Along the Washington, Oregon and Northern California coast

Gone is the idea of sailing 100 miles off shore straight down to San Diego. We are hopping from harbor to harbor when the nasty bar let us in or out...Grays harbor is a delightful fishing village with a strong flavor of the fifties. We recover, eat, drink, rest and fix things and fix things and fix more things. More moonlight ride, dolphins shimmering along the boat, visit of a humpback whale across our stern, tuna following us and more fog and cold and waves and the frustration of seeing the last hour to reach Coos Bay changing into three hours due to an unexpected 30 knots wind in the nose. On the radio, as we are passing an impressive and restricted bar for smaller boats, "Nutshell" from Nanaimo is asking for assistance due to loss of power. The local Coast Guards manage to make it look like child play as they pass the bar on their way out. And there we are in Coos Bay for another "Deja vu": eat, drink, rest and repair, repair, repair...
Three day later, the bar lets us out again for Mendocino. We make a quick stop for refuelling in Crescent city where now the familiar concert of sea lions welcomes us. A local fisherman has told us about a way close to shore between the rocks. We go for it and have a magnificent sunrise after the fog lifts up and sight Cape Mendecino with a whale in the background. By now Ghislaine has discovered the best spot in the cockpit that she will hog until the weather warms up and everybody share the watches...and tries to steal her cozy blanket when she is not looking.
A rather potent storm west of B.C and south of Alaska is now sending us 19 feet swells which makes the arrival in Bodega Bay quite spectacular. The sound of the breakers reaches us through the fog before we can discover the eerie sight of the swells crashing on either side of the bay. The pelicans are the welcome committee now as we enter Bodega Bay channel through the foaming, turbulent water. Another well deserved break in a safe harbor.