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.

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