Trapped

Eureka, California, USA

Eureka does not want to let us go.

The conditions out at sea sounded perfect, but the swell over the bar would not let up.  It remained "hazardous" for the entire day yesterday; 10 to 12 foot rolling waves at the entrance, turning into 6 to 8 foot breaking waves in the middle of the channel.  The coast guard does not say that you cannot transit the bar, just that you had better let them know when you are going to attempt it, so they can be ready.  Does that instill confidence?

So back to the waiting game again.  I think, any day that we can safely get over the bar in the morning hours, we will probably go for it, as long as there is less than a "Gale" warning on the other side.  We want to leave in the morning in order for the timing to work out for arriving at Bodega bay in the daylight.  Right now, most of the morning hours are during an "ebb" current over the bar, and everybody agrees that that is not when you want to go across.  But, by tomorrow, there is a high slack at around 7:50 AM which might work out.   Each day, for the next few days, the slack water will be later and later, which is good, but the swells are supposed to build up again, which is bad.  We will take it one day at a time.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}

Dreary delay

Eureka, California, USA

Another two days of waiting have gone by.

It appears that our decision to delay our departure was very wise.  Last night, we got hit by very strong south winds, the first we have really felt here in the marina.  By all accounts, it would have been really ugly out at sea.

Overnight and this morning, the rains set in.  Not real heavy; just steady, dreary kind of stuff.  The weatherman has issued "frost" warnings for the local farmers the last couple of nights.  I really thought we had left all that far behind us.

There is a silver lining however.  It appears that tomorrow may provide a brief respite from the wind and waves.  There may even be a slight north or east wind for a while.  If conditions still look good in the morning, we are gone!

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}

Mission aborted

Eureka, California, USA

OK, that didn't work!

The sea states got worse as yesterday evening arrived, even though this morning it didn't look too bad and the bar was passable.  We were prepared to leave but when we checked the forecast, it seems that the latest low pressure wave is going to be here earlier than previously predicted - as soon as this afternoon.  It looks as if we would be facing possible 25 knot south winds and some 5 to 7 foot wind-waves for most of the passage, on top of moderate swells.  These are the conditions that are sure to make my crew sick.  Talking to the local fishermen, they do not seem to be eager to leave the harbour.  So, once again, we will go back to waiting for a better weather window.

We would like to see at least 48 hours of predicted good conditions before we leave this bay.  The problem is that the only possible stop that we could get to in under a day, is an anchorage (Shelter Cove), totally exposed to the south winds, making it a non-option for us at this time.  Looking at the long-range forecasts, we cannot see any such breaks in the near future.  When the winds are light, the seas are huge, and when the seas subside, the next strong low pressure front is just moving in, with the associated strong south winds.  What we really need is a good, stable high pressure region to park itself off the coast, and I'm not sure that is very likely at this time of year.

I guess the lesson learned here is that, if you are going to harbour-hop down this coast, leave a month earlier than we did, or be prepared to do a lot of waiting in safe harbours along the way.  If we had just gone out 100 miles and headed straight for San Diego, we would have been there before now.  Having said that however, the few boats that we have met in the harbours along the way were all boats that were trying that approach and had subsequently headed for shelter when the conditions got to be too much for them, usually with some accompanying equipment failures.  Again, it is just too late in the season for that approach as well.  The couple of boats that we met that did, as far as we know, make the one or two hop trip down the coast, all had crews of 4 or more people, with a lot more experience that we have in that type of passage.  I still think this was the best option for us.  We just have to continue to take our time.  We will get there eventually.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}

Anticipation

Eureka, California, USA

After several days of very high seas, we may have a short break tomorrow.  With any luck, the entrance bar will be passable and we will be on our way in the morning.

Last week's storm brought on a large ocean swell, effectively closing the entrance bars all along the northern California coast and northward.  Unlike Oregon and Washington states, California cannot put restrictions on their bars; instead, the coast guard just gives a general warning as part of the bar report.  In our case, here in Humboldt bay, the big swells over the last few days peaked yesterday and this morning, with reported 18 to 20 foot breaking seas at the entrance - all vessels stupid enough to attempt the bar must first contact the coast guard to let them know the plan.

Our basic plan, and that of every other boat we can see here in the bay, is to stay put until the conditions improve.  Sometimes it is difficult to believe that the conditions out there can actually be that bad since where we are, inside Humboldt bay, the water is completely flat and the last couple of days the weather has been relatively warm and sunny (only rains at night).  I guess that is why you are supposed to call the coast guard before you venture out into the open ocean.

