H300C HELI EXPERIENCED CONFUSING CLASS C TRANSITION AT MRY.

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ON JAN/SAT/03 AT BTWN XA00-XB00. I WAS FLYING WITH MY WIFE FROM OAR AND AROUND THE MONTEREY PENINSULA IN A CIRCLE BACK TO OAR. I WAS CLRED THROUGH THE CLASS C SURFACE AREA AT A RTE AND ALT OF MY CHOOSING. THE NEXT TIME RADAR CONTACT WAS MADE; APPROX 5 MINS LATER; THE CTLR ASSIGNED ME TO CLB TO 1000 FT AND 'HOLD MY POS.' BECAUSE I WAS TOO HVY TO HOVER OUT OF GND EFFECT; I ELECTED TO FLY SMALL CIRCULAR PATTERNS OVER A GOLF COURSE. AFTER SEVERAL MINS OF HOLDING; I BEGAN TO APCH MY VFR FUEL RESERVE (20 MINS) LIMITS. THE CTLR INSTRUCTED ME TO RETURN TO OAR BY RETURNING/CIRCUMNAVIGATING CLASS C TO THE E AND THEN N. THIS CLRNC WAS UNACCEPTABLE; AND I REQUESTED A DIRECT RTE BACK TO OAR DUE TO FUEL. I LOWERED MY ALT IN AN ATTEMPT TO AVOID A FLT THAT DID NOT SEE ME; AND THE CTLR CLRED HIM DIRECTLY TOWARD ME; EVEN AFTER I GAVE A POS RPT DIRECTLY TO BOTH PLT AND CTLR ON TWR FREQ. WE CONTINUED THROUGH CLASS C TO THE N AND LANDED UNEVENTFULLY AT OAR. I CALLED NCT AT XH00 AND TALKED TO THE OPS MGR. HE SAID THE WHOLE THING WAS A NON-ISSUE. CTLRS NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE NEEDS OF HELIS; ESPECIALLY SMALL PISTON ENG HELIS OPERATING IN CLOSE PROX TO THE OCEAN AND OTHER TFC. THESE HAZARDS COULD BE AVOIDED BY ALLOWING HELIS TO AVOID THE FLOW OF FIXED WING ACFT; AS IS MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE FAR'S. OBVIOUSLY; RADAR COVERAGE WILL BE SPOTTY AT VFR HELI FLT ALTS. HELIS ALSO CAN BE VERY SLOW (BELOW 60 KTS); AND PLANNING IS USUALLY REQUIRED TO CONDUCT FLTS WITH ONLY THE NECESSARY FUEL RESERVE FOR EACH FLT. EVEN WITH FULL FUEL; MY HELI CAN ONLY FLY FOR ABOUT 1 1/2 HRS; INCLUDING RESERVE UNDER SOME CONDITIONS. THE COVERAGE AT MONTEREY FOR RADAR IS SPOTTY AT BEST; AND INTERMITTENT BELOW 1000 FT AGL. CTLRS IN THIS AREA SEEM TO PANDER TO COMMUTER TFC. THE WHOLE ISSUE WAS AN EXERCISE IN FRUSTRATION FOR ME AS A PLT; AND A VERY CONFUSING CHAIN OF INSTRUCTIONS. I ALSO FEEL CTLRS SHOULD BE IN LESS OF A HURRY TO 'LET GO' OF VFR TFC; OR RTE US ALL OVER THE CHART. GA IS PART OF OUR SYS AND OUR COUNTRY. TAXPAYERS PAY FOR THESE SYS. CTLRS SHOULD BE CLR AND CONCISE WITH THEIR INSTRUCTIONS AND CLRNCS; AND HAVE BETTER INTERNAL COMS WITHIN TWR AND APCH AS THIS WAS THE REAL CRUX OF THE PROB; ALONG WITH POOR RADAR COVERAGE. THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL AREA AND SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL ACFT. MRY ATC MUST COORDINATE WITH NCT TRACON; AS I BELIEVE NCT TRACON WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBS THAT DAY. I GOT THE FEELING THAT THEY; 'ATC;' DIDN'T WANT ME THERE; SO THEY WERE TRYING TO MAKE THINGS DIFFICULT; AND THIS CREATED A SAFETY HAZARD FOR ME AND POSSIBLY THE FLT.