Waiting for Weather - Crescent City and Fort Bragg
DarushaAs anticipated, we've had to wait in port for weather to clear up a few times so far. The longest of these have been in Crescent City and Fort Bragg.
We waited out gales in both towns, and took the opportunity of a few shore days for some sightseeing. Crescent City is located at the edge of Redwood National Forest, so we went on a hunt for giant trees. ON our first outing, we cycled to Crescent Beach and onward to a lookout point. It was a tough uphill ride, and we never saw any big redwoods, but it's beautiful countryside. We also saw the local surfing competition as we rode by on highway 101.
The next day we took a one dollar city bus ride to Klamath, part of which was through the forest of redwoods. We rode the loop back to town and on the return trip it was just us, the knowledgeable driver and two park rangers. We got an excellent bus tour for a couple of bucks. Never underestimate the possibilities on public transport!
In Fort Bragg, we were actually moored across the river from town, so for the first few days stayed close to the local area. There's a campground nearby, and we saw deer in the woods not far from the road. We found the local grocery store, a great market with an excellent selection of local and organic foods, as well as a pizza joint. We also found the us stop to catch the, also one dollar, bus to town.
After a few days, we decided to head into town, and since we missed the hourly bus, we decided to walk. It was a windy long march up the highway, but we found a nice cafe for breakfast and wifi, and finally made it into town. Fort Bragg's downtown is a quaint, funky locale, totally not what I expected after the commercialism of the highway. We wandered the shops and had a pint at the North Coast Brewery's pub before catching the bus back to the marina area.
your thoughts on your intended grand adventure, now that your feet are wet
mauna kea awesome, but should have done it solo. desp our current full moon and some very high clouds, very remarkable skies. You used yet to low latitude skies?
bon voyage
love
dad
The coast right out from Klamath is really awesome. Did you make it out to the High Bluffs outlook? If you are there for a while you should check it out. A pod of whales resides there year round, and its usually possible to see them from up on the cliffs. Good bouldering on the beach as well.
chris
I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I really expected that Steven would have grown a long scruffy beard by now!
Great site! Full of excellent, well stated, and useful information. I look forward to following your grand adventure vicariously through this site, and will someday soon embark on my own cruising escapade.
I see that you are @ SF; congrats; Hope the "Potato Patch" wasn't too rough (or maybe you were smarter than us and avoided it). We spent memorable days at Ayala Bay on Angel Island and would hike up with a little wine and cheese at dusk to watch the fog roll in over the Golden Gate.
Further up the bay, we spent time at a friendly yacht club in Vallejo (well, they were friendly 21 years ago . . . hopefully now too). I remember almost drowning on a long windward dingy ride home from a day trip up the Napa River; that experience is probably still there for the taking but I don't recommend it.
Take care,
B (&G)
Hi Steve and Darusha,
We were at the BCA meeting a few nights ago. Missed some of the old gang. Greentrees and Engsts are just a few miles in front of you. Glad to hear you got away. We are enjoying the fall season here in Nanaimo.