A predawn and very foggy departure to Bodega Bay sent us back to sea. Large swells but calm winds followed us to Pt, Reyes. I was poised to deal with extensive vessel traffic crossing the San Francisco shipping lanes but non appeared. We saw one large tanker while crossing all three shipping lanes, a brief radio communication with Vessel Traffic and the captain of the ship gave us safe passage.
We were blessed with two extraordinary whale encounters; first we saw the giants, two California Blue Whales pass by. Amazing creatures, we put them at 50-60 feet long.
Next we saw several groups of up to ten Humpback Whales feeding. This is a rare occurrence as they are usually in migration mode, but we all have to stop for lunch sometime!
Another forecast for an in coming blow prompted a stop at Santa Cruz. The usually well lit boardwalk and world famous roller coaster were a faint glow in the heavy fog. We approached the entrance and made our way up the channel. Charlie’s Charts says that the end ties of the docks are for transients, we found one open spot and rafted the two Selenes.
We awoke to glorious sunshine, hooray! Santa Cruz is one stop we all wished we had spent more time at– the bohemian cultural influence–
Combined with the historical and cultural influence– not to mention the roller coaster — and great harbor filled with Pelicans and Sea Lions pushing the bait fish up and down.
