22 Jul The Golden Rule arrives in Humboldt Bay Tomorrow! (7-23-18)

Skipper Wil Van Natta, Evan Bleakely, Gerry Condon, Diana Torres, John Reidy, Jeff Merrick and Helen Jaccard have gotten the Golden Rule to Ft. Bragg. We spent two nights in Ft. Bragg waiting for the wind to die down and we leave this morning for the final 22-hour stretch around Point Gordo and Cape Mendocino into our home port of Humboldt Bay. We’ll be at the Eureka Public Marina or hauled out at Leroy Zerlang’s boat yard through September 8.
 

It’s been a good trip and we saw quite a few friends along the way! We got to visit with Pat Alviso and Jeff Merrick in Long Beach. Sherry Conable, Harry Meserve, and Jodi and Steve Bear had dinner with us in Santa Cruz. We were actually docked in Monterey because the Santa Cruz marina is undergoing construction and lots of boats are displaced from their usual spots. On the way from Monterey to Santa Cruz we did a close sail-by past Capitola and Harry got to see the boat from his apartment! He was totally thrilled! Michael Mathay visited the boat three times while we were in Ft. Bragg.
 
The transit from Santa Cruz to Ft. Bragg was pretty rough. We had no wind but very high 12 – 15 ft, confused waves bouncing us around, and at the end we also had some wind chop right on our nose. The piece of wood with the registration letters came off of the port-side, but that seems to be the only damage. We’ve been through worse when everything that wasn’t tied down landed on the floor – this time only the water kettle landed in the sink.
 
I’m happy to be able to spend a few weeks in Humboldt Bay, and kind of nervous about getting everything done by September 8. We need to arrange some speaking engagements for Humboldt and the trip back to San Diego and Hawaii, get the international conference in Honolulu on track, manage the boat upgrades and maintenance, get the Operations &Maintenance manual written, prepare for the VFP convention, and raise $15,000 at least.
 
The seas are about 2 ft swells today and there’s a slight southerly wind at our backs, so we have the mizzen and Genoa sails up. We’re averaging 6 knots right now (about 7 miles per hour). The sun is peeking out from the fog. We’re all rested and happy! See you in Humboldt Bay around 7 am.