Our first stop after SF Bay was Pillar Point Harbor, a well-protected anchorage and marina at the north end of Half Moon Bay, just around the corner from the famous Mavericks breakers. We didn’t have enough wind for sailing until we were almost at our destination so we motored the whole 5+ hours from San Francisco. Coming towards the harbor, the reefs are well-marked and charted. Upon entering the harbor, we were surrounded by thousands of pelicans atop the inner and outer rock breakwaters. We learned later that the many of the pelicans were on an annual migration north from the Channel Islands. At one point a helicopter passed overhead and all the pelicans were disturbed into flight resulting in bombardment of our boat with pelican droppings. Because the wind picked up before we entered the marina the anchorage was looking a bit rolly so we weren’t sure we’d want to go to shore in our flat-bottomed dinghy across the choppy waves generated by the wind.

We called the harbor master to get a slip assignment in the inner marina area. They make open slips available for transient boats and there’s not huge demand this time of year. While waiting to hear back we motored past two other Coho Ho Ho boats that were already anchored inside the harbor: s/v Maya and s/v Priya. Priya arrived in Pillar Point since a couple days before we arrived in SF bay. We learned from Priya that the chop we saw that afternoon was pretty unusual and that it was generally pretty calm there during September. So if we came again, we’d probably just drop anchor unless we were eager to be tied up to the docks for some reason. Another Coho boat, s/v Que Vendra, was already in the marina just down the dock from us. All four Coho boats met up in Que Vendra’s cockpit later in the evening. Maya and Que Vendra left for Monterey the next morning.

Pillar Point harbor gives you access to lots of coastal walking trails including a four mile (or more) path to downtown Half Moon Bay and a San Mateo County bus system to get you back if you don’t want to double your walk. Walking in the other direction from the harbor takes you up the cliff and past a nice nature preserve and allows you to keep walking north toward another small seaside town.

Going to Half Moon Bay proper isn’t even necessary to enjoy yourself (that’s not to say we didn’t enjoy food and beers in Half Moon Bay at Sacrilege Brewery & Kitchen after a long foggy walk there one afternoon). While Half Moon Bay Brewing used to be the main pub draw near Pillar Point Harbor, there is now the much tastier Hop Dogma brewery and a fancy (though somewhat pricey) craft distillery with fancy cocktails served in an “outdoor day drinking lounge”. For groceries, good quality food and beer can be found at Spangler’s Market (produce was pricey… if you want good prices on produce wait until you get to Santa Cruz and can benefit from local area farms of Watsonville). In tiny El Granada near Pillar Point, one can also have amazing barbecue at Breakwater Barbecue (which has great Bay Area micro-brewery beers on tap – I had a pint from Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing).

Pillar Point Harbor is a very active fishing port with many fishermen selling cheap whole fish and seafood right from their boats. On the weekend, families from all over the Bay Area came in to buy seafood at low low prices and just enjoy the area. Other people came in to bird watch or go out kayaking. Really a crazy scene with huge lines at all three seafood restaurants near the harbor parking. It was comparatively dead on the weekdays.

Hop Dogma was in a new-ish mall-like building that also hosted a saltwater taffy store and two different Latin American style seafood restaurants. We got a paella-like seafood dish and a super generous serving of guacamole to-go from the Peruvian restaurant to enjoy with our beers at Hop Dogma. We didn’t end up buying any fish from any of the fishing boats. I decided I didn’t want to turn on the freezer just to freeze the amount of fish that buying a whole 10 pound or larger fish would entail. Priya’s owner reported that one time he got to buy fresh sea urchin. That would be a real treat and interesting to prepare (as opposed to receiving it on rice or fried shiso leaf as we had at favorite Seattle sushi spots). While we were there we only saw albacore, salmon and rock crab for sale.

I can see why s/v Priya chose to stay here for so long. We definitely want to return some day but it was off to Santa Cruz on October 4th. Stay tuned for updates on our visit there!