TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

June 7, 2008 – 2300 miles to go – On the hook off the Sausalito waterfront.  Weighed anchor at 0830 – slack tide at our anchorage.  By 0905 we were passing uder the Golden Gate Bridge where the last remnants of an ebb tide met the incoming Pacific to produce some steep rollers with deep troughs.  Made our fairwell cell phone calls as we road this roller coster out to sea.  As we headed for the open ocean, the sea state deteriated til we were in confused 12-18’ seas and the wind was blowing the hair off the dog at 35-45 knots – a strong gale.  Within a few hours we were both seasick, captain sent the crew below to the cabin sole,  but he stuck it out at the helm, hand steering much of the time.  Eventually the captain came below too – exhausted and hypothermic.  We pulled our down sleeping bag over us and spent the night napping off and on – the captain rising at intervals to check traffic, course and sea state as our trusty windvane Horatio steered Sand Dollar through the night.  Oh well – we’ll be dead soon and it will all be over.