See full version: A Trip Up The Pacific Coast: Part 1
Past experience has given me the ultimate respect for Point Sur, perhaps more so than the other two points. I prefer leaving San Simeon at night to plan a dawn passing (it’s about 58nm). If preference or conditions preclude a night trip, then you are aware of any potential hazard ahead. This is a frequently foggy coast, but it is majestic on a sunny day. [links]
San Diego is a beautiful city with great weather and a wealth of attractions, but it can be difficult for visiting boaters. Anchorages and near-city guest slips are limited, and what is available is expensive. Kona Kai Marina, just north of the customs dock, is a good first try. You can also hop over to the Glorietta Bay anchorage and drop the hook near the beautiful Hotel del Coronado.
San Diego lies 11nm above the Mexican border. (Mileages listed here are averages based on multiple trips.) If you are foreign flagged or returning from Mexico, your first stop will be the customs dock on Shelter Island. As is standard practice, expect to have chicken, eggs, and fruit confiscated.
The upcoming Big Sur and Central Coasts have three natural gates to deal with: Points Conception and Arguello (11nm apart) and Point Sur, just below Monterey. All three are large, protruding land masses, disruptive to wind and sea patterns, and often wicked—washing-machine-type wicked. There are strategies for transit, and mine is simple. I do it at dawn, after the wind and seas have laid down overnight, adjusting my previous harbor departures accordingly. Cojo Anchorage is directly in the lee of Point Conception, so it’s a good spot for monitoring the overnight winds and hitting the road at first light. here
THE CENTRAL AND BIG SUR COASTS here
This is a busy commercial harbor, and also the convergence of three offshore shipping lanes. You can enter the harbor without crossing any lanes, but inside the bay are multiple lanes that require strict attention. Traffic outside the gate is updated at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour on Channel 12. San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service, handling ferries and commercial shipping inside the bay, can be found on Channel 14.
Everglades City, as the name suggests is surrounded by Everglades National Park, the second-largest national park in the country. Navigating through Indian Key Pass surrounded by innumerable mangrove islands has a wilderness feel about it. Airboats are plentiful, and strapping in for an airboat tour complete with alligator sightings and high-speed drift turns are in store.
The West Coast of Florida stretches 550 nautical miles from Cape Sable, at the southern tip of the Everglades, to Perdido Key, which is the western border of the state’s panhandle. Florida’s west coast, including the Panhandle, offers boaters amazing cruising opportunities. Except for the open water passage across the Big Bend, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway provides a protected route from Sanibel Island to Perdido Key. Below find an itinerary for boating on the West Coast of Florida:
Breaking up the long passage across the Big Bend of the Gulf of Mexico into shorter hops provides for peace of mind should the weather forecast call for strong winds. It also allows for exploration of Florida’s Nature Coast with a step back in time to the real Old Florida. Crystal River is a well-known manatee haven thanks to the clear warm water that flows from numerous inland springs. more
"I figured that if we had wandered into Clatsop Spit [at the Columbia River bar], we'd just die. A kind of calm came over me, even though I was really scared. I sat in the cockpit hanging on, watching breaking waves that towered over our boat, which pitched up and down like a teeter-totter, at times going almost vertical." - Ralph E. Ahseln, Camas, WA
"Wind and waves conspire to give Point Conception its reputation as 'The Cape Horn of the Pacific.'" - David Jennings, Kings Beach, CA more
"The Golden Gate can be a very dangerous place for small boats due to the strong tides and large swells. Once you're inside, though, it's one of the best sailing places in the world." - Ken Muther, Morro Bay, CA
West Coast readers praised the weather as being remarkably consistent. No problems there. But what is a concern, at least in some parts of the West Coast, are waves, which tend to be significantly larger than waves on the Atlantic, Gulf Coast, or Great Lakes. James Baumgartner, a Member in Everett, Washington, noted that the Strait of Juan de Fuca is some 80 miles from the ocean but can still get large swells, especially on an outgoing tide when wind is being funneled between the mountains. (His advice was to plan ahead.) Other Members mentioned the Farallon Islands tragedy in 2012, where a 38-foot racing sailboat was trapped by a series of large, breaking waves and driven onto a rocky island. Five of the crew died.
"Crossing the bar at the entrance to Ventura can be exciting and quite dangerous. I recall a time when a big swell was running and some friends failed to follow me out of the harbor. Later they explained that they saw the bottom of my boat's keel as I was going over a wave and they decided to stay in the harbor. They were right; I made it home that day, but it was damn scary."- George Phillips, Ventura, CA here
"What a rude awakening when I began to plan for coastal trips out of [San Francisco Bay]. Every harbor was a day's motor away with no guarantee of being able to access it once I arrived. Sea conditions and shoaling could easily prevent entry." - Steve McCormick, Winters, CA
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