Coos Bay, Oregon

Photos:
1. The coastline is really rugged with rock formations like this all along the way.
2. Cape Blanco! The last of the big capes we have to worry about on the trip up.
3. Coos Bay is a very picturesque town with a nice lighthouse. Hopefully we’ll have time on the way down to stop for more than about 8 hours!

Two boring days in a row! I got underway about 4am in order to try and round Cape Blanco by noon since the afternoon winds have been generally kicking up and Cape Blanco is notorious for that. It is also the last of the major capes/points that we’ll have to round on the way up to Seattle (except for Cape Flattery into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca). After almost 700 miles of coastline with one of these capes or points every 100 miles or less you can see why weather delays occurred!
Anyway, the day started a bit rolly but by the time I got to Cape Blanco there was virtually no swell and only a light chop. It was kind of hazy and I couldn’t take the time to find the telephoto lens so the photos I got are a little hard to see but at least it was calm enough for me to take pictures!
I'm getting pretty good at singlehanded docking at strange docks. I had called ahead and they told me I would have a starboard side tie up. This is important since I have to both drive the boat and get all of the lines and fenders ready to go so I can just pull up to the dock and jump off and tie up the boat before it goes anywhere. Unfortunately, when I got there (with lines and fenders all ready to go) I found that there was no way I could fit in the dock they wanted me to use. It was way too short and the water was too cold for swimming. So I went over to the commercial transient dock but everything there was side tied with a port side tie up. Not wanting to flail around with lines and fenders with the wind blowing in tight quarters, I elected to spin the boat and slide it in to a spot that was about 20' longer than my boat (10' fore and aft clearance). I LOVE my thrusters! I basically got it lined up and then just shoved it sideways into place with the thrusters. Since these are hydraulic thrusters I don't have to worry about overheating them (like you do with electric thrusters).
Once I was tied up the dockmaster came down to take my whopping $19 overnight fee (includes electric service). Very nice and helpful guy.
Tomorrow is supposed to be just as nice for the run up to Newport. If I can make it there I’ll leave the boat for about a week and fly home for a business trip and to pick up the Admiral for our return on the 28th!