"Seaworthy" means that the boat will withstand at least the kind of wind conditions you are likely to encounter, eight feet of solid water over its deck, and will right itself from any position. Check your rigging and possibly replace the older swaged end-fittings on the cables, before you make that trip."
"Two destroyers received minor damages, while five maneuvered away from danger. The estimated loss of Government property was $13 million. Twenty-three sailors perished in the worst, peacetime accident in U. S. Navy history." Sept 8, 1923 Rounding Point Conception
"All these warnings having been said, that coastline is one of the places I love the best. It is pure raw Nature. It will be a trip to remember for a lifetime."
6/19/2016- All of the above comments or reports have come from sailors who have rounded Point Conception as we are about to do. For some reason, I like the harder path or some would say, the path less traveled. In 2010, I volunteered to crew and help bring a sailboat from Hawaii to San Francisco. Going to Hawaii can be much easier and yet, I chose the challenge of returning. In 2013, I did the Baha Ha Ha quite well knowing that the return from Cabo would be quite difficult. They call it the Baha Bash because for days my boat would tack back and forth against the wind, currents, swells and waves sometimes making less than fifty miles in twenty-four hours. As Al and I rounded the southern tip of Santa Cruz Island, just after midnight, we began to enter the effects of Point Conception.
I awoke just before we entered the channel between Anacapa Island and Santa Cruz Island. We had been sailing steadily all day and much of the night but we thought it best to both be awake as we passed through this channel and rounded Santa Cruz Island heading north. It was interesting because as we sailed close to Anacapa, the winds were fairly strong. Then as we turned and headed toward Santa Cruz Island first we encountered an almost calm and then quite strong winds after rounding. At daybreak, we single reefed the main and rolled in a part of the jib. We were able to just sail, close hauled, just barely off of the wind. It was slow sailing, but we were headed where we wished to go.
The wind was blowing at about 15 knots sometimes gusting into the 20's. Santa Cruz Island was beautiful as the morning sunlight highlighted the coves and cliffs rising from the sea. I had seen this coastline many times and just last summer my sis (Diana) and I had spent a bit over a week tucked into one of these rugged coves. Snorkeling here is some of the best in all of California.
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| Santa Cruz Island |
As Al and I cut across the top of Santa Cruz Island, the motor was running to hopefully charge my batteries from the night before. I noticed that the batteries were not charging but draining. Oh well, we had fine wind (20-30 knots) and so we will do what a sailboat does best. Sail.
Now in most sailing conditions, Spirit of Adventure is a dry boat inside. On our trip up from Cabo, the leaks were amazing. A perfectly dry v-berth would become a rain forest. Similar conditions were happening now. I had left my dorade (a vent for allowing air below decks) on the forward deck thinking that my dinghy would cover it and help keep out the water. Well, it leaked! I would be trying to sleep in the forward bunk and with the boat bouncing around and off of the swells and waves, it was like trying to sleep on a trampoline with my two granddaughters bouncing, to give grandpa a fun ride. Now add an occasional cup, or more, of water dripping down on your bare feet, blanket or head and eventually making your mattress like a big sponge and you get the picture. We eventually put down the galley table which also makes into a bunk. One of the first nights that we did this, I had just gone onto my watch and was sitting in the cockpit when I heard a pretty loud thump and heard Al making different noises than he usually does when he sleeps. I hollered down at him and he was getting up off of the floor. He had been pitched clear off of the bed. One would lay on the bunk and try to sleep. When you would feel yourself starting to go airborne your hands would clasp, tightly, anything nearby. Eventually, we both learned to tie ourselves into the bunk with our life jackets on and our safety harness (attached to the life jacket) safely clipped to some hinges that were used for the table. This worked, mostly. On the way back home, I had just awoken and was ready to go on watch. I was sitting on the edge of the table/bunk when the boat pitched me backwards. The back of my head struck the book cubby where I keep all of the "How to sail, repair and have fun" books. When I sat back up, I put my hand on the back of my head and it came back covered with blood. (You'll remember that blood is one of the factors that make for a great sailing adventure.) A wetted bunch of paper towels helped to stop the flow of blood and soon I was out of the cabin to stand my watch. Did I say that the motion of Spirit of Adventure was pretty wild. One last note about this... Al and I both grew "accustomed" to this motion and were usually able to move around the boat with ease. It was not until we got to our hotel rooms that walking, sleeping, showering and almost all movement became difficult. They call them "sea legs" and it takes a few days for the land to stop moving after a grand sailing trip. We both commented on how much easier it was to move around the sailing boat than it was our hotel room.
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| This is my friend Al who "enjoyed" this adventure with me. |
Ok... my family and some well meaning friends have wondered if this Sailing California's Cape Horn is ever going to come to an end. I am working on the Youtube video which will accompany these writings but it takes awhile for me to put it together. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Just know that it is easier to read this than to do the trip. Love you all.
HERE IT IS... This is the link to some video I got of the trip. Thanks again to my wife and Al, a fellow adventurer!
Just click here... https://youtu.be/Z93PG3Anl24
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