October 2, 2014 - Fort Bragg CA

We spent several days in Fort Bragg waiting for a weather system to pass.  It is an old fishing village and fishing still rules.  Jerry, the harbormaster, is great.  Very friendly and helpful.  The marina is across the Noyo River from town so we got out our trusty bikes and rode over the bridge and into town.  The bridge is new, just built in 2005 when the 50 year old bridge was deemed unsafe in an earthquake.  The new bridge has great pedestrian walkways on each side.  It was very safe.  There were also bike lanes all the way to town, although Cindy and Kevin would rather ride on the sidewalks and jump the little driveway bumps on their bikes.

The Noyo River entrance to Fort Bragg.  Very narrow and interesting.

The "old-town" district has a bunch of cute shops, and places to eat.  We explored for a while and then continued our ride, heading back over the bridge to a nice trail system along the cliffs.  The views were spectacular.  We could also see why we were tied to a dock on the marina.  The winds had kicked up as forecast, and the sea would not have been much fun today.  Small craft advisories had been issued, and on the ocean you take those seriously.

Great Views from the trail atop the ocean cliffs.

The seas were far rougher than when we came in yesterday.  Today the winds are
b;lowing 20+ knots and the seas have grown quite a bit.  This is why we are in Fort Bragg
on our bikes!

Beautiful weather for a bike ride.  Sunny and warm.

There were quite a few deer on the ride along the cliffs and we stopped a few times to look at them.  There is a very nice market at the top of the hill just above the marina we are staying in.  So, we stopped and loaded our backpacks with some necessities.

While at the dock the kids continued home schooling.  We are managing to keep on schedule so far, but at times it is tough.  Being underway can at times make school work very tough.  Cindy is a little prone to motion sickness while reading, something we learned in road trips to Idaho.  Home-school involves a lot of reading.  When the situation allows we try to get a little ahead with home-school so we can spend more of the day out exploring when in a port.

There were several more bike rides during our stay.  On one we headed to a miniature golf place we saw on our first ride.  We had a little trouble finding it, and when we did finally get there we found out that it was their day off.  The place was closed.  Oh well.  We stopped at the market again, and also next door to pick up a few Pappa Murphy's pizzas for dinner.

Riding the cliff-top trail along the coast.

Interesting name for this scenic ocean viewpoint

I (Steve) worked on our bikes, fixing several issues with all 4 bikes.  My new bike is still having trouble shifting the front derailleur, but the rest of it is great.   We are debating if we want to sell the bikes in San Diego, as they may not be of much use in Mexico (compared to the US).  In Mexico there are not the great bike paths we have here, they will be a big target for thieves, and they take up a lot of room on the boat deck, making access to our kayaks very tough.  But, the bikes have been such a benefit so far, we may keep them on-board hoping they continue to get the constant use they have received so far.  They have really made life in port much more interesting.

We have not had internet access in Fort Bragg, other than my AT&T cell phone.  No Verizon signal for our jetpack, and no wifi.  As with most American's these days, we have grown accustomed to having the internet all the time.  When it's gone it seems very strange.  Once in Mexico we will have NO internet access the majority of the time.   So, we need to start getting used to this change.  Blog updates will be far less frequent in Mexico.