Hi there guys and gals, My wife and I just purchased an 07 Hunter 41DS and will take over the boat on October 6th in San Diego from H&S Yacht Sales. After settling and putting our junk away around October 10th we will be heading up North to our homeport of San Francisco (Coyote Point Marina to be exact). Our route will be San Diego, Catalina, Santa Barbara, Cojo Anchorage, Morro Bay, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and Coyote Point. Did anybody here ever experienced a similar route? If so any advice? Hope to meet some of you along our route. Fair winds to all! Jim Davis
San Diego to San Francisco
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SF to SD & Back
This guy did it. Here's his website, pretty interesting read http://inetd.com/Boat/SanDiego05/
This guy did it. Here's his website, pretty interesting read http://inetd.com/Boat/SanDiego05/
Jim
done it numerous times
Harbor hopping is fine, but my advice is that if you've got a great weather window, don't stop, or at least don't stop short of Monterey. The worst section, despite what Southern Californians will tell you about Point Conception, is from Morrow Bay to Monterey. What we usually do there is take a short hop up to San Simeon and drop the hook in the cove there, cat napping until the wind dies around 2100. (Don't try this with a southerly swell.) Then, we blast all night to Monterey, arriving around 1000 the next morning. (I'm assuming here that your 41DS will make the same speed as my former 410 made.) The other consideration is that you might want to bypass Santa Barbara, opting to anchor at Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel island instead. It can be a nasty anchorage in the wind, but if things are nice it somewhat takes Point Conception out of the picture. You need a real good forecast to do this, and realize that if the swell turns nasty there's a good chance of Morro Bay shutting down because the harbor bar will be breaking. (Alternative is Port of San Louis in a pinch.) ALWAYS contact Morrow Bay harbormaster on VHF before attempting the bar. If you're harbor hopping this time of year, realize that night landings in Santa Barbara and Monterey can be tricky, especially if you're unfamiliar with those harbors. In Santa Barbara if feels as if you're going to hit the beach before you make the turn, and in Monterey it will seem as if you're going to crash right into the wharf. Local knowledge is a good thing on this trip. Point Sur is often the toughest bashing, although we once sailed smoothly in early July around Conception, Arguello and Sur only to be stopped by Point Ano Nuevo off Davenport. You never know. I've done the trip southbound once in November and northbound once in December, and you're better off attempting it in October. The shorter the days get, the longer the nights. Fair winds. And let us know what name the new boat will go by. (Our h46le is "Bashful," by the way, in Redwood City. I'm sure we'll bump into you sooner or later, especially if you're a member of Coyote Pt. YC.)
Harbor hopping is fine, but my advice is that if you've got a great weather window, don't stop, or at least don't stop short of Monterey. The worst section, despite what Southern Californians will tell you about Point Conception, is from Morrow Bay to Monterey. What we usually do there is take a short hop up to San Simeon and drop the hook in the cove there, cat napping until the wind dies around 2100. (Don't try this with a southerly swell.) Then, we blast all night to Monterey, arriving around 1000 the next morning. (I'm assuming here that your 41DS will make the same speed as my former 410 made.) The other consideration is that you might want to bypass Santa Barbara, opting to anchor at Cuyler Harbor on San Miguel island instead. It can be a nasty anchorage in the wind, but if things are nice it somewhat takes Point Conception out of the picture. You need a real good forecast to do this, and realize that if the swell turns nasty there's a good chance of Morro Bay shutting down because the harbor bar will be breaking. (Alternative is Port of San Louis in a pinch.) ALWAYS contact Morrow Bay harbormaster on VHF before attempting the bar. If you're harbor hopping this time of year, realize that night landings in Santa Barbara and Monterey can be tricky, especially if you're unfamiliar with those harbors. In Santa Barbara if feels as if you're going to hit the beach before you make the turn, and in Monterey it will seem as if you're going to crash right into the wharf. Local knowledge is a good thing on this trip. Point Sur is often the toughest bashing, although we once sailed smoothly in early July around Conception, Arguello and Sur only to be stopped by Point Ano Nuevo off Davenport. You never know. I've done the trip southbound once in November and northbound once in December, and you're better off attempting it in October. The shorter the days get, the longer the nights. Fair winds. And let us know what name the new boat will go by. (Our h46le is "Bashful," by the way, in Redwood City. I'm sure we'll bump into you sooner or later, especially if you're a member of Coyote Pt. YC.)
Thanks John
this is the greatest info I ever received regarding my trip. I hope to meet you somewhere on the water too. Our 41DS called "INVICTUS". We'll try to do this trip around the weather forecast and we allow ourselves 3 weeks. So if it's not perfect weather we can sit and read a good book. But I agree if I catch an ideal weather window I am not intended to stop and I'd like to go up North as far as I can in as short as possible time. Again thanks for the info. Jim Davis
this is the greatest info I ever received regarding my trip. I hope to meet you somewhere on the water too. Our 41DS called "INVICTUS". We'll try to do this trip around the weather forecast and we allow ourselves 3 weeks. So if it's not perfect weather we can sit and read a good book. But I agree if I catch an ideal weather window I am not intended to stop and I'd like to go up North as far as I can in as short as possible time. Again thanks for the info. Jim Davis
one other thing
I'm not sure how much fuel the 41DS carries, but you might want to carry a couple spare jerry jugs of diesel just in case. I did this trip from MDR in an Oyster 48.5 a couple years ago and we ran out of fuel just off of Pacifica because we'd been bashing into such steep seas. I think we went through 200 gallons on that trip, but the guy had a huge diesel. In my 410 (with a Yanmar 4JH2E and 56 gallon fuel tank) I could motor the whole way on about 50 gallons of diesel, so it was nice to have 10 gallons of "insurance." Making the trip northbound, most folks figure they'll have their engines running the whole way, motorsailing at best. If it gets choppy, your burn rate per mile will go down significantly. (BTW, I crewed from San Diego nonstop to Redwood City once on a 100-foot motoryacht. We kept our speed down to 11.5 knots for economy's sake, and burned 1,800 gallons of diesel. Made the whole trip without having to empty the hot tub on the upper deck.)
I'm not sure how much fuel the 41DS carries, but you might want to carry a couple spare jerry jugs of diesel just in case. I did this trip from MDR in an Oyster 48.5 a couple years ago and we ran out of fuel just off of Pacifica because we'd been bashing into such steep seas. I think we went through 200 gallons on that trip, but the guy had a huge diesel. In my 410 (with a Yanmar 4JH2E and 56 gallon fuel tank) I could motor the whole way on about 50 gallons of diesel, so it was nice to have 10 gallons of "insurance." Making the trip northbound, most folks figure they'll have their engines running the whole way, motorsailing at best. If it gets choppy, your burn rate per mile will go down significantly. (BTW, I crewed from San Diego nonstop to Redwood City once on a 100-foot motoryacht. We kept our speed down to 11.5 knots for economy's sake, and burned 1,800 gallons of diesel. Made the whole trip without having to empty the hot tub on the upper deck.)
I have a
36 gal. diesel tank. but I am planning to have at least a 10-15 gal carry on board. Also I may top of my tank at Isthmus/Catalina or Marina del Rey or Oxnard again. At least thats the plan for now. Thanks again John.
36 gal. diesel tank. but I am planning to have at least a 10-15 gal carry on board. Also I may top of my tank at Isthmus/Catalina or Marina del Rey or Oxnard again. At least thats the plan for now. Thanks again John.
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