22 Aug - As per our plan, we decided to leave San Francisco today.  Although having been amazing to visit, San Francisco had not been an easy place to stay.  Every place we had stopped had either been very windy or exposed to enough wave action to make the anchorages less than comfortable.  The lack of true shelter had definitely been wearing on us and we looked forward to finding more sheltered, stable anchorages further south.

Heading out at 07:00 to take advantage of the last of the ebb under the gate we were greeted with overcast and grey conditions yet again. 

Goodbye San Francisco

The channel through the golden gate was fairly messy, even with the current with us and it was well over an hour before the sea state became more regular.  We could then set sail close hauled in 6 - 8 foot swell heading south.  Frustratingly within the hour the wind died away and was not strong enough to keep the sails filled so we were back motoring across a fairly significant swell that was throwing us both around the boat and feeling green about the gills as we had spent enough time on land to become unaccustomed to the movement. 

A few hours and a couple of tablets of Gravol later, we were able to turn into Half Moon Bay.  After navigating the reef at the entrance we pulled into the harbour.  After 5 hours with no wind it was again frustrating when the wind suddenly piped up to 15 knots as we dropped the anchor but we managed to make it well set and the anchorage was at least flat calm.  Once we had got comfortable the anchor was set we went for a pleasant walk along Half moon bay beach with the sun finally peaking through the clouds

23 Aug - With the plan to head to Monterey bay overnight tonight, and with Half Moon bay promising to be a settled and stable anchorage, l we decided to have a quiet day on the boat today.  Around 15:00 we hauled up the anchor and fueled up before heading out.  We rounded the south side of the reef protecting the harbour and then headed out to sea.  By 19:30 we were well positioned to point our bows at Monterey Bay and, with 10 - 15 knots on our stern, we again poled out the Genoa and settled in as the light faded.  With the engine off we noticed just how many whales there were around us.  From 20:00 until midnight we were surrounded at all times by whale blows, some coming within a couple of boat lengths of us.  In the night, as well as the occasional whiff for 'whale breath' we could see where the whales were by the big patches of phosphorescence  left after they had surfaced.  Thankfully none cam eclose enough to hit us but there were plenty close enough to let us wish them a good evening as they headed north on their migration!

24 Aug - With relatively calm seas and steady 15 knot winds we made good time through the night and as the dawn broke we were within 10 NM of Monterey.  With the morning, the wind died though and we motored into Monterey Bay.  Unfortunately there was very low cloud again as we entered which didn't make Monterey seem too impressive (we figured we could have the same view coming into any port in the UK!).  We realised that so far on this trip we hadn't made a single landfall in sunny weather which was starting to get a bit galling! 

By 10am we had drop the hook in the bay just outside the harbour and then we headed into the town to get our bearings and check things out with the Harbour master and contact our OCC port officers in town.  Amelia fro OCC got back to us asking what we needed and we arranged to meet her and her kids at a local park around 4pm. 

We were back on the boat by lunchtime and, after a good lunch, we had a nap to catch up on the lost sleep from the night before and then were back on land to meet Amelia, Reef and Tide (10 and 2 years old) at the 'Dennis the Menace' playground.  The sun had made its way out by now thankfully and it was feeling a little more like the California we expected. 

BeTrue finally looking like she's in California

As we watched the kids play we discussed plans for the next few days.  The wind was due to drop to almost nothing until at least Thursday so we had a few days to enjoy here exploring the delights of Monterey and its surroundings.  With Amelia heading off with her now tired kids around 17:30 we wondered back into town and found a wonderful little wine bar for a drink and appy's.  We were the only patrons in the bar and the barman proved an entertaining and very knowledgeable wine expert who talked us through the delights of California wines, which to buy and where to buy them.  We were back at the boat by 19:00 and after our last pre cooked diner (spag bol) we watched a bit of TV and then, after watching a lovely sunset over the bay, headed early to bed.