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.