Sailing… Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz
April 28, 2024 to May 1, 2024
Attempt 1 (April 28, 2024) : Erica and I woke up bright and early on the 28th. We headed over to the fuel dock to fuel up before we headed out. As we were fueling I kept an eye on the fuel gauge and it was odd, it kept fluctuating. We put 15 gallons in which didn’t quite make sense so I went below to check on things and the bilge had around five gallons of fuel in it. I quietly went back on deck and suggested we go back to the dock.
The next several hours were spent in the bilge with a vacuum, sucking the diesel into buckets using a wet/dry vacuum. Thankfully there was a hazard waste disposal site though, strangely enough it didn’t take fuel. The harbor patrol offered to take it to the dump for us which was very appreciated.
While we were enjoying lunch I got a call from one of my boat neighbors at Brisbane Marina, Gail. She excitedly told me about a couple who had stopped at the marina the night before, Karen and Dean on Run to Paradise. They would be anchoring at HMB and I should look for them.
The winds were going to kick up over the next few days so the next chance to continue south wouldn’t be until Wednesday, May 1st. Also, during the sail to Sausalito the leech had torn out of the jib so I went about replacing it with my Genoa.
The reason the bilge ended up with fuel in it was because the fuel gauge was indicating incorrectly and the fuel vent had rotted off. Even with the gauge indicating incorrectly if the vent was installed when the fuel filled the tank it would have backed up the fill line. But because there was no vent line the vent was below the fill line and so, emptied into the bilge when the tank reached the top. It’s a solid aluminum tank so tapping it doesn’t produce enough delineation in sound to determine where the level is. Since the gauge was indicating incorrectly it seemed the tank still needed fuel when it was over full.
After installing the vent line and new gauge the system worked perfectly. Mostly. Even with the provided gasket there was some leakage around the fuel gauge. I’ve been careful to keep track of how much fuel is burned during each passage and fill accordingly. When I have time I’ll pull it off again and try to reseal it.
One of the final items I needed for this passage was a safety raft. I came across one on Facebook and was delighted to find out it was actually being sold by an all women’s rowing team @hericanerowing participating in The World’s Toughest Row for @plannedparenthood.
photo credit: @manwhale
They will attempt to break the women’s record for the course — currently 34 days, 14 hours, 20 minutes. I’m so inspired by their story and spirit! Throughout this sail there were so many challenging moments and each time the universe would present me with something to keep me going.
I had connected with Karen and Dean through their blog and so they stopped by my boat later in the afternoon. As they hopped aboard I was immediately delighted by their cheerful demeanors.
Karen and Dean have sailed from Brisbane, Australia down around Tasmania, up to New Caledonia, Micronesia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Japan, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, the entire coast of British Columbia and then along the western coast of the US until we met.
Their Run to Paradise Blog is incredible! From the thoughtful recollections of Karen to the detailed Captains Planning notes, even though this is just a record for their loved ones, it’s really insightful.
They invited me over for dinner and we talked lithium batteries, AIS, crew, anchoring, more anchoring, additional discussions about anchoring.
Attempt 2 (May 1, 2024) : Today, we were fueled up and ready to go at first light so we got on the water at 6am. Karen and Dean would be heading out in a few hours. Since they have a faster boat we planned to have them pass us at some point. They also intended to head for Monterey instead of Santa Cruz. As we pulled out of the harbor Karen snapped a picture of us.
Leaving from: Half Moon Bay
Planned destination: Santa Cruz
Distance: 46.1 nm
Planned travel time: 9 hours
Initially as we set out the swell was manageable but then as the day wore on it was ten feet high and the wind was howling. It was so comforting to know Run to Paradise was out behind us keeping an eye. As they passed by they caught us again.
About a third through the sail the main sail started tearing.