Tomorrow, the forecast is for much improved conditions.  The swell should have subsided considerably and the winds, for at least 12 hours or so, will be from the NW again.  If this holds true, we intend to make a break for it.  We have to go about 190 miles on this next passage, part of which is rounding the dreaded Cape Mendocino, about 30 miles south of us right now.  Of course, the mild weather will not likely hold for more than a day, so we anticipate that we will have to contend with some strong south winds by nightfall.  We have decided we prefer facing head winds rather than large seas.  Time will tell if we are right about this.

One cool thing here on Woodley island is that this is where the local NOAA weather office is situated and they are very welcoming to stranded sailors looking for some reassurance.  We wandered in and were able to see these guys busy creating the weather.  Apparently it entails creating and studying a mind-boggling variety of graphics, showing wind, waves, pressure, etc.  I don't think I have ever seen so many large flat-screen monitors in use in any one office; every person has at least 5 or 6 surrounding him.  We put in our order for some light seas and NW winds and are now awaiting the results.

Today, we again crossed the scary highway bridge to go into town to do some provisioning.  That done, we are just monitoring the coast guard reports, waiting for that all-important all-clear over the bar.  With any luck, our next post will be from Bodega Bay, probably about 2 days away.

NOTE: As I am writing this, about 3 PM on Tuesday afternoon, the current bar report is still saying 14 to 16 foot with occasional 18 foot "rolling" waves on the bar entrance.  Not really what we are looking for.  If we cannot get out of here tomorrow morning, the next weather window could be a week or more away.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}
 

The waiting game

Eureka, California, USA

Why, you might ask, are we still in Eureka?

Well, I guess we are just fair-weather cruisers.  If the conditions are not just right, we don't go.  Right now there are a series of low-pressure zones approaching the west coast of North America, one every other day or so.  Although they tend to turn north before they hit us here in northern California, the circulation is still stirring up some big south winds.  We don't like south winds - we want north winds so we can just relax and go with the flow.  The real problem right now is that these storms are also creating some big swells, which persist even after the winds have gone.

Up till now, the biggest seas we have seen have been in the 8 to 10 foot range with 3 or 4 feet of wind-waves on top of that.  That tosses us around plenty.  Now, by the end of this weekend, the forecasts are calling for 20+ foot swells with higher wind-waves as well.  We have little interest in finding out how well we will cope with that.  So here we sit, waiting for a better outlook for at least a 2-day passage.  There is no good spot to pull into for about another 190 miles south once we leave Humboldt harbour.

Looking at the chart conveniently hereto affixed, notice that the small island we are on (Woodley island, near the top of the chart) is quite a distance from the open ocean.  The result is that we cannot see what the actual conditions are out there until we cross the Humboldt bay entrance (nearer the bottom-left of the chart).  And quite often we can see some dense fog between us and that entrance, which does not entice us at all.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying our stay here.  Lots of birds and seals to keep us amused, as well as our DVD collection, and just going for walks when the sun occasionally shines.  Sometimes it seem as if the birds are having some kind of convention in the channel.

Here are some patient gulls lining up for dinner.  They love it when the fishing boats come in and clean out their unused bait.  Not quite so nice when the boat next door to us was doing it though - very noisy and messy.

Downtown Eureka - an impressive paint job on their performing arts building.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}

Eureka!

Eureka, California, USA

It took a while, but we suddenly realized that we had been here before.  Just a year ago (check out the November 13th, 2009 entry in this blog) we stayed in Eureka overnight on our driving tour of this coast.  Things sure look different when you approach them from the sea.

Looking across the channel from the boat, we can see the same building that we took pictures of last year, just from a different perspective.  We took a walk over to the town, across a very scary bridge - no provision for pedestrians, and high-speed two-lane traffic - we walked along the guardrail on the very narrow shoulder.  From the town side of the channel, things looked much more familiar and we probably walked much the same route as a year ago, touring the old town district.  This time however, we went a little further in search of the supposed fuel dock at the Englund marine outlet.  We found it, but are a little intimidated by the 12-foot high docks with no-where to tie on.  They assured us it is simpler than it looks.  As it is, we have little choice but to use it as I don't think we have enough left to get us all the way to San Francisco if we have to motor most of the way (which is a distinct possibility based on our previous experience).

Irish imports come from the strangest places.

