SAN FRANCISCO TO HAWAII

The alarm woke me at five this morning.  The brain said get up, the body said just thirty minutes more.  The brain won.  I put the kettle on for a cuppa and had a look outside, flat calm in Sausalito anchorage and the sky starting to lighten in the east.

By five thirty the anchor was aweigh.  A mass of sticky mud came up on the anchor and chain, what a mess.  Oh well I have a couple of weeks to clean it off.  I headed out the anchorage and at exactly six o’clock we motored under the Golden Gate bridge in thick fog.  Now I have sailed, driven and flown both ways over, on and under it.  It’s done.

The San Francisco bar was in boisterous mood.  My friend Mark will be pleased to know I got rocked, rolled and thoroughly shaken up.  Once outside in deeper water things calmed down and I was able to set all sail and head off in a southerly direction.  At ten the cloud cleared, the sun came out, I shed my heavy jacket and sea boots – for the last time this trip?

By noon we had knocked off a few miles and there is less than two thousand miles to go to Hilo now.  Of course, that’s in a straight line, I will have to sail more miles.  I have chosen Hilo on the Big Island as the entry into Hawaii.  It looks like I need to head south for a couple of days to avoid a high-pressure area of light winds to the east of San Francisco.

By early afternoon we were clear of the traffic separation zones and into deep water. No more crab pot floats to dodge thank goodness.  A bunch of dolphins came to join us, one of them seemed very interested in Truces trim tab on the rudder.  Whales seem to be everywhere, one blew close by and startled me.  The sun is sparkling on the sea and all is good in my world.  Voyage distance 32 miles.