We walked to China town to check out what we could have for dinner. We were overwhelmed and did not end up having dinner. China town in San Francisco is the largest area of Chinese immigrants. We were to learn later that the “Yellow People” were detained on Angel Island for months and sometimes up to a year, while other nationalities were checked out then allowed to immigrate.
The Chinese invasion of San Francisco and California began in 1847. During the first two years of the gold rush most of the Chinese who reached the Pacific Coast made their way as quickly as possible to the mines. About the beginning of 1851, however, increasingly large groups began to settle in San Francisco and engage in various occupations, while others drifted back to the city from the gold-fields, where they had met with scant success. In the early spring of 1851 the first Chinese laundry in the United States was opened at Washington Street and Grant Avenue About 30,000 Chinese lived in twelve blocks." Prostitution was the principal, and by far the most remunerative, activity of Chinatown's criminal element, although gambling was the first of the popular vices to be introduced into the quarter and was, so far as the Chinese themselves were concerned, always the most liberally patronized. By the latter part of 1854, the upper end of Sacramento Street and the eastern side of Grant Avenue were lined with gambling houses. They were crowded both day and night, for the Chinaman is probably the most prominent gabbler still to this day. As we walked by the public park groups of men were huddled around a circle, gambling. Many of the places also were opium rooms. Vancouver’s Chinese community was also the same.
We continued to walk through the portion of town which is Italy. The area is known as North Beach. We stopped at a sidewalk café. The waiter gave us information about the area. It's best known as San Francisco's Little Italy, with its high density of check-clothed restaurants, cafes and Old World delicatessens. He said that Mafia was a factor in San Francisco.
Sts. Peter and Paul Church: This towered neo-Gothic cathedral, consecrated in 1924, is across from Washington Square Park and forms the center of the neighborhood. The church originally served a parish of Italian fisherman, and a procession still departs for Fisherman's Wharf each October for the annual blessing of the fishing fleet. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were famously photographed here after their City Hall wedding. 666 Filbert Street. They never actually got married here but wanted to give the world the pretense that they had been married here. (They had both been divorced therefore the priest would not marry them).
After our 3 days in San Francisco we boated over to Angel Island where we spent 2 days on a mooring buoy. We took a tram tour of Angel Island.
For over six thousand years, it was used by Miwok Indians as a fishing and hunting site. For almost 100 years - stretching from the Civil War to the Cold War - the island housed a variety of military installations, including supporting troops on their way to and from the First and Second World Wars. It also played a major role in the settlement of the West, serving both as a Public Health Service as a quarantine station for immigrants.
The Island is now a State Park with hiking trails, camping sites and tours of the islands history.
We then came to Aeolian Yacht Club. The club was founded in 1906 and offers reciprocal moorage. This allows us free moorage while we get groceries and a new GPS mouse. The name Aeolian came from the Greek God of Wind.
Today the Aeolian yacht club has approximately 250 members and has an active gathering at its back porch nearly every day, meals in the clubhouse, cruise outs, cruise ins, work parties, and other activities. The people we met here were very accommodating. Driving us to get our GPS information and so much more. On Friday night there was the weekly meeting and dinner were we exchanged Yacht club burgees and will bring theirs back to our yacht club on our return. Our pictures were taken with their member who is 95 years old and still sails. Amazing. We head south again Sun.

Where we are now!

