Wednesday Morning March 15th, Crossing the Bar at Eureka into Humboldt Bay

Read Part Three HERE.

I awoke just as I was skidding out of my berth and into space. I grabbed the edge of the trim above me before I crashed to the floor. We were rolling in twenty foot swells. Shauna cursed as a dozen eggs leapt out of their bowl splattering all over the galley. Because of the storm’s strong southerly winds we had arrived off the coast at Eureka full day ahead of schedule. Just ahead of us was the shelter of Humboldt Bay. But first we had to cross over the bar of sand that guarded the harbor entrance, the graveyard of many ships.

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Tuesday Morning, March 15th, Sailing on the open sea.

Read Part Two HERE.

I was jolted awake by the chief engineer, flying shards of his coffee mug and a wave of seawater all crashing down the galley ladder in a jumble. It was raining hard and the ship was rocking in ten to fifteen foot swells. All was wet and slippery. Shauna, the cook, had made breakfast in between bouts of seasickness. The good news was that theses gusty winds and giant waves from the south meant we were sailing fast! At this rate we’d reach Eureka well ahead of schedule.

There had been no cell phone reception because we were so far from land, but in the middle of the night I had received a burst of text messages and emails. One spam message, "Morning Psalm 34" said, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” I paused. It was easy to understand why sailors of old were either superstitious, religious or both; you need somebody by your side in the stormy sea. Suddenly, our fog-horn bellowed. I saved the email and climbed the ladder to the deck.

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