Wednesday, August 17, 2011

FIVE  DAYS AT FT. BRAGG

We left Eureka marina on Tuesday, August 16th at 7:00 a.m. The fog and wind waves were bad!
We sailed when we could and motored when we had to. All day and all night. We didn't get much sleep as the ride was terrible! Knocked around all night long. I took my turn at watch, a couple of hours before daylight. As the Captain layed down to get some rest, he said we better stop at Ft. Bragg. I was happy to hear that.
  I have started to sing while I'm on watch during the dark hours. It keeps the brain awake. Seems like the songs that come to my mind are hymms that we sing in church. It could be,I'm trying to make points with the Lord.  It gets spooky out on the ocean at night!!

So.....I'm singing away and notice that the waves have smoothed out and the ride is nicer. It's also getting real warm. I like it.  Captain wakes up, looks at the depth finder and says we are in 12 feet of water!!!  Boy! That's scarey. He says we're heading toward shore! Boy! That's really scarey! 
Of course, we head out to deep water real quick. The fog is so thick.  I got a big lecture about keeping a watch on the depth finder. Now I realize how important that peace equipment is.
Captain checked our location with the GPS and navigation equipment.  We were about to the Ft. Bragg entry, it was still so foggy. We both strained our eyes...looking for the bouys. We finally passed some fishing boats heading out for the day and we started feeling better. It's such a helpless feeling when you can't see where you're going. We finally saw the bouys and entrance. It's a very narrow entrance. We were looking around so much, we came to an abrupt stop. Stuck in the mud again!!
We were able to reverse out of it this time. The depth finder said 2 feet of water but I'm pretty sure that wasn't right.  Anyway...this is the coolest little harbor. We passed behind a restaurant that has a little skinny dock on the back of it, with a sign that says "Visitors Dock". So..we pulled over to it and tied up. This little restaurant is so cute! We find out that it belongs to the Corrine family for 65 years and has quite a history. There's a rickity walk that goes from the little dock up to the restaurant's side yard. I wasn't sure R.J. was gonna make it up that walk way. She doesn't see well any more and hates high places. After a time or two, she did fine.  I got some good pictures of "Corrine's".



They serve Italian seafood. Lots of pictures of movie stars hanging on the walls, that have visited and eaten here.  I like this place. The Coast Guard is across from us and they get us up early every day with the raising of the flags and they start the boat engine. They march around and yell orders. It's just liked being back in school.    There are divers going out in their boats every morning. It's a busy place.  Sea lions wake us up every morning too. They chase each other and blow water all over the place. Sometimes..they get under our dock and fight. Now... that...is scarey!  We will be here awhile cause the small craft warning flag is up every day.


This is the Noyo Fishing Center. They have fishing charter boats a person can go out on.

Captain Mike on Main Street

Today is Sunday. We've been here five days. We are rested and ready to get on down to Bodega Bay. The small craft warning flag has been taken down and the weather is calm. We are leaving at noon.














No comments:

Post a Comment