White chalk-looking cliffs curving round a wide bight that is the only real shelter for 40 miles, with elephant seals and…White chalk-looking cliffs curving round a wide bight that is the only real shelter for 40 miles, with elephant seals and harbour seals along the shore, grey whales passing outside in season, and the fog rolling over the headland behind. Drake is thought to have careened the Golden Hind somewhere in this bay in 1579, which is why it carries his name, though exactly where is still argued. The Point Reyes peninsula has since become a National Seashore, and the point's lighthouse sits on the windiest headland on the coast. Anchorage: Anchor in 8-12m on sand behind the point, tucked as far up under the cliffs as soundings allow. Leave if the wind goes into the south, and do not plan to sit here through a front. Hazards: The only shelter on this coast between San Francisco and Bodega, and it is one-sided, a southerly turns it into a trap. Fog is near-permanent in summer and the point itself is one of the windiest places on the Pacific coast. Meer