Puget Sound to the Golden Gate
My boat is a 1986 Hunter 34' that we bought new. In '91 we left with a buddy boat down the "left coast" for the tropics. We 'did' Mexico and Central America and then transited the Panama Canal. We then spent the next years until 2000 cruising from Key West to Trinidad. There are many articles in those adventures but the subject is wave height. When we left Neah Bay our buddy boat skipper said we should go out to 126W and follow it south to San Francisco. We said 'Oh,OK.' That night GPS and Loran (remember Loran?) both agreed we had reached 126west so we turned south. (It was August) We were off the continental shelf. Through out the night the wind freshened from the north west to 20-25kts APPARENT. All instruments said our boat speed remained at 9+ knots even after we doused the main. In the morning we looked out and observed monster waves. The GPS signal had not been 'selectivized' yet and so was very accurate. It was a 'GPS 100' by Garman. ($2000.00) from West Marine. The altitude reading was from +25ft to -25ft, give or take a foot for the next three days until the wind clocked and forced us into Coos Bay Oregon. After we waited out a southerly we resumed our trip with our buddy boat and went out to 126 again. You guessed it, same waves. After a couple of days of pure discomfort (put mildly) we were able to pick up Pt. Reyes NOAA weather radio. The observation for the area was flat water and no wind. That was not what we were seeing. I called our buddy and said we were headed in to shore. When we came in, the wind died, the waves went down to about 3 feet and the fog set in. Perfect. We were still about 160 miles from the Golden Gate but we could move about the boat and eat more than a granola bar. The fog was so thick that we couldn't make out the bow light or tri-color. Our radar is a R20X by JRC with a Raytheon name plate. It is jumpered to have a 32mile range and it WORKS. Using the offset feature we pick up headlands at 39.999 miles. You can take all of your nav aids like GPS, sounders, CHARTS, what ever,,when the going gets tuff, give me my dog and radar! (My wife was seasick the whole time) Anyway, we arrived with our buddy at the golden gate at the same time after not seeing or hearing from them for two days. We went under the bridge on our 9th anniversary. We 'partied' that night. The boat handled the waves and sea conditions wonderfully. We never had a wave come aboard or even splash the transom. I am sold on modern 'Euro designs. The same could not be said of our buddy boat. It was a Tayana 37. It had trouble even getting to Neah Bay because of pitching.(too heavy in the ends, not enough buoyancy) We had a third crew member with us. He went home and bought a Hunter 34. I kid you not. All is not perfect however. During the off seasons of cruising we stored the boat on the hard. NEVER STORE YOUR BOAT IN THE TROPICS. The pundits never tell you that. Our rebuild is in its third year but the end is in sight. The boat (SV Epitome') is in our back yard. Many photos will follow. Fred Ficarra Seabeck WA.
My boat is a 1986 Hunter 34' that we bought new. In '91 we left with a buddy boat down the "left coast" for the tropics. We 'did' Mexico and Central America and then transited the Panama Canal. We then spent the next years until 2000 cruising from Key West to Trinidad. There are many articles in those adventures but the subject is wave height. When we left Neah Bay our buddy boat skipper said we should go out to 126W and follow it south to San Francisco. We said 'Oh,OK.' That night GPS and Loran (remember Loran?) both agreed we had reached 126west so we turned south. (It was August) We were off the continental shelf. Through out the night the wind freshened from the north west to 20-25kts APPARENT. All instruments said our boat speed remained at 9+ knots even after we doused the main. In the morning we looked out and observed monster waves. The GPS signal had not been 'selectivized' yet and so was very accurate. It was a 'GPS 100' by Garman. ($2000.00) from West Marine. The altitude reading was from +25ft to -25ft, give or take a foot for the next three days until the wind clocked and forced us into Coos Bay Oregon. After we waited out a southerly we resumed our trip with our buddy boat and went out to 126 again. You guessed it, same waves. After a couple of days of pure discomfort (put mildly) we were able to pick up Pt. Reyes NOAA weather radio. The observation for the area was flat water and no wind. That was not what we were seeing. I called our buddy and said we were headed in to shore. When we came in, the wind died, the waves went down to about 3 feet and the fog set in. Perfect. We were still about 160 miles from the Golden Gate but we could move about the boat and eat more than a granola bar. The fog was so thick that we couldn't make out the bow light or tri-color. Our radar is a R20X by JRC with a Raytheon name plate. It is jumpered to have a 32mile range and it WORKS. Using the offset feature we pick up headlands at 39.999 miles. You can take all of your nav aids like GPS, sounders, CHARTS, what ever,,when the going gets tuff, give me my dog and radar! (My wife was seasick the whole time) Anyway, we arrived with our buddy at the golden gate at the same time after not seeing or hearing from them for two days. We went under the bridge on our 9th anniversary. We 'partied' that night. The boat handled the waves and sea conditions wonderfully. We never had a wave come aboard or even splash the transom. I am sold on modern 'Euro designs. The same could not be said of our buddy boat. It was a Tayana 37. It had trouble even getting to Neah Bay because of pitching.(too heavy in the ends, not enough buoyancy) We had a third crew member with us. He went home and bought a Hunter 34. I kid you not. All is not perfect however. During the off seasons of cruising we stored the boat on the hard. NEVER STORE YOUR BOAT IN THE TROPICS. The pundits never tell you that. Our rebuild is in its third year but the end is in sight. The boat (SV Epitome') is in our back yard. Many photos will follow. Fred Ficarra Seabeck WA.
