Most Dangerous Harbor Entrance | Sailing Santa Cruz to Morro Bay
Our stop in Santa Cruz was brief but very rolly. With incoming weather from the South, we would be left totally exposed, so in the morning, we made a quick call to my friend Kiana to discuss our sheet-to-tiller strategy, cleaned off KIKAPU’s deck, raised the dinghy, and then we were off.
Day One- Leaving Santa Cruz
Leaving Santa Cruz was a decently sporty yet beautiful sail. We had 6ft Northwest swell and 15-18 knot winds at our beam as we left. We took a bit of time to fuss with the sheet to tiller system the way Kiana explained. On most boat’s that are KIKAPU’s size, they are outfitted with an electronic autopilot which makes things incredibly easy because you just “set it and forget it”. Due to my very tight budget, autopilot was out of the question, so I reverted to the very traditional method of sheet-to-tiller steering.
The first time I tried this method, was dallying on a day sail in the San Francisco Bay. It worked relatively well using the mizzen as our steering sail. Out at sea, we had better luck using a dinghy sail “hanked” (aka lashed) to our inner stay. We cleated this sail off as close as possible to the mast and ran an extra sheet through blocks on the shrouds, to a block in my center deck and to the respective tiller. It took awhile to balance the system, but when we did, it sailed beautifully for hours.
Day Two- Rounding Point Sur
As night fell, so did the winds. However, the sea state continued to build as we approached Point Sur. With a wind shift and building seas, I made the decision to reattach my steering lines so Alicia and I could hand steer from the safety of the cockpit. This meant removing the sheet-to-tiller lines holding the boat steady. With the tillers released from the sheet, I had to pull the tiller to attach the steering lines. This was where things began to go wrong.
As I clipped the first tiller back to my lines, I turned the boat beam-to the large waves. Everything happened so quickly. There was a loud crash and , I held on tight as I lunged forward to correct too late as we slid sideways down the wave.
“Regan!?!?” Alicia’s voice broke as she yelled over the swell to make sure I was okay. With only one tiller connected, we still lacked control. I moved swiftly across the deck, giving the tiller another pull.
“We’re on!”, I shrieked. Giving Alicia the go-ahead to take control of the helm. All throughout the night, we battled with the swell. We both slept outside in the cockpit despite the extreme cold. We kept out sails up for the longest time, gripping our frozen knuckles to the helm wheel in hopes that we could catch as much wind as we could.
We didn’t eat all night long. After five long hours of barely moving…and even going backwards at one point, we were disheartened enough to lower the sails and turn the motor on. As we took the sails down, we once again to a wave to our beam and more things crashed beneath us. With the still bouncy seas, it was difficult to motor at any significant speed, but finally we were back on track and making our way South.
As the seas settled, we were able to push the motor a little harder and we maintained a solid 4 knots for a few hours. That was, until the motor went limp. Alicia’s husband, Bryan, is a small engine mechanic, so her knowledge on the motor greatly outweighed mine. She declared it a fuel issue. We had been motoring quite a bit since San Francisco, so we took a moment to refuel while the seas were still calm. The refuel seemed to do the trick and we motored fine for the next few hours as we finally made our way around the point.
Day Three- Morro Bay Arrival
I was awakened by the sound of the quieting motor. Limp…again. We checked the lights and everything seemed fine. As soon as we had cell service, we called Bryan to troubleshoot the issue. After some research he concluded that is was probably the high pressure fuel filter. My Suzuki was brand new, but my fuel tank was not, and without a thorough clean and an in-line fuel filter I had gummed up my new motor.
Over the next 24 hours, the motor became less and less effective. Through night 2, we could only go 3 knots with the engine running. It many not sound like much of a difference, but with no wind and facing the cold, it was a painfully slow trip. My whale paranoia started kicking in again on my last night shift. Between the white capped waves, otters, and dolphins, I felt like I was seeing things.
Alicia and I both were startled back to reality by the loud sound of dolphins clapping right beside the boat. I think they thought my fear was funny, and were entertaining themselves by making me scream. Luckily for us, the sun was rising and things became warmer. At this point, we were finally in Estero Bay and were on the lookout for Morro Bay’s infamous rock. The seas were large and rolling, sweeping us closer and closer to the entrance of Morro Bay. As we approached we put the sails away and dreamed of all the delicious foods we would eat as we finally could enjoy one of our destinations.
The closer we got, the worse it looked for us. The big swell was intense against the narrow rock jetties and my motor was not fairing well. We could only do about 2.5 knots before the motor died off. As we approached, it wasn’t going to be enough. Looking back, I would have called into the harbor and asked for a tow, but I was unsure about the Tow US distance requirements, so I pushed onward.
As soon as we made it to the markers, the swell was picking us up and pulling us every which way. Our 2.5 knots was not going to cut it. We were SO close and the time to call a tow had passed the only option was to shoot the boat through the jetties. I felt ill as I ramped up the motor. The 3 knot speed was enough to battle the swell, but I knew I was cutting it close. Just as I aligned the boat with the harbor opening, the motor went limp. Quickly, feeling the green of my cheeks and butterflies in my stomach, I restarted the engine. It kicked on perfectly and I slipped through the jetties just before it cut out again.
This time, restarting the motor was no trouble. We were safe in the harbor and we continued slowly to the anchorage. As soon as we anchored, I changed into my bikini and took a cold solar shower on deck. The harbor patrol in Morro Bay was incredibly friendly and they came by with a yellow slip for us to fill out before leaving us to our own devices to explore the city and come up with a plan to repair the engine.
