How late in the year can I sail north in California?

[paulcrubaugh]

Hey All,
I am buying my Grandfathers 29' Ericson in Long Beach and I might want to sail it back to Santa Cruz. I would not be able to do so before november. Is it possible to do this late in the year if i kept a good watch on the weather? Or do I have to wait until spring?

Thanks!

[sailtimeci]

The pat answer would be "it all depends". Part of the equation would be, where do live? North or South? The other part of the equation would be how long has the boat sat idle. Its possible that an old boat would need new standing rigging among other things for a passage such as that.

We have just had our first "winter" storm. Does that mean the season is early as we are going to see a regular winter pattern of a week of bad weather followed by a few days of good and so on? Hard to say yet.

For me the big question would be, are you prepared to bail on the passage and head for shelter where you might have to wait it out days or weeks? In Ventura and again in Santa Barbara and again in Morro Bay, etc ?

Finally chances are very good you may be motoring much of the time into seas and wind. Is the engine something you can rely on? Especially if things get real ugly and your life depends on it?

I have had friends get absolutely creamed in large sailboats on delivery as well as friends in small boats make it through. This is a trip that if done with benign conditions could be done in 5-7 days with stops at Ventura, SB, MB, Monterey. it could also take a month of stopping and starting.

OTH. the spring could be no walk in the park either... its going to be a bash any way you look at it.

[KeelHaulin]

Are you a slipholder in Santa Cruz? If not; you need to determine if you can park your boat north of the bridge (tabernacle mast) because the wait list for a slip south of the bridge is ~20 years. Other options are berthing in at Half Moon Bay or at Moss Landing.

I'd say you probably need a good bit of time spent refitting the boat since it was owned by a now elderly man; unless he spent the time/effort keeping the boat in excellent repair. Southern California sailing is quite benign on most days by comparison to sailing north of Pt Conception; so many boats sail in a lower state of preparedness just fine because they are not put under as much stress until getting into the direct NW winds and swell.

I'd say that if you are in need of a haul-out and re-rig you might as well ship the boat north via Truck transit if you can afford to. If you can't it might be a good time to dry store the boat for the winter and take some time to go through her systems and make sure it is ready to set sail late spring or early summer (but there are still heavy conditions along the coast depending on where the high and low pressure is).