Lynne and I took off about 10:30 on Saturday for a forth of July weekend on the boat. Our destination was China Camp, an anchorage off the shore of China Camp State Park. CCSP is the remains of a Chinese shrimp fishing village that was operated in the late 1800's to early 1900's. California banned the export of shrimp to China at that time and the failed.
Sandra and Doron left at the same time on Messing About and we motored up the estuary. Pete and Bethany had left the night before and stayed the night at Clipper Cove. They had a head start on us so they got up to China Camp before us. Messing About was quicker off the start than Wildcat and can head up wind better as well. As a result they got through the slot (20-22 knt winds) faster than we did, but as the wind died and the shifted to a following wind of 10-15 knts, we passed by them.
China camp was a bit rolly. Winds were from the south most of the time and there was a strong current. As a result we could not raft up. But Doron and Pete had dingies and I inflated my raft, so Lynne and I could be towed around. Pete also brought up his sail kit for the dingy so we each took turns sailing it.
The weather was warm and sunny with a slightly cool breeze at times. The water was warm enough to swim in, so we all took a dip. Lynne and I had a great dinner on Saturday night. We made chicken carbonara with chicken and a salad. Breakfast each day was yogurt with fruit salad.
On Sunday we did a little exploring, taking the dink into the park, going to the museum, getting some ice cream at the store, and swimming off the beach. In the afternoon during slack tide we sailed around on Pete's dink. We had cocktails on Nanaimo and then each had dinner on our own boats. I must admit that the pad Thai I made was not very good at all. The left overs became fish food. While we had planned to get back together after dinner, we were all too tired and called Iran early night.
On Monday we got a late start. At about 1130 everyone came over to Wildcat and Lynne put out a spread of cheese, pate, humus, pita, crackers, fruit and asparagus. Sandra brought over clamato and vodka and the boys had a few beers. I also reoiled my teak. Peter brought the sailing dink over and we took turns on it.
At about 1500 we got underway to return to Alameda. The wind and tide were against us so it took 2 hours to get past the San Rafael bridge. By that time the current changed to an ebb, but the wind was not favorable. It had been hot all weekend, so I knew it would be blowing in the slot, so I sailed towards Angel Island so that I would be on a beam to broad reach going through the slot. As I got to the slot Doron radioed and warned us theft winds in the slot were gusting to 30 knts. So I put in a reef and the sail through the slot was challenging but fun. Total distance covered was 33.3 NM.
We capped off the night with some cocktails on Messing About once we were all back at the slip.
