Yes those are breaking waves out there!

Ricardo checks out the high waves

Deb looks a bit cold as Gary checks out the lines

Doron at the helm

Route for April 17-19 Sail

Above is a picture of San Francisco Bay.  Our boat slip is mid way between the labels for the cities of Oakland and Alameda.  Clipper Cover is the little bay just to the north of the Bay Bridge at the Island that the Bay Bridge passes over in the middle of the bay.  Raccoon Straights is the waterway between Angel Island and the mainland (Tiburon).  China Camp is north of the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge and the point to the right of San Rafael.  As you round that point and hug the coast about 1 mile after rounding the point you reach China Camp.

April 17 -19, 2009

Lynne and I had our first overnight trip on Wildcat this past weekend.  We motored up to Clipper Cove on Friday night.  Our friends Pete and Bethany had come up to Clipper Cove in Nanaimo, their Nonsuch 30U, earlier in the day.  We rafted up and had drinks and dinner on Nanaimo.  we derafted for the night and I took the picture below with my Iphone Saturday morning. 

Saturday morning we had a lazy start to the day.  Pete had installed some new instruments in Nanaimo and he did some maneuvers in Clipper Cove to calibrate them.  I had a call to take at noon, so we finally got underway at about 1pm and headed up to China Camp.  I took two pictures on the way up to China Camp which are set out below.  One is of Lynne about 1.5 miles NE of Raccoon Straits.  If you look carefully you can see the Golden Gate Bridge through Raccoon Straights.  The winds were blowing about 17-19 knts through the slot, but we were becalmed near Richmond Harbor and had to motor for about 45 minutes.  Then the winds picked back up and we were able to sail on a broad reach to a run all the way up to China Camp.  We got up there at about 4:40 pm and quickly anchored.  After about an hour Nanaimo motored over to us and we tried to raft up for cocktails.  But the current was too strong and rough, so we each separately hung out on our boats.  Lynne made a great Indian dinner and we ate outside in the cockpit of the boat.

The next day was very hot at China Camp.  We put up Wildcat's bimini to shade us from the sun, (made all the difference) and sat out in our cockpit reading and doing word games together.  After lunch of leftovers from the night before and cheese and crackers, we finally go underway.  Nanaimo had left much earlier as it was to hot to sit at anchor without a bimini and they decided to get some relief from the heat by sailing.  The sail back was will very mild following winds but we had the tide pushing us so we averaged about 5 knts.  We met up with Nanaimo again at the entrance to the estuary and sailed back down the estuary together.  We then sailed over to Quinn's (a restaurant with a dock) for dinner.  We finally got back to the slip about 9:30 Sunday night.  A very enjoyable weekend. 

Lynne east of Angel Island and racoon straits

April 18 Nanaimo

April 18, 2009 Clipper Cove

April 11, 2009

Lynne and I sailed out to Jack London Square. Lynne was at the helm
all the way out. I took her back in and Lynne relaxed. It was great
being out on the water with Lynne again.

March 29, 2009

My son Andrew and I put our repaired sail back on Wildcat and then we took her for a sail up the estuary.  We tacked up all the way to the bay and then come back on a run.  Not much wind but we still had a good time.

February 27 - March 1, 2009 CPM Sail

Well this past weekend was my test for the Skipper position on my quest for a Coastal Passage-making Certificate through Club Nautique's Sailing School. We had a good crew consisting of Ken Kolburn - Navigator, Mark Dietrich - Jr. Nav., Mark Howard and Mike Ball - Crew. Arnstein Mustad was our instructor. He has a reputation for being a demanding instructor, so we did a very thorough pre-cruise to make sure that he had not sabataged the boat. We found some loose nuts in the engine well and reported them to him. He was impressed with our thoroughness, but said that he had not placed them there. He nevertheless double checked all of the systems in the engine well to see if he could find where they come from. He found nothing wrong, but we noted the find on our pre-cruise report.

We sailed out of Ballena Bay on Friday and got out to the south bay about 2100, having eaten dinner at the slip due to low tide. After calibrating the Log and Compass we headed over to Angel Island for a mooring ball. we finally got on the mooring shortly after midnight.

The next morning we got up at 8, with the intention of getting going about 0900. At 0900 a ranger came out to the boat and asked us for our $20 mooring fee (after giving us a lecture about trying to leave without paying the fee). We then ran a mile in Richardson Bay to check the log calibration again and were ready to head out the Golden Gate. Due to the expected weather conditions we headed south to Half Moon Bay. The winds were blowing from the east at about 15 -17 knots so we decided to take the Southern Channel near the Coast. This cut off a fair amount of time on our trip to HMB. We had fair winds until Colorado Reef, just north of Pillar Point, at which time the winds abated entirely and we had to motor in. We did some radar motoring drills on the way in. We then headed back out to do some more drills because the winds had picked back up. The winds got up to 20 knts and while I was at the helm the instructor decided to run a engine failure - limited visibility drill. So I had to sail in with only a jib up.