A note about the marinas on this coast.  They cater mostly to the fishing fleet but always seem happy to see transient cruisers.  The moorage rates seem incredibly cheap to us, which is a nice feature when we don't really have any anchorage choices.  In Oregon, the going rate for a 46' boat has been about $22/day.  Here in Eureka, the rate is only $20/day or $86 per week, including power and very nice facilities.  I'm told that the public marina, closer to the town, is even cheaper (35 cents a foot), but the facilities don't look near a nice.  The disadvantage of the Woodley island marina, where we currently are, is that the only restaurant we can get to, without going over the scary bridge, is the one here at the marina.  The food is good but the prices are a bit higher than we are used to.  Oh well, we may have to actually cook for ourselves again if we stay here very long.

As far as how long we are going to be here, we are not sure.  The current weather pattern is shaping up to give some stronger south winds and bigger seas, which we would just as leave like to avoid.  And at the moorage rates here, we can afford to wait as long as we want.  We are still in no particular hurry to get any where - we always assumed it would take us up to 2 months to get to San Diego.  At this point, we are still on schedule.

A neat statue of a fisherman found at the end of Woodley island.  Right next to the obligatory memorial to the many fishermen lost at sea.

Looks like we have found some low water.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California|Eureka, California{GEND}



Foggy Passage

Eureka, California, USA

Yesterday, we left the harbour in Crescent City about an hour before first light, around 6 AM, in the hopes that we would be able to cross the Humboldt Bay entrance bar around slack water at 4:30 PM, some 61 miles away.  We were able to keep right on schedule because of the usual complete lack of wind.  If we did not have an engine, we would not be going anywhere.

The day started off clear and cold, with the sun showing up around 7:45 AM.  As the day wore on, the coast began to look a little hazy until, just about 3 hours out of Eureka, the fog set in for good.  For some reason, in spite of the very light winds, the seas got quite lumpy for a while.  There is nothing like being blind, tossed about, and approaching an unknown hazard for raising the anxiety level.  Thank heavens for GPS chartplotters and radar.

As it turns out, the bar was very gentle, just a couple of large swells and we were into Humboldt bay.  As soon as we cleared the bar, the fog immediately vanished, and we had a clear passage up the dredged channel through the bay some 5 miles to arrive at the Woodley island marina in Eureka around 5:15 PM.  We had called ahead to make sure they had a spot for us and were able to pull right into our assigned slip, where we met the night security guard who handled all the paperwork.  As soon as we were settled, the fog moved in again, and is still with us this morning.

Now, we will be off to explore the town.

{GMST}40|48.4302|N|124|9.7438|W|Eureka, California, USA|Eureka, California, USA{GEND}

A quiet day

Crescent City, California, USA

What does one do for excitement in Crescent City?

The usual.  Go for a walk around town.  Visit the local tourist trap; in this case, an aquarium.  Not nearly as nice as the one in Newport but did have the thrill of a shark petting tank, and a pretty well trained sea lion.

This is the land of redwoods.

Does this look like a cruising friendly coast to you?

Still on schedule to leave here tomorrow morning.  Forecasts remain positive.

One note about the weather.  Up until now, it has been darn cold!  I'm not sure just how far we have to go before we find a warmer climate.  And the water temperature of the ocean here is actually about 3 degrees C colder than it is in Nanaimo - just does not seem right.

{GMST}41|44.8593|N|124|11.0235|W|Crescemt City, California|Crescemt City, California{GEND}

Tsunami Coast

Crescent City, California, USA

Believe it or not, we are finally in California.

A weather window opened up yesterday and we went for it.

Predicted 10 to 20 knot NW winds and moderate seas turned out to be no wind at all and moderate to light seas.  So once again, we ran the engine the entire way.  For a while, there was some threatening black clouds ahead of us, but by the afternoon the sky turned blue and the sun came out and we had a very calm ride into Crescent City  The wind never exceeded about 3 knots and what there was was coming from the south.  So much for forecasts.
 

As the distance we had to cover was not very far, we elected to take the long route out and around St. George's reef, instead of taking the shortcut through the reef - it was still only about 30 miles.  We left Brookings about 10:45 AM, rounded the lighthouse at the end of the reef (which seems to be out in the middle of nowhere) around 1 PM, and were safely in Crescent City harbour by 4:15 PM.

Upon arrival, being on a Sunday and after hours, we read the instructions on the harbour office door, instructing us to tie up at "H" dock and call security on the night line.  Strangely enough, there is no "H" dock, and security just sent us to a voice mailbox that was full.  So we tied up to the "Work" dock, slipped some money into the letter slot at the office and hoped for the best.  As you can see from the picture, this is yet again one of these extremely busy cruising destinations on this coast.  Where is everybody?  Is it really that late in the season?

