Shrill waters run steep

MIKE WHITEHEAD

Ahoy.

I’m off again on more high-seas adventures along the entire

Pacific Coast, and this time of year the weather is highly

unpredictable for boating.

The voyages start this weekend immediately after my radio show,

when Chandler Bell and I leave to Mexico to take command of a Carver

444. We will deliver this new yacht to its new home port in Newport

Harbor. Sea predictions earlier in the week were showing seas as high

as 6 feet, and now the predictions are revised for hopefully half

that height, but the outer waters have small-craft advisories that we

will encounter along the Mexican coastline.

Then, I will reverse the direction aboard another new yacht with

the excited owner from Newport to Mexico.

This cruise is scheduled on the day after Thanksgiving, which is

the day that signals the release of holiday shoppers, and it’s the

time to start decorating your boat.

In the first part of December, I am planning a yacht delivery from

Newport Beach to Alameda in the Bay Area. December is a very tricky

time to be heading north on the open Pacific Ocean, especially

rounding the infamous Point Conception that I write about often -- or

not often enough.

Point Conception is the reason why I am delivering this yacht for

the owner. The experienced boat owner has personally encountered the

thrills of Conception, and he swore never to see his life flash

before his eyes again. Hmm, then why am I going?

Lastly, I have had a call to deliver a yacht from Vancouver,

Canada, to San Francisco in the first part of December, too. It’s a

very difficult time of year to be coming down from the Pacific

Northwest with all the storm systems brewing in the Gulf of Alaska.

There are miles and miles of coastline between the Strait of Juan

De Fuca and the safe harbors in Oregon and California.

As I look at current conditions inside the strait, there are gale

warnings posted that are typical at this time of year. However, when

I read the conditions out in the Pacific Ocean past Cape Flattery,

the winds are gusting to 35 knots with combined seas of 13 feet.

The major dilemma of cruising down the coast when the seas are so

big is that most of Oregon’s harbors are unapproachable because of

breaking entrance bars and strong currents, so that you cannot tuck

in for safety or fuel.

TIP OF THE WEEK

I cannot emphasize enough that it is now lobster season, so

several buoys are floating in the ocean. Outside every Southern

California harbor’s jetty entrances are lobster cages with their

marker buoys floating on the surface.

Also, within a couple of miles along the coastline, there will be

hundreds of floating marker buoys.

If entering or leaving Newport Harbor, I recommend navigating a

straight course between the offshore mid-channel buoy and the mouth

of the harbor, and do not cut the jetty’s corners, especially at

dark.

After a storm or heavy seas, pay closer attention to the locations

of the floats, as the floats can move directly in front of the

harbor’s entrances.

So, as always, keep a good lookout, as I’m sure you always do.

And, no, it will be hard to see the floats on your radar.

“Live” in the radio studio Saturday will be Ray Tsuneyoshi,

director of California’s Department of Boating and Waterways. So tune

into “Capt. Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show,” the No. 1 boating

talk radio show in the nation, every Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. on

KCBQ-AM (1170). You can join me, Bell and Eric Hovland by calling the

listener line at (888) 344-1170. You can also listen live worldwide

via the Internet at https://www.Boathouse

Radio.com.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send

him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by

e-mail to [email protected] or visit https://www.boat

housetv.com.