We took a slip for the night and went into town for dinner and drinks. Pillar Point has a few good watering holes near the harbor and we all had a good night out. I also ended up watching Slum dog Millionaire on one of the other boats that was in our CPM fleet.

The next morning we got under way at about 8 am. After doing a number of motoring drills in the marina, we headed back to San Francisco. The sail up the coast was uneventful. As we neared the San Francisco Buoy the winds became fickle and out of the east, making it hard to make good time back through the gate. As we neared the gate however, the winds picked up again from the south. We saw a whale just outside the gate, and steered clear of it. By the time we got through the Gate, the winds were up to 20 knts and we were shortening sails. By the time we got to Alcatraz the winds were a steady 25 with higher gusts. By the time we past Alcatraz winds were gusting over 30 and we had to shorten sails again. after tacking back towards the Bay Bridge, the winds were a steady 30 with gusts to 35, and again we shortened sails so by now we were sailing with the equivalent of a storm tri-sail and a storm jib. Eventually it became obvious that we were not going to make it back to Club Nautique by 1430 unless we sent under power. The wind waves in the Bay grew amazingly fast since the winds were from the south an there was a fairly long fetch for the waves to build. Even in a 49 foot boat we were crashing through the waves and generating a great deal of spray, which kept me quite wet at the helm. But we made good time and eventually got back to the slip at about 1430. After the post cruise, we were ready to call it a day at bout 1800.

Although I certainly made a few errors during the CPM, I guess on balance I was not a bad Skipper as our instructor saw fit to pass me. Now I just have to take the written test and sail my last CPM trip as the skipper of a tag boat.

February 21, 2009

Today I chartered Belle Colette, a 49 ft Hunter, with the crew I will be sailing with next weekend on a CPM class, my good friend Doron, his wife, Sandra (who made a fantastic dinner for the trip) and Lynne.

We left Club Nautique at about 1430 after a lengthy ore cruise because it is a new boat and non of us had sailed her before. I was low tide and we just barely got over the bar out of the harbor. When we got out into the south bay the wind was only blowing about 6 kt. Just enough to do some crew overboard drills. We then calibrated the log and headed over to McCovy Cove to anchor for dinner. We had trouble getting the anchor to set but eventually we able to get a good enough hold for a short dinner stay. As notes above the dinner made by Sandra was excellent and enjoyed by all.

We then headed back about 1900. The wind had picked up and by the time we got the sails up we had 11 kt of wind. As we headed home a front came through and we we soon bashing on 21 kt winds. Doron and I had fun had great fun in the higher winds. The boat handles it fine except that like all hunters it heeled over quite a bit. Just as we were thinking of reefing the sails the rain picked up and we decided to roll up the sails and head back to port. The main came in fine but the jib gave us some difficulty. It was hard to roll in if it had any power in the sail. But we eventually got it rolled in.

Docking the 49 foot boat in 24 kt winds was also a challenge. When we came in we has to turn the boat into the wind and then back her into an end tie with another boat right behind her slip. Turning her back up into the wind took some back and fill manuvers to avoid the other boats around us and to turn this large boat around. But we eventually did it buy using a few back and forward manuvers to position the boat until Doron could jump off safely and attach a spring line.

John F. Finston

December 27, 2008

Took our last outing for the year 2008 on wildcat today. It was a typical winter day. No wind to speak of. We motored out with captain John and his inlaws Scott, Amy, Catlin and Shelly and our Brazilian daughter, Clara. Since there was no wind we motored up to the east span of the bay bridge and back. We enjoyed a great lunch prepared by Lynne who had stayed home to get ready for Andrew's birthday.

November 16, 2008

Went for a sail this weekend, leaving this slip at 1130, with Debra and John Constantine, Catlin and her friend Josie, Lynne and me around the bay. The winds were light so we motored out all the way to Angle Island before we found amy wind. We them raised the sails and sail up to the gate and back down to Ayala Cove where we picked up a mooring for lunch. After lunch we were able to sail back to the estuary on 10 knt NE winds. We motored back down the estuary and got back to the slip at 1850.

November 7-9, 2008

This weekend I went on another CPM as the Navigator this weekend. We had a wild time beginning Saturday afternoon. But I am getting ahead of myself. The weekend started on Friday afternoon when we were getting the boat ready for the weekend sail ahead. Our crew was to be Alain Espin, skipper, me as Navigator, Jim Collum as Jr. Nav, and Mickey O'Brien and Mark Dietrich as crew. I got to the boat, Unleashed, a 2006 41 ft Hunter, early to familiarize myself with the radar and get my charts and log set up. At about 1630 the skipper shows up and tells us that he has a family emergency and will not be able to go. So our instructor, Kay-John Kavanaugh had to assume the dual role of instructor and skipper.