This morning we were able to visit the harbour office during office hours and confirm that the transient "H" dock and most of "G" dock and some of "F" dock have been missing since November 2006, when a tsunami wiped them all out.  They assured us that the only boats that were damaged were a couple of transient cruising sailboats that ended up on top of the dock.  Very comforting.

Today we will take in the sights around Crescent City, and hopefully get an early start tomorrow morning towards Eureka, some 60+ miles down the coast.  So far, tomorrow looks like another good opportunity to make some distance southward before the next storm front arrives.

{GMST}41|44.8593|N|124|11.0235|W|Crescemt City, California, USA|Crescemt City, California, USA{GEND}

Fogged

Brookings, Oregon, USA

We had a nice, relaxing day in Brookings.  We walked across the highway bridge to get to the town proper, only about a mile away.  This is a typical highway town with gas stations and fast food outlets, like so many other towns along highway 101.  We did find a path to a scenic lookout at Chetco Point, where we could see the rugged nature of this coast; quite spectacular.

Can you tell which way the wind blows here?

Oh Oh, looks like a fog bank out there!

This morning, we had planned to get up early and go on to Crescent City in California (only about 25 miles away), but the fog had rolled in over night and we decided we were not in that much of a hurry after all.  So, once again, we wait for a weather window.

After the first, very hot, day here in Brookings, the weather has turned quite cool.  No doubt that is why the fog has settled in, but the weatherman has promised some much nicer days ahead, most likely starting early next week.

A couple of other boats have come in in the last 24 hours.  One of them is a boat we have shared space with in both Neah Bay and Newport; they seem to be keeping to about the same schedule as us.  The other one was on their way to Hawaii, about 800 miles out, when they experienced mechanical problems (transmission no longer connected to their prop), ran out of propane (they only had a single 10 lb tank), a serious leak from their stern gland, and very heavy weather.  They turned back for the closest port on the Oregon coast (they say California is too expensive), which landed them here in Brookings.  They intend on hauling the boat out to get repairs, then leaving the boat here until next spring when they will try again.

So once again, we feel we have very little to complain about.  The boat has been behaving itself very well and we are in a nice, safe spot to wait for our next passage opportunity.  Life is still good.

{GMST}42|02.8118|N|124|16.0178|W|Brookings, Oregon|Brookings, Oregon{GEND}

 

Another Long Night

Brookings, Oregon, USA

We left Newport at 9:30AM, right on schedule.  The bar was open and unrestricted and we motored through without incident.  Always looks worse than it is.  Notice that the local wildlife seems to enjoy the cozy platforms mankind is nice enough to supply.  Maybe they were just there to wave goodbye to us.

For the first few hours, the winds stayed away and we just motored along, in what were pretty good conditions - 7 to 8 foot swells at about 11 seconds (or so they tell us).  The usual rocking and rolling motion got to Susanne after about two hours, and she was down for the count.  She was able to handle her watch during the daylight but, come nightfall, she retired to the cabin for the duration.

In the early afternoon, the NW winds came up. Not enough for us to sail and maintain the speed I wanted, so we motor-sailed (used the sail to augment the engine - great fuel economy) until about 5 PM.  Then the winds strengthened some more and I was able to kill the engine and sail quite comfortably at about 5.5 to 6 knots for close to 5 hours, with only the genoa again.

In the night, the winds stayed pretty steady, but were coming from directly behind, making it necessary to gybe back and forth between about 6 and 12 miles off shore.  Eventually I was finding it hard to manage pulling the sail in and out (I am so out of shape), and elected to reef it in some and use the engine to continue motor-sailing for the remainder of the night and early morning.  When I use the engine, I can usually stay a little closer to directly down wind, making for less gybing.  To gybe this boat, with only the genoa, requires that I roll it in completely, turn the boat, then roll it out again on the other side - otherwise the sail gets hung up on the staysail stay.  At night, after the moon went down, it was very dark and I could not see the foresail at all to know if it was in or out, which does not make it any easier (see the attached picture to get an idea of what my view looks like at night).  Actually, I could probably have sailed all night without losing too much time, if I was just not so tired.  We may have to rethink these passages a bit.