Eureka was founded during the gold rush. Early lumber center; redwoods were first harvested in 1856
Many of the first arrivals who arrived as prospectors were also lumbermen, and the vast potential for industry on the bay was soon realized, especially as many hopeful miners realized the difficulty and infrequency of striking it rich in the mines. By 1854, after only four years since the founding, seven of nine mills processing timber into marketable lumber on Humboldt Bay were within Eureka. A year later 140 lumber schooners operated in Humboldt Bay, supplying lumber to other booming cities along the Pacific coast
We found this town to be unlike any we have seen to date. It is obvious that the towns’ people take pride in their community. The houses are all maintained, the docks were the best we have stayed at. Even closed factories or fisheries are still respectable. We toured the town by foot and saw many colonial houses that date back into the 1800’s.
We left Eureka at 1800 hr to travel around Cape Mendocino during the night and to arrive at Fort Bragg during day light hours. A 15 hr trip.
Cape Mendocino is the western most point in California. It is also one of the most dangerous points of coastline in the state. It is where the currents and water temperatures change. If you wish you can hear and read all types of horror stories about this cape. I must admit it is one of the obstacles I was worried about. Again, picking the right weather windows allowed for calm seas.
Fort Bragg is a very tricky bar crossing. Once we arrived I was glad we had decided to do it in day light. It is a very narrow river with buildings built on pilings in the river. It is quite shallow. Unique in character. Fort Bragg, once a booming logging town, is now a hub for state parks and reserves. The area's Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens are the only ones in the continental U.S. fronting directly on the ocean. The famous Skunk Train from Fort Bragg to Willits takes visitors on a route through the redwoods that is accessible only by railroad. We chose not to do the tourist thing as we were very tired from the night trip.
The next day, Sept 18. proved to be our best boating day to date. We had flat calm seas. The temperature got to 80 degrees in the fly bridge. We had humpback whales giving us a show breaching and flapping their flippers. We had dolphins playing in our bow wakes. It was quite cool. I have to figure how to get the pictures of the whales. I thought I had a good one at sunset with a humpback breaching but in the end it is a picture of a sunset and a splash.
We arrived at Bodega Bay at night and had to navigate the many lights to get into the marina (33 in total) I cannot say much about Bodega Bay as we left early in the morning and just slept there.
Well we are here. San Francisco. We arrived under the Golden Gate Bridge at 1400 hr. Just as we were ready to get into the shipping channel our GPS went down. What timing. It wasn’t down for long but we know we use it! We did have the chart in front of us and it was day light with no fog so we were in no danger. Just a reality check to the importance of knowing how to use old fashion technology.
We have decided to moor for 2 nights at Pier 39. We are part of the tourist attraction. We had about 100 people watching us dock. Thank God it was uneventful. Usually when you have an audience something happens.
We hope to stay here a few weeks, so the next blog will be about the tourist things we do.

Where We Are Now

The lyrics “We Want to Get Out of Here” have been playing in my head for days!.

Well as luck would have it Sept 11th was our day. It was our 26th wedding anniversary and the day to depart Charleston. There was a surge of boats departing the marina. The winds were not the best but what was to come would have us staying another week possibly.

It turned out to be a mixed bag of weather with large swells and small waves on them. Nothing we couldn’t handle. A 15 hour day however. By the time we were getting to Bookings we decided to stop for the night.

We radioed the Coast Guard to inquire about the bar crossing. It was one of the better crossings made so far. Even in dense fog.
The Coast Guard wanted to know when we had been last boarded by USCG. Kens answer: “7 years ago on this date Sept 11. Needless to say they were waiting to board us when we had tied up.
We passed with flying colours. This is easy for a Canadian our Coast Guard are much more stringent on what requirements are needed aboard vessels. On arrival we met up with several boats that had left the day before so we assume that there window of opportunity was not as pleasant as ours.

The following day was a 3 ½ hr day. Nice! The seas were 10’ NW swells at 10 – 15 secs. No waves and a 5 knot S wind. Wonderful. The waves pick you up like a magic carpet from one to the other. No uneasiness at all. The day was foggy and very grey but great seas.

We crossed the California border at 1000 hr at 42 00.00 degrees lat.

We arrived in Crescent City California at 1245 and proceeded into the City Marina.

The marina has gone through a destruction period due to tsunamis. They were devastated in 1964 by the Alaskan earthquake. Then just 2 years ago they were hit again by a wave surge generated by a powerful earthquake in Japan. Many of the docks are now removed and the marina has half the available slips.

We rented a car and traveled to see the redwoods.

The Redwood Forest is pure majestic beauty. Redwood trees provide a thick canopy that blocks all but the strongest sun rays from reaching the forest floor. The Redwood forest is a natural cathedral; full of mystery and awesome beauty.
The redwood forest was home to the dinosaurs and other pre-historic critters. Jedidah State Park was used to film the movie Jurasic Park.
The coastal redwood forest has evolved as a result of some pretty extraordinary adaptations to California’s narrow “coastal zone.” Redwoods have the ability to sieve fog for enough moisture to thrive through long rainless summers. Their thick bark, high in tannin, protects the trees from wind-swept coastal fires and insects. Their wide-ranging roots can intertwine with other trees, and can even withstand being covered with more layers of soil after they’re mature. Most trees tend to smother under such conditions, but redwoods have figured out how to endure and enjoy the silt dropped by repeated flooding.

