At anchor in Drakes Bay

Date Sept 15, Time 12:45pm
38° 00' N 122° 58' W <Link: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38+00.59+-122+58.09>
Wind speed SPEED / wind dir DIR, Sea State STATE, Heading HEADING, Speed SPEED
Barometer 1014, Water Temp 53.6, Sky Partly sunny, was fog
Log 1479.8, Engine Hours 1218.9, Batteries %100
Sail Plan: at anchor
I'm currently at anchor in Drakes Bay. Its a large bay 20 miles north of San Fran which gives protection from NW winds. Not a lot here - just lots of room for anchoring. But I'm in California! The landscape is definitely different. If anybody knows Point Reyes - this is the Bay just South of Point Reyes (its a famous computer graphics image from long long ago.)
So…I'll keep this pretty short as I need to eat quickly and then sleep slowly.
This is the weather forecast I received from SailDocs for the area I was transiting:
PZZ570-142230-
POINT ARENA TO PIGEON POINT 10 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE-
851 AM PDT WED SEP 14 2011
.SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...
TODAY...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
MIXED SWELL NW 4 TO 6 FT AT 12 SECONDS AND SW 3 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
PATCHY FOG.
TONIGHT...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
NW SWELL 5 TO 6 FT AT 11 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG.
THU...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
NW SWELL 6 TO 8 FT AT 9 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG.
It turned out that the winds I was sailing in were 25 to 35 knots with correspondingly larger wind waves. I saw gusts up to 37 with lots of 36's in there. I saw waves that were above my head when I was standing upright behind the helm in the cockpit. Pretty lively. Earlier in this trip I was hove to in winds that were less than this, although that was to avoid a real gale further south. The winds I was in would be classified as a near gale.
The boat was pretty remarkable, she handled the conditions perfectly. She doesn't bang through the waves, but swishes. Although there is some banging when a wave catches your side and it crests just as it reaches the hull. Lots of flying water when that happens as well - I was completely drenched on more than a handful of times.
But everything is good - there was a little damage, my weather cloths which surround the cockpit were imploded by an impact of water. I still have the cloths and there is no damage to them, just the zip ties that were holding them on. They should be fixed in 10min once I get to it. Considering the noise levels while sailing in the conditions, its surprising more isn't damaged. It will take a little getting used to I think - these boats can handled way more than we think they can. Its pretty impressive.
Tired. Must sleep. There is no cell coverage or WiFi here, and I'll probably stay a few days to clean myself up a little. When I know where I'm going next, I'll let you know.