In the early morning, the wind shifted to SW for about a half hour, then completely died.  I rolled in the sail and we motored the rest of the way to Brookings, where we arrived about 1:30 PM., good timing for crossing the Chetco River bar, which was also open and unrestricted when we arrived.

As we approached the bar, I found that we were actually arriving around maximum flood and, as we approached the actual narrow entrance, while the boat's speed through the water was about 4 knots, we were making closer to 10 or 11 knots with the current.  Knowing what I do about narrow passages and strong current (learned from years of sailing in the inside passage waters), I panicked and aborted the entry, heading out to sea again.  Once I was clear of the 40 or 50 fishing boats hanging around the bay, I called the Coast Guard to get some advice.  They seemed to think there was no current over the bar at all - what we were experiencing was just some tidal surges.  So, we turned around again and headed in.  Turned out to be a piece of cake - no current between the jetties at all.  You learn something every day.

As we were entering the bar, we got a call from the Coast Guard taking a bunch of information about us and the boat and wanting to know when we were last boarded and inspected by the Coast Guard - Never!.  Needless to say, as soon as we were docked at the transient dock (right next to the Coast Guard station), we were boarded and inspected.  We expected this would happen at some point, and now we have our little gold star to say we are OK.

So here we are in the town of Brookings, the most southerly port in Oregon, enjoying some very nice weather - at least 10 degrees (F) warmer than Newport.  So far this seems like a very nice laid-back fishing community.  As you can see, the transient dock is really busy - I have counted as many as 3 boats here at a time.  I guess this is not on the regular cruising itinerary for most recreational boaters, at least not this late in the season.

Here are some of the more frequent dock users.

We will stay here for a couple of nights, to rest up and such, before continuing on our way south.  Hopefully we can make some shorter hops from here on down the coast.  BTW, this was our longest passage to date, about 170 miles, making for a total of about 540 miles from Nanaimo so far - almost half the distance to San Diego.

{GMST}42|02.8118|N|124|16.0178|W|Brookings, Oregon, USA|Brookings, Oregon, USA{GEND}

Growing old in Newport

Newport, Oregon, USA

We have stopped counting the days now.  Weeks would be more appropriate.  It has been almost 3 weeks since we left Nanaimo and we are still only on the Oregon coast.  Not that it is a bad place to be; we are just get anxious to be on our way.

The problem with leaving is two-fold.  First, we want some decent weather out on the ocean and, second, we need the Yaquina bar to be open for our exit from Newport.  Here is a picture of the bar to give you some idea of what it looks like.

A third issue came up last night as we had a particularly low tide and found ourselves hard aground in our slip in the marina.  The area is all dredged to about 7 feet at "low" water, but using the US method of measuring low water, the recent low tides in the evening have been up to 1.2 feet below low water.  Not a big deal but a bit disconcerting as we are not used to being on a boat that is listing to one side at the dock.  Of course, we certainly cannot leave the slip if the boat is stuck in the sand.

From the looks of things right now, we should be able to get out of here either tomorrow morning or the day after.  We just need everything to line up - tide, current, weather, Jupiter, Mars, etc.  Our current plan is to head for Brookings next (still in Oregon but nearer the California border).

Still, we have to say that Newport has been a great place to weather the storms.  Nice people, inexpensive, a nice bayfront area, and even some entertainment.  Over this Columbus Day weekend there has been a fishing derby (U-Da-Man), with lots of little boats full of anglers coming and going.  Now that the weekend is over, things are pretty quiet again.

The transient dock is much busier than it was a week ago with a few more boats coming in out of the heavy seas.  A couple of the sailboats here are heading north for Seattle, although I cannot imagine why.

Hopefully the next post will be from places further south.

{GMST}44|37.4337|N|124|3.1412|W|Newport, Oregon|Newport, Oregon{GEND}

 

Failure to Launch

Day 16, 17, etc. - Newport, Oregon, USA

Here we are for the foreseeable future.

Yesterday, we were all ready to leave around 1:30 PM. The day was hot and the winds had died and the forecast was for light winds and seas until after midnight, then a shift to light south winds. By this morning we should have been safely in Coos Bay, just in time to wait out the approaching storm front.

Just as we started backing out of our slip, the winds came up from the NW, making it virtually impossible to get the boat out. We waited for about 1/2 hour, but it would not let up. By 3:30, we were getting too close to maximum ebb over the river bar for my comfort, so we decided we would stay put.

