra careful around Cape Blanco though.
If you are going to Stockton, you probably already know that you will want to enter San Francisco Bay during daylight hours. I’ve come into the bay at night from the Farallones, and it can be pretty tricky picking up the nav lights with all the city background lighting. You could either anchor out at Drakes Bay or go into Bodega Bay harbor (just watch out for the Birds), and make the run up to San Pablo and the Delta the next day or two.
Overall we had a great time doing the trip. However, if we went strictly by the forecasts, on several occasions we wouldn’t have ventured out of the harbor. It would be a great asset to have someone along with you that has already made the trip.
As previously mentioned, you’re going to have to take the boat out to find out what it and the crew can handle comfortably. However, trying to keep to a trip schedule can lead to poor judgment, so just remember that the safety of the crew comes first and at the first signs of danger, hightail it into a port, even if it means being delayed for several days.
Good luck and Fair Winds. KJ
PS take lots of pictures
PPS if you do a night run, check your wake for the light show (bioluminescence).
