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Melissa & Dave - Adventures at Sea

Heading back inland for Fort Bragg

The overnighter was officially accomplished. We rounded Cape Mendocino around 8:30 AM about 20 miles offshore after 25 hours of cruising. We have made our turn and are heading direct to Fort Bragg, currently 63 nm away.

We did 2 hour shifts giving us two 4 hour rest periods last night. In theory that gives you 8 hours of rest but we only slept about half of it. There was NOTHING to see at night. It was foggy, misty and there was no moon or stars. We could not even see any lights on shore. We would turn on the search light only to turn it right back off because the waves and water looked so creepy. Winds were 10-20 knots with seas 4-6 feet pretty much directly behind us.

Later in the afternoon, the winds and waves picked up. Combined seas peaked out at about 9 feet with winds 15-25 knots. The scuppers in the rear were letting a lot of water in which would slosh around on the aft deck. Some made it into the compartment making it quite wet down below. The inverter is back there and gave up the ghost. Dave put a fan on it and dried things out. Knock on wood, it is working again.

We caught up to Peppermint Patty and the other sailboat that departed Newport with us. Their original plans were to head straight thru to San Francisco. Apparently, the winds were not kind to them off of Cape Mendocino blasting them with 45 knot gusts in the dark. We heard them on the radio checking in with the coast guard later that afternoon. The life boat came out to escort them across the bar into Fort Bragg for some well-deserved rest.

The girls rejoined their guys after two days of shopping. We had a nice dinner on board - chicken skewers and a salad with goat cheese caked with walnuts. Yum.

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