7.30pm Thursday 13th July 2017
Approaching Pt Sur, 13 miles off, Santa Cruz 40 miles further north in Monterey Bay. High, barren mountains, dropping steeply to the coast, can be seen through the mist, catching the slanting rays of the setting sun, now that the low cloud layer has lifted and broken a little.
The 'Cape Effect' is at work again, giving winds up to 20 kt and choppy seas to match - it's slamming into the chop over the big swell that slows us down so much - and makes it very uncomfortable onboard, also.
We're struggling to make as much as 3 knots over the ground... so it will be slow going until after the Pt has been rounded - very much like the approach to Pt Arguello from Pt Conception yesterday evening.
At this rate, with a slight ebb tide aginst us not helping for the next three hours, it could take 5 hours or more of pounding into the waves to get around - speed keeps dropping to 2kt or less and then taking time to recover.... and the wind could get stronger....
The weather forecast shows an easing of conditions overnight close to the coast - but I'm sure that will only be true once this 'Cape' has been rounded. Winds are expected to get up again over the day and then ease again in the evening. Difficult to say how much distance we'll have made by then.
"It is what it is!"