Author Archives: Tales of Misadventure

To cruisers like us, a dinghy is like a car. It gets us from our anchored boat to the shore and allows us to explore our surroundings. Or 1988 mercury outboard that propels our 12-foot dinghy held strong throughout our Central America/Pacific Islands travels. However, it had not been used for the past 11 yearsContinue reading “Exploring the Noyo River”

The coastal towns and ports in the Pacific North-West are highly susceptible to tsunamis caused not only by nearby earthquakes, but also those that occur on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. In 2011, a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan’s coast caused massive destruction that included nearly 20,000 deaths and a meltdown atContinue reading “Noyo Harbor Tsunami!”

The dock we were on in Noyo Harbor was home primarily to commercial fishing boats. The nice guys on the boat next to us gave us four big dungeness crabs, live from their catch. I looked around for something to reciprocate with and settled on our last box of Girl Scout cookies. The captain, whoContinue reading “On The Docks – Fort Bragg”

Many great adventures don’t start with a well-thought-out plan. We rented a car to explore the area beyond where we had been walking and riding the local transit bus. We wanted to go somewhere to hike in the 48,000-acre Jackson Demonstration State Forest, the largest of CAL FIRE’s ten demonstration state forests. These forests areContinue reading “Unexpected Adventures Make Better Stories”

Entering a new harbor is always a bit hair-raising in a sailboat, with water depth a primary concern. Harbors like Fort Bragg that are at the mouth of a river, fight a continual battle with sediment to keep sufficient depth for boats to safely enter and berth. Sean is Adventure’s captain, course plotter, and linesmanContinue reading “Entering Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg”

At 6 a.m. we left the safety of our slip in Marina Bay Richmond, California. As we were nearing the end of the very narrow channel, we saw the ferry to San Francisco barreling toward us. We knew they docked on side of the channel to our right, so I hugged the left side ofContinue reading “Leaving the Gate”