PASSIN' THROUGH — L
ike so many great West Coast migrations, this time of year sees flocks, pods and gaggles of cruisers making their way from the Pacific Northwest, passin' through the Bay Area, and heading south for warmer latitudes. No small number of these transient sailors have their eye on a late-October arrival in San Diego for the start of the Silver Anniversary Baja Ha-Ha, and no small number are catamarans — a record number this year. It's always a pleasure to catch a cruiser tied up at one of our local docks. Here are a few people we've met over the last couple of weeks. Salish Dragon "In June, we quit our jobs, headed out and turned left. We don't know when we're coming back," said Steve and Tracey Dolling. We met the Vancouver couple in early September during our Crew List Party at Spaulding Marine Center in Sausalito — they were headed for Half Moon Bay the next day aboard their Manta 40 catamaran Salish Dragon. "It's good to be here; it's cool, though.
BOTH PHOTOS SALISH DRAGON
Tracey and Steve Dolling take a selfie in Alaska; below: 'Salish Dragon'.
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Latitude 38
• October, 2018
We're waiting to get the point where we can wear shorts. We're going to figure it out as we go. We really enjoy Mexico, and may find ourselves spending three or four seasons there." The Dollings are on their way to do their second Ha-Ha; their first was in 2009, when the couple — along with their 11-year-old son — decided to take a year off and sail south on their Catalina 34, eventually joining the cruisers' rally. "It was a great way to meet people and meet other kid boats. We have friends we met back then who've been all across the Pacific and New Zealand. "But it was a rough year," Steve said. "I think the roughest in history." (That was the same year that the J/120 J/ World collided with a whale, and sank). "We made our little Catalina do 12 or 14 knots," Steve said, adding that such rough conditions bred confidence for future cruising, and this next HaHa. "Because '09 had such bad weather, it kind of gives us comfort because it wasn't that bad. And this time, we get to enjoy it more. It's sort of nice knowing what to expect." Steve and Tracey said that the cruising grounds of the Pacific Northwest are dramatically different from what they've found on their southerly trek. "In British Columbia, there's a lot of islands close together. We would go by more anchorages within 50 miles of our marina in Vancouver than there are on the entire West Coast." The Dollings said that they were a bit taken aback by the shallow depths of the Bay Area. "When we were sailing across San Francisco Bay in 12 or 15 feet of water; that would be high and dry on a low tide where we're from. We're used to fjords that are thousands of feet deep. It's a different way of thinking here." Last year, Steve and Tracey did a shakedown cruise in Alaska with their new cat. They said the spectacular cruising became almost mundane."One
morning, I woke up, went out on deck, and there was a humpback whale 50 yards off the boat," said Steve. "There were also sea otters and a salmon jumping — all in one scene. But I didn't even bother to call Tracey, because there was nothing new there. It was all the time, every day." The Dollings said they especially enjoyed their time here at latitude 38. "When we first read about the entrance to the Bay, we were mildly terrified," Steve said. "We heard there was fog, wind and lots of traffic. But when we actually arrived, it was sunny and there were no ships. We sailed under the Golden Gate with the spinnaker. And we've found that wherever we go — if you're patient. It's never as bad as you think in your imagination." The Dollings especially liked Fort Bragg. "It's the coolest port on the West Coast; the waterfront, the little buildings on the pilings, and the entrance is just spectacular," Steve said. While in Fort Bragg, the Dollings had an epiphany about the cruising life after pushing a cart full of their clothes back to the marina from the laundromat. "I tell people that we're homeless and unemployed," Tracey said. "The other way to say it is that we quit our jobs and moved onto a yacht," Steve joked. Big City Fish Rick and Linda Falder's plans to sail south this fall changed — or were annoyingly delayed — when someone ran into Big City Fish, their Leopard 43 catamaran, while she was at the dock in Seattle. "We were gonna have the boat ready to go in the springtime, but the refit took longer than we thought. And then someone hit us." This will be the Falders' first-ever Ha-Ha. "It seemed like a fun way to get from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas," Rick said. "I'm really curious. I've never participated in anything like this. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of people." Following the Ha-Ha, the Falders plan on cruising the Sea of Cortez, heading to La Paz for Thanksgiving, and ending up in Puerto Vallarta in February, though Rick was careful to say that they hope to
