Crescent City | Sudden Inspiration

September 30, 2021

A storm picked up off the coast and therefore we’ve planned to spend a few days in Crescent City. That will give us some time to explore. It will also give me time to take a flight up to Seattle for the weekend and attend the Queen City Commodore’s ball.

Our friends Gary and Noelle from Illimite recommended an activity. Renting bikes and going to the Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park. The company, Redwood Rides, dropped off some bikes around 11 AM and we rode towards the park.

The hill leading into the park was a killer and we ended up walking most of it. Once in the park, the views were gorgeous. The road was narrow and wound thru the trees. We rode in as far as the Boy Scout Tree Trail. That was about 5 miles from the marina.

After a bit of lunch, we decided to hike the trail. The trail said it was 2.8 miles and ended in a waterfall. Hmm, it was actually 3.2 and ended in a trickle that came down a rock. I guess I was spoiled by all the huge waterfalls in Canada and Alaska. Almost to the end of the trail is the actual Boy Scout Tree. The tree is ginormous. The hike was worth it just for the trees and scenery.

Once back from hiking, we remounted the bikes and headed back. The return trip thru the park was not as bad for elevation but still a challenge. On the huge hill down out of the park Steve lost brakes and it took us a bit of time to get back. He has a lot less tread on his shoes.

Overall, a fun day!

September 29, 2021

We were up bright and early. The weather, and more importantly the wave forecast, was favorable for the time window we needed to get down to Crescent City. Steve and I decided we needed to scope out the bar conditions in person. High tide was at 8 am so we headed out to look at the bar conditions about 7. The conditions were a lot better than the days previous. There were still breaking waves but only about 3-4 foot instead of the previous 6-8 foot. From what the locals had said, it was about the best we could expect. We decided it was a go.

Back on the boat we started up and started to prepare. We were all a little nervous. Breaking waves are not optimal in any situation. About 7:45 we couldn’t take the wait any longer and slowly headed out.

Following the path we were told was best, we navigated out the shallow channel and around the sand bar. There is an area seaward of the sand bar that allows for hovering and watching the waves. We tried to pick a good window and it was time. Barbara was rear watch, and I was up helping Steve navigate around the shallow water and waves. In the middle of the bar, we took a good breaking wave on the bow. Steve had turned into it and it pitched us up pretty good. Everything on the boat was thrown around. Another breaker came in right behind, but it wasn’t as bad as the first but still enough to throw us around, then there was a break, Steve throttled up and we headed out at max speed. We took about 4 more really big waves before safely escaping the bar. Phew…

Barbara informed us that the Pamplemousse bottle had wedged itself between the TV and the other liquor and saved them from escaping. The only damage reported was a couple of wine glasses in the cabinet. Pretty good for movement we had.

The rest of the trip down was relatively calm and we arrived in Crescent City shortly after 2 PM. We met up with Gary and Noelle from S/V Illimite and they said we should join them for dinner. After a nice relaxing afternoon, we headed out to the local restaurant the Chart Room. More shrimp cocktail for me!