sailing trip gone bad

I was looking forward to a chill weekend of sailing and ended up soaking wet and freezing cold on a beach in Moss Landing, CA. We set sail for Moss Landing on Saturday around 2pm and arrived around 6pm. It rained and was very foggy throughout the trip, so we motored the whole way. We had to navigate using only our GPS devices near the end. We thought the difficult part of the trip was behind us when we set out on Sunday heading to Santa Cruz. When we turned the corner heading out to sea from the harbor, we could see the big swells but decided to head out anyway. We got out to the channel marker when we decided to turn back. Wind gusts were around 35-40 knots (46mph) and swells probably 15-20feet. We were handling the conditions fine until the engine died. Due to the high winds and waves, and lack of preparation for engine failure, our sails were not ready to be hoisted. While trying to raise the sails, more problems kept happening with the lines tangling. We we tossed an anchor - it didn’t hold. We were sitting ducks. Luckily we were washed onto the beach rather than the rocks nearby. When we were hitting the beach, the boat was about to flip, so 3 of us said fuck it and jumped out. It didn’t flip and no one was injured. The boat took on alot of water, has a busted rudder, and maybe some holes in the bottom from the salvage company dragging it across the beach. I lost my laptop, hat, shades, iphone and a bunch of other shit. :( I learned quite a few lessons from this trip and can’t wait to get out there again!

SPECIAL THANKS to everyone who helped out and offered to help and for the amazing hospitality from all the folks at the Elkhorn Yacht Club!

News Coverage:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27635104/
http://www.kcba.com/Global/story.asp?S=9319302

My Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gerardramos/sets/72157608804889822/

UPDATE:
News Footage: http://www.ksbw.com/video/17944414/index.html