Not as Advertised

Big Ocean Swells!

Contending with "Following Seas"

We left Fort Bragg at 6am with forecasted favorable conditions at our depature and a forecast of 15 to 25 knot winds further south near our destination, certainly acceptable conditions for our boat, Got d’ Fever.  We left Fort Bragg with 6-9 foot swells at the entrance and similar seas several miles out.  The sea swells subsided later in the morning to 6 feet, then down to 4-5 foot swells so we set the boat on auto pilot.  The weather window was working well, or so we thought.  Some fog crept in around 9:15am and the winds picked up to 18 knots with 6-8 foot swells as we neared Point Arena, still not a concern as Got d’ Fever can handle these conditions quite well.  Around noon, however, the wind increased to 30 knots with 10 foot swells.  The fog had lifted and we saw clouds rushing by overhead.  As time went on, the winds were over 30 knots (not as forecasted) with 11-12 foot ocean swells.  This meant concentrated hand steering; “we’ll have to go manual,” to take a quote from Apollo 11.  We were in the worst sea conditions we had ever experienced; and since the next safe harbor was still about 3 hours away, we were committed.  Got d’ Fever continued to handle these "following seas" surprisingly well and we marveled at her capability, what a great boat!  Then we were presented with a serious challenge requiring steadfast teamwork.  A large wave pitched the boat sharply over to the side; the dinghy on the boat deck came off one of its supports and a strap came loose.  The bow of this 400 lb. dinghy was sliding off to one side with the risk of sliding further and causing more damage or upsetting the balance of Got d’ Fever.  Leonard put on his life jacket and went top side - using the davit system, he got the dinghy back on the support block and lashed down.  I was handling the steering, keeping an eye fixed on a point at the horizon to keep the bow pointed straight ahead as much as possible.  Turning the wheel quickly from side to side took lots of muscle and concentration.  My mouth was getting dry and I was terribly thirsty.  Thank goodness Leonard returned safely to the pilot house.  Too bad Java wasn't able to take pictures of the whole event; she seemed oblivious to what was going on.  We surmised that the cooler air had deflated the dinghy just enough to loosen the straps.  Yes, we’ve decided to add extra straps – front to back as well as side to side.  We made our way into Bodega Bay to Spud Point Marina tucked just inside Bodega Harbor.  The wind was blowing 27-30 knots in the harbor, presenting us yet another challenge after ten and a half hours of motoring.  We managed to get the boat into a slip and secured the lines – the day’s adventure was now over.  We would be here for the next several days, waiting out predicted 40 knot winds.

Arriving in Bodega Harbor

Bodega Harbor Village