A night on the Pacific

Leaving Makah marina
Coming into Greys HarborThis is what 5 miles off shore looks likeThis morning in Greys Harbor


I’m sitting at the jetty's in Greys Harbor Washington, it’s 7:30 in the morning and I’ve just had some coffee and a wonderful raspberry fritter.There is a thick blanket of fog covering the harbor and visibility is next to nothing.Marvin and I sailed 32 hours to travel the hundred plus miles to get here.We left Makah marina at 6:00 am Monday morning with thick fog and calm waters headed for the end of the straight and south into the Pacific ocean

It took about two hours to get around Tatoshe Island and a few dangerous rocks that line the shore in these parts.We kept a steady southwest course to keep far enough away from the coast and by mid afternoon the wind picked up and away we went.The wind stayed fairly strong until late afternoon, then it gradually died out. It was now apparent that we would not reach our planed destination and would be spending the night at sea. By 8:00 p.m. we were a good 10 miles off shore and the wind all but died. As darkness came upon us I took over the helm for the first watch. Marvin would get some much needed sleep and relieve me at 12:30 a.m.
As the light faded out my only reference to land was a small town with a few lights I could see in the very distance.I was huddled in a sleeping bag armed with a hand held GPS unit and tried to hold a steady course.Talk about eerie…Marvin was now sound asleep and it was just me and the pacific ocean, a light wind, some fog, and these little sea birds who seemed to be laughing at me.Already exhausted from the days sail I was fighting off the urge to fall asleep and keep my barrings straight.That’s when the delusion set in. My mind began playing tricks on me.What little wind I had seemed to be changing directions and keeping a steady course was becoming more and more difficult.The boat spun around and very soon I didn’t know what direction I was headed.I could still make out some lights on the shore but now they were on the wrong side of me. Just when I would get the boat back in the right direction,she would spin around and once again I wouldn’t know what the fuck was going on. I started changing the sails around because of the changing winds and pretty soon panic set in. Marvin called out from inside the boat if I was alright, and I sheepishly replied yeah. But I was now at the mercy of the mighty Pacific.Two hours into my night watch I was at the end of my rope. This was some scary shit. Marvin finally emerged from his sleeping quarters and took over the helm . I was spent emotionally and physically.
The boat spun Marvin around a couple more times before he got his barrings straight, which made me feel less incompetent.None the less I was happy he took over and I could finally get some sleep. At about 3:30 in the morning after some sleep I emerged to take over the helm to discover we were now much further from shore. Marvin looked like a weary sailor ready for a break. Night time at sea is lonely and scary. It wears on you.With the fading darkness my confidence grew but was kept at bay with the with the though of Destruction Island somewhere out there and I needed to avoid it. We were now motoring along at about three miles an hour with no wind and it was boring knowing what its like to be humming along with the wind. Marvin relieved me about 8:00 a.m. and I headed straight for bed.Two and half hours later I relieved Marvin to find out we were even further off shore.What the *%#? I thought where is he taking us? For the next six hours we motored along with no wind and moral was low. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon the wind finally picked up, and picked up it did. By 4:00 p.m. it was a steady 20 knots and we were cruising along nicely. We still had a long 40 mile sail ahead of us to make it to Greys Harbor, but the wind stayed strong and we made good time and it eventually blew us right into the marina, and by 8:00 p.m. we were dock and ready to get some much needed food. Finally we could get back to joking around and reveling in the experience we had just gone through.It took us 32 hours to get from dock to dock and it was quite an adventure.We found an expensive restaurant at the marina and had a couple of beers and some fresh seafood pasta, and were happy to be back on solid ground. At 10:30 it was lights out and we were down for the count.