numerous rocks. The point is marked by a lighted whistle buoy placed 14 miles southwest from the point.

Shelter Cove (chart 5773) lies under the southern face of Point Delgada, and affords fair shelter in northwesterly weather, but is exposed and dangerous with southerly or westerly winds. There is nearly always a swell running. A wharf has been built in the western part of the cove and has about 14 feet (4.3 m) at the end.

Shelter Cove is extensively used as an anchorage by the large fishing fleet, and there is a cold-storage plant for handling fish, which are shipped to San Francisco by water. Land communication is by unimproved road only, and is feasible during the summer season only. The best anchorage is in 5 fathoms (9.1 m), a little over 1/4 mile southeastward from the wharf, with the southern extremity of Point Delgada bearing 289° true (W. mag.). Two pinnacle rocks close together, with 15 feet (4.6 m) over them, lie a little over 11⁄2 mile 154° true (SE. mag.) from the point. These are usually well marked by kelp. A rock, with 14 feet (4.3 m) over it, lies a little over 1/4 mile 143° true (SE. by E. mag.) from the point. This also is usually well marked by kelp.

To enter, pass 1/4 mile southward of the lighted whistle buoy and steer 70° true (NE. 11⁄2 E. mag.) for 1 mile, until the end of Point Delgada bears 321° true (NW. by W. 14 W. mag.). Then change to 349° true (NNW. 34 W. mag.), which course leads to the anchorage. If coming from northward, Point Delgada should be given a berth of not less than 1 mile when heading for the buoy.

A submarine ridge, known as the Tolo Bank, extends southward from Point Delgada for about 7 miles, and is generally marked by numerous kelp patches. The depths are quite irregular, the least found being 7 fathoms (12.8 m) about 3 miles 180° true (S. by E. 34 E. mag.) from the point. At the tail of the ridge is 20 fathoms (37 m), from which the depths increase rapidly to 30 fathoms (55 m).

Caution.—It is reported that a number of slides just south of Shelter Cove have deposited rocks along the shores. Even small vessels should approach the shore with care.

From Point Delgada the coast extends west-northwestward for 19 miles to Punta Gorda, backed by steep mountains covered with chaparral and trees. About 3/4 mile northward from Point Delgada the rocky character of the coast changes to a clean shore, with a sand beach extending northward for 4 miles. Kaluna Cliff, nearly 1,500 feet (457 m) high, overhangs the southern end of the sand beach.

King Peak, 4,090 feet (1,247 m) high, the highest of three, is the well-known landfall generally called Three Peaks. It lies 812 miles northward from Point Delgada, 21⁄2 miles from the coast, and in clear weather is visible seaward for about 75 miles.

About 6 miles northward from Point Delgada is the head of a submarine valley, the 100-fathom (183 m) curve lying within 12 mile of the beach. This valley extends in a north and south direction, with an average width of 1 mile between the 100-fathom (183 m) curves for 311⁄2 miles, and then expands funnel-shaped for 3 miles more. Over 400 fathoms (731 m) are found at its mouth, and 300 fathoms (549 m) within 4 miles of the beach. The side slopes are abrupt.

Big Flat is a narrow strip of low, flat land about 7 miles westward from Point Delgada. It is 2 miles long and bordered by sand beaches. Several ranch houses and barns are located along the flat. Shubrick Rock, low and small, lies 300 yards off the southern end. Reynolds Rock, 20 feet (6.1 m) high, lies 62 miles westward from Big Flat. It is 480 yards offshore, abreast the precipitous slope of Reynolds Spur, which is about 800 feet (244 m) high.

Rodgers Break is a sunken rock, with 3 feet (0.9 m) over it, 1⁄2 mile westward of Reynolds Rock. It lies 4 miles 136° true (SE. by E. 5% E. mag.) from Gorda Rock and 634 miles west-northwestward from Big Flat. It is a pinnacle rock that seldom breaks; the top is occasionally in a heavy swell. This is the outermost known danger on this stretch of the coast. It is marked by a whistle buoy.

Another break has been reported about 1/2 mile northward of Rodgers Break, but not so far from shore.

From Reynolds Rock northwestward to Punta Gorda the shore is bordered by numerous rocks extending about 1/4 mile offshore. The sharp depression in the hills near the coast, caused by the gulch of Cooskie Creek, 32 miles southward of Punta Gorda, is sometimes useful in dark nights to vessels close inshore in making the point from southward.

Punta Gorda is a high, bold, rounding cape, 832 miles northwestward from Point Arena and 11 miles southward from Cape Mendocino. The seaward face rises to 800 or 900 feet (244 or 274 m), 400 yards back from the beach, and the point of it is a smaller spur, 140 feet (43 m) high, almost overhanging the sea. It is bare of trees except in the gulches. For over 111⁄2 miles northward and about 2 miles southward of the point the beach is bordered by numerous rocks extending in some cases 400 yards offshore.

