We pulled out of Grays Harbor at dawn. It was a rather rough ride as we were taking quartering/beam seas as we headed west to get into deeper water. We headed out about 4 miles and then turned southwest. Following seas of about 4 to 6' and 2' of wind waves stayed with us for quite a while. Things calmed down a little on both sides of the Columbia River effect. It was pretty amazing that the river still had influence on the Pacific 5 to 7 miles out. The autopilot could handle it and we let it.

The seas picked up a little more with swells to 6 to 8 feet for the last hour into Newport. We turned the AP off, and Gary expertly guided us across the bar as Newport is as close to a home port as he has ever had. Sadly, this is one bar crossing that was exciting enough on the way to the bar that I didn't have time to remember or find my camera.

We quickly fueled up paying almost less than a dollar. We motored over to our slip to clean the ship up a bit and check the forecast. Weatherguy told us that his forecast was for the winds to die down around midnight and then stay down until about 11AM when they would pick up and start creating wind waves from the southwest above two feet which would have been a hell of a ride. Basically he was forecasting the low to not get onshore in California and be in our way. He advised that we head for Coos Bay and layover there. We decided that we would just go at first light and make a decision about whether we were stopping at Coos Bay from the water. This was the low point of the trip for the crew.

Gary and I took a cab around the booming metropolis of Newport to find some supplies. We needed a bicycle pump to add air to the hynautic steering and a pair of powered speakers as we had toasted the 110v amp in the salon due to a sea spray leak. The mission was accomplished, but no internet access or Cingular cellphone access was available - and hence these updates coming after the fact. It turns out that in almost every port we stopped in Cingular did not work, but Gary's Verizon phone was always loved and worked nicely offshore through my Shakespeare antenna.

After Gary and I got back and the crew had completed a quick wash, we saddled off to the Rogue Brewery. It was amazing that there was this excellent Microbrewery 100 feet away from the boat... They had a little restaurant in the brewery as well as a true bar, so we partook of fine barley and hops. I do believe we even sampled the Dead Man's Ale. Back to the boat for much needed sleep and a plan to get going at first light.