We arrived back in Prince Rupert from our UK visit with the prospect of getting back to making ocean passages. Since arriving in Canada after our epic trip from Panama, we had only done one overnight sail.

Our voyage would involve escaping the BC coast, out through the Dixon Entrance, then heading south past Haida Gwaii, Vancouver Island and the US coasts of Washington and Oregon. Sadly our watermaker still had its high pressure pump in the UK and having filled our tank in Prince Rupert we would need to keep an eye on consumption until our arrival in San Francisco. Apart from this all was prepared on Amelie and we were fully provisioned for a good passage.

We’re saying goodbye to the Bald Eagles of Prince Rupert and we tested out our new Nikon Camera with a 60x zoom.

To escape through the Dixon Entrance we chose a day of very light winds which would mean motoring. Despite the lack of wind, which if we had any, would have been on the nose, the sea conditions were not kind and tested our ability to stow everything to prevent it from being thrown around. Having left at day break by midnight we were finally able to switch off the engine and start to turn south with a reasonable breeze coming in from the South East. Apart from motoring through the odd sail change we’d been blessed with enough wind that we wouldn’t be using the engine again until we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. We quickly got into our watch system with help from the jet-lag. Our regime involved two meals a day, a wholesome breakfast and then a main meal around 18.00, with the Skipper having his two “Happy Hours” daily. Debbie becomes teetotal during passages.

For the first week the wind was coming from the SE or SW and since we were wanting to head south our progress was steady rather than spectacular. Finally the wind went to the North and we were able to hoist our twin yankees (barn doors) and for the next three days we made comfortable and rapid progress towards San Francisco. Debbie had been keeping notes of the passage and on the ninth day was commenting how kindly the seas had been, despite its name the Pacific is not always peaceful. Unfortunately this was a portent for the ocean to have the last laugh. By 9pm on our last night at sea the yankee had gone away, the stay sail had gone away, we had four reefs in the main and with the wind gusting 40kts. we were averaging 8kts over the water. We had for the trip experienced a SW swell and this final blow from the NW brought a cross sea that added to the excitement of our rapid progress. It was with relief that around 3am we rounded Point Reyes to cross Drake’s Bay in moderate wind and sea. In the end our timing was perfect as we ducked under the Golden Gate Bridge just as the sun was rising. The feeling was unbelievable with music blaring from the cockpit speakers, sipping a little alcohol to celebrate and massive smiles. A Pelican flypast and some porpoises playing in Amelie’s bow wave……what a welcome.

The day before our arrival the Skipper had put the call in to the US customs and Border control for instructions on clearing in to the USA. We followed those instructions and tied up at the public dock in Jack London area before taking a cab to Customs and Immigration. The staff who manned the nautical section could not have been more helpful and friendly. We duly paid for our cruising permit and dealt with the other paperwork. We were legally in the USA. We returned to Amelie and motored across the Bay to Clipper Yacht harbour in Sausalito, our passage was done and we could now relax.

San Francisco here we come.