The sail up was a typical San Francisco outing. We motored up the estuary because the wind was in our face. When we got towards the end of the estuary I put up the sail and tried to put in a double reef because I knew the wind was going to be blowing pretty strong in the middle of the bay after we got past Treasure Island (commonly called The Slot). However, the second reefing line was fouled so I had to go with a single reef. As expected, there was plenty of wind in The Slot - 20 to 25 with gusts to 28. But Wildcat actually handles such winds quite well. We were on a beam reach so the chop (2-4 ft) was hitting us broadside. While this might sound like it would make for a miserable sail, it was actually surprisingly comfortable. Wildcat would simply rise up and down with the waves. As we approached Richmond bridge the winds tapered and then gave out just before we got to the bridge. I put on the engine and started to motor. I would try to sail when a puff of wind came up (I was always hopeful that it would be a sustained wind), but eventually motored up to China Camp. When we got there we found Bethany and Pete already at China Camp in their boat Nanaimo. While we typically would raft up, I think we were both tired so we stayed on our respective boats. Bethany and Pete were heading up to the delta the next day and were going to get an early start.
The next day was absolutely beautiful. We lazed around and made breakfast and lunch. Lynne made a great lunch of salmon and Thai green beans. At 1500 we tried to rally to head back to Alameda for a party at Sandra and Doron's house. But lethargy set in, or maybe it was the beers and cocktails. We just could not get moving. So we stayed the night at China Camp. The only problem was that the water tanks ran dry on Saturday afternoon. We had plenty of drinking water, but limited water to wash pans, plates and utensils, so they piled up. Lynne made a great vegetarian dinner of tofu, cheese, corn and an Indian simmering sauce. We ended up doing crossword puzzles and reading. A very relaxing day.
The next day I made breakfast and fetched a pot of sea water to wash the dishes in. I heated it up to boiling and then put the hot water in the sink with some soap. It worked fine and in no time we had washed dishes. Lynne was sceptical so we put them aside until they could be rinsed with fresh water. At about 1100 we got under way. At first the winds seemed to be blowing pretty hard, and I knew we had to go through The Slot again, so I once again started with a double reef (I had fixed the fouled line that morning). But as soon as I had finally set the sails just right the wind died down to about 12-13 knts. Not enough wind to justify a double reef. So I shook out one of the reefs and we headed towards the the Richmond Bridge. The wind and the tide were both against us so going was quite slow. We tacked back and forth and slowly made our way back to the infamous Slot. When we finally got there the wind was once again blowing about 22-25 knts making for a quick sail across The Slot. At times we were hitting a SOG of 8-9 knts. I thought that we would have a great ride down the estuary, but as soon as we got under the Bay Bridge the wind stopped. So we motored down the estuary and into the slip. We got back to the slip at about 1600. Yet another great weekend on Wildcat. About 35 miles as the crow flies and plenty of variety in wind and water.
