Half Moon Bay, Calfornia

We were able to leave Alameda today, early this morning in a cold, heavy fog. It never quite left us as we made the 35 nautical mile trip to Half Moon Bay. We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge but could barely see it at all! The sea, once we hit the Pacific waters, was as benign as it could possibly be. I had my Scope patch on and my wrist bracelets (all for sea sickness). Max, too. Ben got a little sick but mostly we all just turned the boat over to Marcus (who never gets sea sick!), put on our foul weather gear and hunkered down. Mercifully, Samey slept below for the entire 6 hour trip which meant that I was able to stay above, eyes closed, and even slept for most of it, too! In this way, I avoided feeling sick much at all and the time passed quickly. I find if I keep my eyes closed, I really do better. And being above deck is key! The fog shrouded the harbor at Half Moon Bay still as we approached. The stench of the fish factory and hundreds of pelicans and seagulls along the sea wall was quite overpowering, as were the thousands of black flies that stuck to us as we grabbed a mooring ball and got settled. We took the dingy over to the marina and went for a walk to get away from them! Unfortunately, the cute little town of Half Moon Bay is 4 miles away so we just explored the shops and restaurants near the marina. And, did I mention?, were able to get away from the horrible flies. Max found some flip flops (not easy to walk into a store that sells men's size 14 shoes!!) and this surfing store even had choices for him! And we decided to eat at a restaurant near the marina as eating covered with flies was so unappealing to us all. The food was excellent!! I had a ceviche salad that was incredible. We all decided we did not want to stay very long here. The flies were gone by the time we returned from our excursion. Cold here. And foggy. The eery fog horn blows every 30 seconds. I tire of the lonely sound. Tomorrow, we head to Santa Cruz.