Lynne and I did our first overnight on Wildcat this weekend. We decided to do an overnight at clipper cove. We got a bit of a late start and headed out at about 1600 from the slip. Although the wind was blowing pretty well (12-15knts) it was unfortunately straight down the estuary. We could have tacked up the estuary, but then we would have arrived at CC well after sunset. So we motored all the way to CC. Along the way we were able to monitor the rescue of a sailboarder that got separated from his board. He was in the water and fortunately had a handheld radio with him. As the sun was getting closer and closer to setting the coast guard was struggling to find him. What most p
eople do not realize is that a person in dark cloths (ie a typical we suit) without any signaling devices is very hard to see in the water. The USCG kept trying to get him to tell them where he was, but all he could tell them was that he was north of the San Mateo bridge. The USCG did not know how far north, but at least got him to tell them that he was near mid channel. The USCG mobilized their air unit and local rescue units attempted to launch their zodiacs. The other problem is that although the SF bay was full of boats because of the nice weather, the area around the San Mateo bridge is not known for is good sailing (too shallow) so there typically are very few boats in that area.
Fortunately for the wind surfer there was a single handed sailor in a small sailboat down in the south bay enjoying the nice day. He responded to the PAN PAN PAN broadcast by the USCG requesting assistance from all nearby boaters and sailed towards the San Mateo bridge. He was the first person on the scene and was able to find the wind surfer get the very cold wind surfer on his boat and bring him to shore.
After listening to this exciting rescue we headed to our anchorage at Clipper Cove. As we approached the cove we noticed two sailboats anchored on the bay side of a bar that has begun to silt in over the past year. It was low tide and they could not get over the bar. Fortunately Wildcat draws less than 4 ft, so we were able to just make it over by about 6 inches.
When we arrived at the anchorage there were only 2 boats in the cove. This is quite a change because until last year there were always about 5-10 derelick boats in the cove. But San Francisco passed a limitation on how long a boat can anchor in the cove and towed out the boats violating the new rule. So we basically had the anchorage to ourselves. As the sun set we broke out some drinks to enjoy our lovely spot.
Just before I shut down the electronics I broadcasted a DSC call to Nanaimo to find out if they were on the bay. I was happy to get back a response and shortly thereafter found out that they were heading to CC from China Camp. They had planned to spend the night at China Camp, but the winds were blowing from the North in the North Bay, so that anchorage as a bit rolly. When the pulled into CC after sunset we rafted up, had a few drinks on our boat and then went over to their boat for dinner. Bethany had some great home made red sauce and wonderful pasta.
The next day was another gorgeous day and we decided to go for a sail around the bay. We head out of CC and North along Treasure Island towards Angel Island. Just as we got into the wind shadow of Angel Island we turned back towards San Francisco. We sailed past Alcatraz and headed for the western span of the Bay Bridge. Lynne did much of the sailing until we made the turn towards the Bay bridge.
As we passed by Alcatraz we found ourselves in the middle of a race with a fair number of boats flying there spinnakers. We were on a starboard tack and the leeward boat to boot, so we had the right of way. But it is still polite to try to get out of the way of racing boats so we adjusted our course a bit to accommodate the race. We finally got back to the slip about 1730 and called it a day. A wonderful time for our first overnight of the year.
