Hey Pajo-
Looking good! How are things holding up on the boat so far? Also, what was Eureka like from a port of call perspective?
Chris
Hey Chris,
The boat is holding up great! No issues with anything mechanical. Definitely a light wind light boat, most of the time in the ocean we are flying a reefed jib alone or in tandem with a reefed main. We also stayed in about 17-25kt winds so we didn't have to worry about flogging. When things started to gust to around 35, a storm jib got the boat easily to 6-7kts. She surfs a bit, but donesnt really stay on a surf I think that's the displacement hullform. I'm still new to the ocean sailing thing, but it's lots of fun.
Cinderella seems to really like 6.5kts. She gets there easily and doesn't feel like we are straining her, and the windvane keeps course well.
Eureka is... interesting. A friend described it as Port Townsend on Meth, I don't think it's too far off. We didn't anchor very long as we were told dingy theft was high. Lots of migrants. The Woodly Island Marina however was amazing, our first time staying in a true working marina and the fisherman were lots of fun to hang out with. It was also only $20 a night for Cinderella. Captain Banjo even gave us some free tuna and showed us how to filet and BBQ it. There isn't much in terms of services in Eureka. One fishing supply shop which is also the only fuel dock in the bay (for those who need that stuff) and one little sailing shop that is run by a fellow named Tom. He is very helpful but also up there in age and has light hours. We were there for a week and I think it was too long for us.
The swell in the ocean meets a 4.5kt current at the bar and it gets dicey if its big, that's why we stayed as long as we did. There were breaking waves across the whole entrance even at slack with a 12' swell. We waited for a 4' swell before we sailed out on the slack before the flood.
Hope that helps!
-P