Punta Gorda Lighthouse is a gray rectangular structure. The light is group flashing white (flash 1 second, eclipse 3 seconds, flash 1 second, eclipse 10 seconds), 75 feet (22.9 m) above the water, and visible 14 miles. The fog signal is an air siren, blast 2 seconds, silent 13 seconds.

Gorda Rock, 15 feet (4.6 m) high, is a conical rock a little over 34 mile southward from Punta Gorda and 5% mile offshore.

Conical Rock, about 20 feet (6.1 m) high, lies 300 yards off the point. A small, low rock lies 350 yards westward from it, with foul ground between.

From Punta Gorda to Cape Mendocino the hills back of the coast are lower than those southward; they are bare of trees and bordered by stretches of low, narrow, sandy flats with a narrow, low-water beach. The outlying rocks are not over 23 mile offshore until within 11⁄2 miles of Cape Mendocino, where they extend farther and terminate in Blunts Reef, 211⁄2 miles broad off the cape. At 3 miles northward of Punta Gorda a narrow submarine valley makes in, with 100 fathoms (183 m) a little over 1 mile from the beach; and another makes in 42 miles southward of Cape Mandocino, with 100 fathoms (183 m) 2 miles from the beach.

A sunken rock is reported to exist about 12 miles northwestward from Gorda Rock and 3/4 mile offshore. The position is doubtful. The Mattole River enters 2 miles northward of Punta Gorda. The north head is bare and about 360 feet (110 m) high, and the

south head is about the same height, partially covered with oak trees. A prominent sand dune is on the south side at the entrance to the valley.

Mattole Landing is situated at the head of the submarine valley 3 miles northward of Punta Gorda. The landing at Mattole has been abandoned for several years, and there is very little of the structure left.

A rock with 7 feet (2.1 m) over it at low water lies 400 yards westnorthwestward from the end of the wharf, and another rock with 10 feet (3.0 m) over it lies 200 yards west-southwestward from the end of the wharf.

Sea Lion Rock, 12 feet (3.7 m) high, is the largest of a cluster of small rocks 1/2 mile offshore and nearly 4 miles northward from Punta Gorda.

Double Rock, 12 feet (3.7 m) high, consists of two small rocks. close together, 800 yards offshore, and 1⁄2 mile northward of Sea Lion Rock.

Devils Gate Rock, 20 feet (6.1 m) high, lies nearly 234 miles southward of Cape Mendocino and 1/2 mile offshore. It is low and pyramidal, with a smaller rock close under the northwest side. A reef extends 200 yards westward from the rock. Numerous rocks lie inshore.

Steamboat Rock, 46 feet (14 m) high, lies 12 miles southward from Cape Mendocino and 600 yards offshore. The upper part is white and the lower black, somewhat resembling a steamer with a low, black hull and white upper works.

Cape Mendocino (chart 5795).-This mountainous headland is the famous landmark of the old Spanish navigators, and the galleons from the Indies. It is in the latitude of much climatic change. The winds do not blow home so violently in the bight south of it, and the amount of rainfall increases rapidly to the northward. The seaward face of the cape is steep, rocky, and waterworn toward the shore line; above the lighthouse, the general appearance is rolling and grass-covered, except in the deep ravines and upon some of the steep hillsides where the northern exposure is covered with forest or brush. For three miles southward of the cape the beach is bordered by numerous rocks and sunken ledges, extending in some cases to over 1/2 mile offshore.

Cape Mendocino Lighthouse, a white pyramidal tower, is situated on one of the western spurs about 400 feet (122 m) above the

sea.

The light is flashing white (flash 4.5 seconds, eclipse 25.5 seconds) 422 feet (129 m) above the water and visible 28 miles.

Sugar Loaf Rock, 331 feet (101 m) high, lies 250 yards westward from the cape and is connected with it at low water by a narrow neck of rocks and shingle beach. This rock is a prominent feature in making the cape from either northward or southward, but in thick or hazy weather care should be taken to avoid mistaking it for False Cape Rock, which it somewhat resembles, that lies in a similar position off False Cape, 41/2 miles northward of Cape Mendocino False Cape Rock is about 216 feet (66 m) high and is not so regular in outline as the Sugar Loaf, and from the west or northwest shows two large rocks, 90 and 46 feet (27.4 and 14 m) high,

immediately inside of it, whereas the Sugar Loaf stands solitary and compact.

Blunts Reef is the outermost danger off Cape Mendocino. It consists of two small, black rocks, awash at high tides, about 230 yards apart with 15 fathoms (27.4 m) between. The southern and outer rock lies nearly 23/4 miles 283° true (W. 5% S. mag.) from the Sugar Loaf Rock. This is the larger of the two rocks.

Blunts Reef Lightship is moored in 28 fathoms (51 m), 1% miles southwestward from the outer rock. It has a red hull with "Blunts" on each side and two masts with a red circular grating at each masthead. The lights, shown from each masthead, are fixed white, 65 feet (19.8 m) above the water and visible 14 miles. The fog signal is a diaphone, blast 2 seconds, silent 28 seconds; if diaphone is disabled, the same signal will be given on a bell struck by hand. A fixed white riding light is shown on the forestay.

