MV Sine Timore

Half Moon Bay, California, USA

We were up before dawn (around 6 AM).  Sue got the anchor up and we were off (around 7  AM) to navigate the busy shipping channels around San Francisco and on to Half Moon Bay.  Neither of us slept all that well last night and we are not sure why.  Maybe it is just that we have not been on the hook since Neah Bay, some two months ago.

The fog had cleared out overnight and stayed away for the entire day.  Since there was absolutely no wind (maybe 3 or 4 knots occasionally), we motored the entire way again.  If you have to have a motor vessel, you could not ask for a better day - very light swell and no wind-waves at all.

In places, the crab pots were like a mine field.  We found it very tiring keeping a constant watch.  The only time we got a break was when we were crossing the shipping channels (there are 3 traffic separation schemes, the North, West and South approaches to the Golden Gate) where they are not allowed to put the crab pots, so we spent more time in the traffic channels than we would have otherwise.  Fortunately, there was only 1 ship in any of the channels for the entire day.  The Juan de Fuca was much busier.

Even though we were on a mostly straight line course, we were actually about 20 miles from the Golden Gate bridge at our closest point.  We were closer than that to the outlying Farallon Islands, supposedly on the edge of the continental shelf.  They are part of the Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.  It may be a sanctuary for wildlife but it does not offer much for us poor sailors - a pretty formidable looking spot.

We made it into Half Moon Bay and moored at the Pillar Point Harbor around 3 PM.  As usual, they found us a place surrounded by the fishing fleet.  Can you pick out our boat in this crowd?   We found a nearby pub and had an early dinner and are now discussing what our next move should be.  If we want to spend a day here at Half Moon Bay, it probably means we will waste the remainder of this weather window.  But we do like to get to know each town.  Right now we are so tired that we are having trouble making up our minds.  Stay tuned to this channel for the latest breaking news.


{GMST}37|30.1622|N|122|28.9783|W|Half Moon Bay, California, USA|Half Moon Bay, California, USA{GEND}