Islands
Doug, If you go straight out about 20 miles there are the Farralones. No place to dock, and be very careful sailing around them. If you turn left outside the gate, you will get to the Channel Islands in about 4 days. Then of course, you have Hawaii in about 20-30 days if you pick the right course. I think these are the closest islands outside the gate. Seriously, I don't think you want to sail the Mac 25 very much outside the gate. On a good day you might safely poke out a few miles, more than that and plan on carrying a good liferaft, you may need it. I've seen 40 knots and 11 foot seas within a few miles of the coast, and I've not been out there on a bad day. The Pacific Ocean in this area can be very serious sailing. If you really want to go out I suggest you enroll in some offshore sailing classes and get some experince first. Also, if you don't know about the geography outside the gate, you probably also do not know about the shallows on sither side of the gate entrance and the shipping lane right in the middle. You won't hit bottom in the shallows, but you can experience very large and short duration swells kicked up by the shallower water. People get killed there every so often. Other than the Bonita Channel to the north (which may or may not be advisable on any given day), you should plan on going out far enough along the shipping lane to miss the shallow areas when you turn north or south. The large ships move fast in the shipping lanes and have extremely limited ability to alter course. Fog can set in quickly and you need to know where you are, they are, and how that system works to safely traverse it. Try to assemble an experinced crew to go with you the first time. My expectation is that you won't find one who will do it in the Mac 25. That should tell you something. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