Regarding the radiobeacon see page 11. The radiobeacon and fog signal are synchronized for distance-finding purposes. The call letters of the lightship are KCM. The station receives and sends radio emergency messages only.

Northward from the lightship, there is a ridge extending in an northeasterly and southwesternly direction with 14 to 18 fathoms (25.6 to 33 m) over it. At the northeastern end of the ridge, 4 miles 17° true (N. 14 W. mag.) from the lightship, there is a rocky spot with 7 to 10 fathoms (12.8 to 18.3 m) over it. This area was examined carefully, but was not wire dragged; therefore there is a possibility of less water, and the spot should be avoided. Breakers have been reported here.

A rock, with 9 feet (2.7 m) over it, lies 11⁄2 mile 170° true (SSE. 5% E. mag.) from the outer rock of Blunts Reef. The Great Break, with 414 fathoms (7.8 m) over it, lies 3/4 mile 194° true (S. 1⁄2 E. mag.) from the outer rock of Blunts Reef.

Eastward of Blunts Reef and the Great Break are a number of dangerous rocks and sunken ledges, a detailed description of which is unnecessary. Vessels should not attempt the passage between Blunts Reef and the cape under any circumstances. A heavy westerly swell breaks even in 9 and 10 fathoms (16.5 to 18.3 m) in this locality.

A submarine valley extending in a northwest and southeast direction comes to a head 10 miles northwest from Cape Mendocino. This feature was discovered in the survey of 1919, and is shown on the charts. Vessels are cautioned against mistaking this valley for one of those southward of the cape.

Cape Mendocino is the turning point for nearly all vessels bound north or south and, in view of the dangers in its vicinity, should be approached with considerable caution in thick weather, owing to the irregularity of the bottom and currents. The meteorological conditions northward of the cape are quite different from those southward. Fog is more prevalent southward and the rainfall is heavier northward. The strong northwesterly winds of summer are less violent southward of the cape, which forms a partial lee for vessels working their way northward. The currents at the light vessel are described on page 342.

COAST FROM MENDOCINO TO POINT ST. GEORGE (CHARTS 5602, 5702)

From Cape Mendocino to Trinidad Head the coast trends nearly north for 40 miles and with the exception of the rocks off False Cape is free from dangers if the beach be given a berth of over 11⁄2 mile. The land is generally low with sandy beaches, broken by the mouths of the Eel and Mad Rivers and the entrance to Humboldt Bay, the only marked elevations northward of False Cape being Red Bluff and Table Bluff. From Trinidad Head to Rocky Point, 52 miles, the coast is rocky with numerous outlying, rocky islets, and sunken ledges; these, however, do not extend over 1 mile offshore. Above Rocky Point the beach is low and sandy, with several lagoons behind it for nearly 11 miles to the southern end of the Gold Bluffs. From this point to Point St. George the coast is rocky, the cliffs being from 100 to 500 feet (30.5 to 152 m) in height and bordered by numerous rocks. The Klamath River breaks through the cliffs 16 miles southward from Point St. George.

From Cape Mendocino to False Cape, a distance of 41⁄2 miles, the coast is straight and bold and bordered by a broad, low-water beach. Bear River, a small stream, enters through a narrow valley about midway between the two capes.

False Cape is a steep, bold headland, rising to a height of over 600 feet (183 m) in less than 1/4 mile from the beach. It projects but little from the general trend of the coast. It is covered with grass, but the gulches on its sides are wooded. The base of the cape is bordered by a narrow, low-water beach of shingle and sand. For about 1 mile on each side of the cape are numerous rocks and ledges which do not extend over 1/2 mile from the beach.

False Cape Rock, 216 feet (66 m) high, lies nearly 1/2 mile westward from the cape, with two rocky islets, 90 and 46 feet (27.4 and 14 m) high, between. It is not as regularly shaped nor as high as the Sugar Loaf off Cape Mendocino, and the top is much flatter. A rock, with 12 feet (3.6 m) over it, lies a little over 11⁄2 mile westward from False Cape Rock.

Northward from False Cape the hills decrease in height, and 4 miles beyond the cape is the beginning of a stretch of sand beach and dunes that extend to Trinidad Head, broken only by Table and Red Bluffs.

Eel River empties nearly 92 miles northward from False Cape. This is a stream of considerable size and is occasionally entered by light-draft vessels, but the channel over the bar is continually shifting. The depth on the bar varies largely with the amount of water in the river, depending upon the character of the winter, and has been at times as much as 14 feet (4.3 m) but generally it is about 8 or 9 feet (2.4 or 2.7 m).

Table Bluff, 1214 miles northward from False Cape and 42 miles southward of Humboldt Bay entrance, is a prominent feature from seaward. The western face is 1/2 mile in length, 165 feet (50 m) high, very steep, and has a narrow sand beach under it.

The radio masts and elevated tank at Table Bluff are prominent.

Table Bluff Lighthouse, near the extreme western edge of the bluff, is a white tower on dwelling. The light is flashing white