Shortly after we shut down the boat and got settled, one of the other boats decided to take off. This was the same boat that had all the problems getting here and we were not confident that he was really ready, but we went to help him with his lines anyway. As soon as he left the dock, he was in trouble.
 The wind was pushing him down the channel towards the shallow water when he suddenly lost power. The engine was running ok, but it would not go into gear.

He quickly threw out an anchor and managed to stop before hitting the rocks, and then several of us fellow boaters attempted to get a line to him. Sue and I launched our dinghy and I used that to carry a line out to his boat. However, in the meantime he thought he had the problem solved and tried to power over to the fuel dock with his anchor still down. Needless to say, this did not work. Then, he tried again, and when he was close to the dock, he started taking his anchor up. When he tried to put the boat in gear again, it failed again. Before we could do anything, he drifted down onto the rocks at the end of the dock. Fortunately, the winds had died down a lot and he did not really hit hard - just settled his bow onto some rocks.

We finally got a line to him and one of the commercial boats at our dock came to the rescue and towed him back to the dock, basically where he started from.

The silver lining in all of this is that by around 5 PM, the winds shifted, now coming from the south, and getting much stronger. If we had been out there, we would be fighting head winds all the way.

Today, several other boats have come in looking for shelter. They are reporting very ugly conditions off shore, especially last night. The last boat that came in was a beautiful 54' Tayana with a crew of 5 men, heading north. They said it was very bad out there - and they were going with the wind. Again, we are just so glad we did not leave last night.

The current weather forecasts are not encouraging. These conditions are going to get worse over the next couple of days, and may persist for almost a week. So, here we sit, thankful that we are in such a nice place to pass the time.

{GMST}44|37.4337|N|124|3.1412|W|Newport, Oregon|Newport, Oregon{GEND}

Hard to leave

Day 15 - Newport, Oregon, USA

The weather here in Newport has been good.  A little cool at night but just lovely during the day.  Makes it very hard to leave for unknown ports further south.  Looking at the weather reports we have decided that tomorrow, Wednesday, would be our last chance before the winds start shifting to come from the south again.

We made the trip into town to the marine chandler today to pick up some more fuel filters.  We now have new filters in both of the Racor units, and 9 spares.  That better be enough.

One of the things we have noticed here at the marina is that, since we arrived, no other transient boats have arrived or left.  This probably means we are on the tail end of the season for boats going down this coast, or maybe no-one ever bothers to stop here in Newport.  Regardless, it appears that out of the 4 boats at the transient dock, we are most likely going to the be the first to leave if we go tomorrow.  Not sure what that means.

Hopefully the next post will be from Coos Bay.

{GMST}44|37.4337|N|124|3.1412|W|Newport, Oregon|Newport, Oregon{GEND}

Wasting away in Newportville

Days 13 and 14 - Newport, Oregon, USA

We have spent some quality time here in Newport, seeing the local sights and waiting for our next weather window to continue south.

This is a great place to spend some time.  The marina is inexpensive, about .50/foot/night including unlimited power and water, free internet (in the laundry room) and a free bus-pass to get you around town.  And there is a great pub/restaurant overlooking the marina.  It doesn't get much better than this.

We have visited the Marine Sciences center and the Newport aquarium, which are both a short walk from the marina.  The aquarium is actually pretty impressive and worth a visit.

We took the bus (free bus passes provided by the marina) to the other side of the bay where most of the actual town is, including the bayfront walkway and marine chandlers.  I bought a couple of new fuel filters at NAPA but we have found a better source and will go back again to get more.  Now that I know of a potential problem, I want to be extra sure I have the solution.

The bayfront here is apparently one of the favorite stops for the California Sea Lions.  They make quite a lot of noise all day - we can hear it quite well from across the bay.  A lot of tourists come here to see them.

Another feature of the bayfront walkway is the "Fisherman's walk", with plaques for all of the people who have been lost at sea from this port.  A bit of a sobering message.

We met the owner of one of the other transient boats and he has had quite a rough time getting here.  He has only come from Portland and this is his first time out in the ocean.  He is single-handing and was sick, lost his autopilot, experienced a couple of accidental gybes which have compromised both his main and foresail and then his engine quit.  He was towed into Newport by the Coast Guard.  After hearing his story, I don't think we have anything to complain about.

We are hoping to get out of here in the next couple of days, probably leaving in the late afternoon, doing an overnight passage to Coos Bay, further south along the Oregon coast.  We need both a good weather window and a good "bar" report before we go.

 

{GMST}44|37.4337|N|124|3.1412|W|Newport, Oregon|Newport, Oregon{GEND}