EUREKA:
Well we were trying to continue south towards San Francisco area rounding Cape Mendicino but the Lord had different plans as the winds picked up with larger confused swells up to about 12'. During the night on Linda's watch she got pooped on by a rogue wave that flooded our cockpit then as quickly as it came in, it was gone. Albeit Linda's legs were soaked with seawater as well as the cushions and other articles laying about. She went below and tried washing things off with a container of fresh water from the galley...she forgot we had a cockpit shower with sprayer to do the trick. (OK, so I forgot to snap the aft dodger curtain all the down, which would have prevented that in the first place ;-(
Our average speed from Newport to Eureka was 8.5 – 9 knots and we had only anticipated being able to do 6 or 7 knots due to being weighted. After about 18 hours of being beat up, we decided to pull into sunny Eureka.
Eureka’s bar is rated #2 as far as bad bars go and of course, #1 is the Columbia Bar. The Coast Guard closely monitors the Eureka bar and they quietly escorted us inside. We didn’t think anything about it until we looked behind us and saw rollers breaking clear across about 2/3rds of the bar inside!
As we were making of way to the jetty entrance the USCG cutter came running up to us then passed us. Of course Denise and Linda were all smiles waving at the young hero's who waved back eagerly.
Eureka’s public marina is clean, maintained and very inexpensive at 16 dollars a day (35 cents a foot). We’ve enjoyed our stay being able to get the laundry and miscellaneous projects done and walking the surrounding area.
There is also a Costco two blocks the other direction that will actually let you borrow the cart and then the Marina will return it for you. Our homeless bag lady Denise strolling down the street about a mile from CostCo!
Old Town as they call it is near the Marina and is very charming. It reminds me of a cross between Aberdeen and Sequim Washington. There are several ethnic restaurants including an Irish Pub.
Today, Friday the 16th, we motored the short distance over to the fuel dock at Enlund Marine. Dock is used loosely as there is no dock and the lines get wrapped around 2 feet wide pilings that we fendered up against in order to keep from rubbing and/or damaging the yacht. Fueling went smoothly and back to the slip to wait for a weather window.
A gale made a visitation and the waves splashed hard against our dock covering it with sea grass that literally stuck to the sides of the boats. If not for the commercial fishing vessel docked parallel beside us, we too would have been frosted with greenery. Between the wind and waves leaving the boat was not inviting! As days past by the longing to leave grew more each day.
