Continuing on with our story, which began in 1997, we rounded the corner passing Tatoosh
Island, where we woke up the sea lions at dawn after motoring all night. We headed toward our first stop at Crescent City, CA. Yes, it took us all night to go from Seattle
to the Pacific Ocean.
When we hit the “big” water the
seas were rough. As we were roller coastering 25-foot waves I wondered about myself. Is this what I really wanted to do?!
Two days and nights later as
we entered Crescent City, CA Marina. It
was early morning. All I could think
about was a hot meal and a shower and a good night’s sleep in a motel bed. (If
you have ever experienced not being able to take a shower every day because of
lack of abundant water, you will understand the longing for a shower that many
sailors have!) It had never occurred to me that constant moving of a boat all
day and all night would be similar to traveling on any other moving vehicle
like trains, planes, buses, or cars. I
was anxious to put some solid ground under my feet.
The fishing boats were already in their
slips in the marina. Sea lions made a
racket as they begged for scraps as the fishermen cleaned and gutted their
catch. We radioed on the VHF radio to the Harbor Master at the Marina office
and were directed to the fuel dock. As
Chris and Dan fueled the boat I began packing for a night on shore. After finding our assigned slip we made our
way to the marina restaurant, The Chart House.
We were told we could take showers at the mobile home park facilities
near by for a couple of dollars.
After a wonderful hot
breakfast eaten in a warm restaurant, and a hot shower, we headed back to the
boat to get our bags for an over night stay on shore. It was then that Chris
checked the weather fax and noted that Hurricane Nora was bearing down on San
Diego and that two storms were forming in the Gulf of Alaska. He decided that it would not be a good idea
to be caught in Crescent City to wait out a storm. Karl was eager to catch his plane in San
Diego to fly home. So the decision was
made to get under way.
My heart sank. Could I endure another night of 25-foot
waves? “Flyaway” surfed like a cork up
and down but then that meant that we did too.
If we wanted to sit either on deck or below in the cabin we had to brace
our feet against the opposite settee or we would be thrown onto the floor. To sleep we put up lee clothes so we wouldn’t
be flung out of our bunks.
(Just to let you know how we came up with the name for our boat it had two meanings for us. When I was eighteen
months old, and unsupervised in a playpen in the unfenced back yard of my
grandparent’s house, (I was unlike my older brother who would sit for hours in
a playpen and play), I climbed out of the playpen, and ran down the block, and
crossed the street to the empty elementary school playground. My mom was frantic when she discovered I was
missing. She ran to the neighbor’s
houses and on down the block until she saw a tiny figure with dark curly hair
and wearing a red dress clinging to a swing. Mom had discovered my desire for adventure at my young age. She called me her little “flyaway.”
Also Chris and I identified
with David when he wrote the Bible verse in Psalm 55:6, “ I said, ‘Oh, that I
had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.’”)
Back to the trip: Starting out from Crescent City this leg of the trip was even
rougher than before. Instead of 25’
waves we had 40’ waves. Debbie asked me
to pray. I couldn’t believe that she was
that alarmed. She had sailed down the
coast many times before. I was rather naive
about what to expect so I thought everything was normal. Our church, parents,
and children were praying for us. I knew
we would be OK and if not we were prepared with emergency supplies. But because of the turbulent seas we decided
to pull in to Alameda after days of abuse from the weather.
At that time we were members
of San Juan Yacht Club in Friday Harbor, WA. The Oakland Yacht club had a reciprocal
agreement with our yacht club so we could stay there. Once again we were grimy
from no showers so Debbie and Dan contacted a friend who lived in the area and
asked if we could use his shower. He
cordially invited us over. (If you ever
have the opportunity to offer your shower to cruisers please do, you will have
a friend for life!)
Me, Chris, and Dan on our way out of San Francisco Bay toward San Diego
Finally, after a nine-day and
night passage, we motored down the channel to San Diego. Dolphins followed us and merrily surfed our
wake. We pulled into the Chula Vista Yacht Club where we again took advantage
of the reciprocal agreement. Karl,
Debbie, and Dan jumped off the boat and took off for the airport.
Photo taken from Flyaway
Chris and I decided to stay
in the area for Thanksgiving, which we spent with the Gunderson relatives,
Christmas was with the Young and Stowell relatives, and New Years with the
Gunderson’s again. We visited my cousin
Kit’s church, my cousin Rinda’s church, a church near the marina, and also
David Jeremiah’s church. My aunt Emily
and her friend came with my cousins to a luncheon on the boat. We in turn enjoyed a meal at her house and
then at the San Diego State University facility dining room with her. Between my cousin Rinda, Joanne Gunderson,
and my Aunt Emily, a shuttle from the marina, the trolley, and buses we
traveled around the area quite well.
Thanksgiving with the Gunderson cousins
Christmas with Youngs and Stowells
Sometime in there our friends Ron and Renee Valley flew down from Spokane and we sailed to Catalina Island. Here are more pics.
This tale is longer than I
thought it would be. Next blog will be
on our passage to La Paz, Baja, Mexico.
No comments:
Post a Comment