I'm glad your trip up was good. My trip in 2004 from Morro Bay to Monterey with a dubious boat and non-functional engine was utterly miserable. It blew like hell every night and was glassy all day, except for the last day, which was dead calm all day long.. I remember getting around Point Sur, about 6 miles out, literally from the kinetics of the incredibly steep waves thrashing the boat around. This went on ALL DAY long, *WHAM, WHAM* and then about an hour before sundown, completely died away to millpond-smooth, leaving me about three-four miles off of Bixby Creek Bridge in water too deep to anchor.
At that point...it had been four days getting alternatively hammered and then sitting going nowhere....I called Vessel Assist and got towed into Monterey. That cost me over $1,000 but I had reached the end of my rope.
ALL of the above would have been very, very different if I'd had an engine I could rely upon. I tried, I tried very hard to get the boat ready for this, but engines aren't my strong point and I didn't know that it was a short in the alternator that was draining my batteries in 24-30 hours. Anyway, this is a bit off topic, and pardon my rambling. My two cents? Unless you are a very, very patient person don't try this trip without a solid engine and inronclad electrical system. Also stay OUT, at least 10 miles out.
1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"