Drive Thru - Tree

We went to search out the drive thru redwood trees that have become famous for tourism.
There's no stronger symbol of the feud between Progress and Nature than the Drive-Thru Tree. Early Redwood promoters arrived one step ahead of the conservationists, and tunneled through the base of select giants, charging tourists for the privilege of making the twenty foot journey from one side of a tree to the other without having to go around it. Modern environmentalists have made sure that there will be no new drive-thru trees, so the remaining few are tenaciously preserved for exploitation. I am amazed at how they continue to grow with there insides gone!
We then traveled highway 101 which took us past many beaches. We observed more light houses that are no longer in operation. Point St. George’s lighthouse is now a private home.
We intend on carrying on tomorrow to Eureka. The seas seem favourable for the next few days so we are hoping to get more miles under the keel.

Where we are now.

Well we are still in Charleston. There are 6 other Canadian boats held up waiting to leave with a good weather window. They are all heading to Mexico. Some will continue on to the South Pacific or through the Panama.
We met a couple Chris and Rani from the sailboat Ladybug from Victoria. They are traveling in a 29’ sailboat to Mexico.
They rented a car so we decided to share expenses and see some sights. A decision was made to travel around and just see what there was to see.
Our first stop was the South Slough Estuary. Estuaries are places where rivers meet the sea and salt and fresh water mix. They are among the world’s most productive ecosystems.The interpretive centre was very informative. It is interesting to see how man has screwed the system up not understanding how wetlands worked. Luckily we are now trying to fix what we have wrecked where possible.
We continued on down the South coast following the scenic route which took us to wonderful white sandy beaches. The winds were fairly brisk but not unmanageable for the kite surfers. This is the latest in extreme sports. Yes Alanna, I know you will want to try it like all the other things you are trying! We had an interesting time talking to several people about this sport. The best winds are 10-15 knots. Up to 25 are ok but more for those that know what they are doing. 40 knots is just painful. It cost about 1500 dollars for the board, kite, rigging etc. It looked like a lot of fun but I will leave it to the much younger crowd.

Kite Surfing. It looked like a lot of fun.

The next stop was Bandon by The Sea. Like many towns on the Oregon coast, Bandon had significant fishing and timber industries which came to an end by the 1980s. Currently Bandon is a center of cranberry production. Today however, Bandon's economy revolves around the golfing and tourism industries. I was a little disappointed as it was totally a tourist trap. We had a picnic lunch then moved on, traveling north.
We found ourselves looking for dunes and happening onto a lighthouse. For a mere $3.00 we decided to take the tour of the Umpqua River Lighthouse. This lighthouse is at the entrance to Winchester Bay. The current structure is 65 feet with 165’ in elevation. It overlooks sand dunes on the south side of the bay. It is currently automated. The coast guard have their married quarters here.

It was now onwards to find the right dunes to climb. (Or to have Rani do sand angels). We finally found them. I made it about ¾ the way. Chris and Rani made it to the top. Ken stayed back. It was awesome, even if you had to keep a good lookout for ATV’s.

So what are dunes?

The sand in the Oregon Dunes is from the Coasr Mountain Range, which is sedimentary rock that was uplifted 12 million years ago. As rock was moved downstream by rivers, it tumbled and wore away by friction into sand.
The present shoreline stabilized 6,000 years ago. Tides, wave action and strong coastal winds moved sand up to 2.5 miles inland for thousands of years. This area of dune development rests on a gently-sloping terrace of solid marine sandstone called the Coos Bay Dune Sheet. This low rock surface stretches 56 miles from Heceta Head to Cape Arago and contrasts with steep headlands found on most of the Oregon coastline which prevent inland movement of sand.
Winds are a major influence in dune formation. Summer winds blow steadily from the north and northwest at 12-16 miles per hour. Mountain barriers near the coast deflect wind currents, sculpting the sand info many different shapes.
In winter, winds are generally lighter; however, they can exceed 100 miles per hour during intense winter storms. These winds blow from the south and southwest moving large amounts of sand. Seasonal changes in wind direction reshape dune sculptures and ridges.
Water influences dune formation. Strong ocean currents flowing north in winter and south in summer hold sediment from rivers near the shore. Currents, tides and wave action dredge sand from the ocean floor and deposit it on the beaches where the wind takes over.
With the upward pressure of water, the sand grains become saturated and may float, resulting in quicksand. The Dunes

Well it was a pretty full day. It was great. We spent time with new acquaintances; saw some of the things that we just boat by. Being stuck in a place is what you make of it. Sit on the boat waiting for weather windows to hurry to get where you are going or enjoy the getting there portion of the trip. The getting there is all part of the experience.
We now see (possibly) Tues or Wed as the days to leave. There will be a mass exodus when the right day appears