We do a very fast check out and get the boat ready to head out. As the navigator I provide the course and tell the helmsman how to get us to our two destinations, first the the estuary to run the mile and calibrate the log and then on to Ayala Cove to moor for the night. In addition, as soon as we get out of the harbor and into deep water we conduct a compass deviation run to determine whether out ships compass has any significant positional errors.

So we get through all the preliminaries and I am at the helm when we get to Ayala Cove and we pick up a mooring for the night. So far so good. Since we are on a mooring we can sleep easy Friday night.

The next morning the skipper is in a hurry to get underway and only takes one of the crew up topsides to detach from the mooring. Bad idea because it is trickier than you would think, especially for someone who has not done it before and a line ends up in the water and is soon thereafter securely wrapped around the prop. Bummer. Well I volunteer to jump overboard into the frigid SF harbor waters to free the line from the prop. I am able to get into the water, but is is so cold that when I try to go under water, I loose my breath immediately and can not stay under long enough to get to the prop. Fortunately, one of the other crew members is a former fisherman from Maine and more use to cold water. He is able to free the line from the prop.

We get underway and are only about 20 minute behind schedule and get out of the gate at about 0845. Unfortunately there is no wind so we have to motor all the way up to Drakes Bay, a distance of about 20 miles. When we get there we anchor for lunch and the other tag boat, skippered by Deb Fehr, that is in our little flotilla rafts up to us for practice. Everything goes well and we are soon eating lunch.

After lunch we de-raft and we take Unleashed out for some crew overboard (COB, MOB or PIW) drills. We each get a shot at both a quick stop and quick turn technique and then head back to harbor. As Navigator I am at the helm and since the fog has socked us in, I am instruct

ed to bring the boat into the harbor by radar alone. Not a problem as far as navigation is concerned, but as we approach chimney rock I see a line of black clouds coming in from the North. I point them out to the instructor and note that I think we are in for a bit of nasty weather. I have never motored through a squall line before so I think it will be interesting. Well a few minutes later the winds pick up to a steady 25 gusting to 35 and we are surrounded by white caps and blowing seas. Then the rains start pounding us and for a short while we are hit by stinging sharp sleet. I stay at the helm and as we motor into Drakes Bay Kay-John and Mark go up to ready the anchor. As we get to where we want to anchor the winds are still blowing at about 25 knots with a fair amount of rain. Fortunately the anchor bites at first try and we are soon securely at anchor. But the boat is shifting from side to side on the anchor rode so we have to set an anchor watch for the night. Every hour one of us has to go up to the front of the boat and inspect the anchor line and let out 5 inches of line to keep the line from chafing in one spot. The wind is howling all night long. I, for one, (and the instructor) do not get much sleep that night.

To make matters worse, we need to get an early start the next day in order to get back to the gate before the ebb tide gets too strong. For those of you that are not sailors, when the waters of SF bay dump into the ocean, all of the silt and sand in the fast moving water gets deposited on a shoal (ie sand bar) about 2-4 miles wide just outside SF gate. The water is about 6 fathoms deep (24 feet), which is pretty shallow for ocean waters. So when large ocean swells come up to this shallow water the waves get pushed higher and become much steeper. On Sunday we had 12 foot swells in the ocean, which we knew would be much larger on the shoal. That makes for a rougher ride if one comes in at slack tide, but if you come in on an ebb, the water rushing out of the gate hits up against the incoming swells and makes the waves even higher and steeper, to the point that they can begin breaking on the shoal. There is a narrow channel of deeper water near the shore, but if the waves are big and the winds are strong, it makes for a scary return coming in through this narrow channel near the waves breaking on the rocky shore. For all of these reasons we decide to get an early start and raise anchor at 6 am so that we have a chance at getting back to the Gate at slack tide.

The sail down from Drakes was great. The swells were about 12 feet every 13 seconds, nice high but well spread out swells. The wind was 15-25 from our stern quarter. So the sail back was pretty comfortable. But we did not get back to the Gate at slack tide, which was at 0945. When we got to the Bonita Channel it was already 1100 and the tide was nearing full ebb. As I looked through the binoculars I could see that the waves were breaking in over the shoal. Then as I panned the shore I saw huge breakers pounding the rocks. As I swept the lens across the Bonita Channel I even saw breakers in the channel. Well this was going to be an exciting ride in! We battened down the hatches, started the engine and slammed down the throttle. We wanted to get though the rough spot as quickly as possible. Long story short, we motor sailed in with no problem at all and before long we were comfortably motor sailing thought the Golden Gate.

We headed over to Ayala Cove to moor again to eat lunch and get our debriefing from Kay John. I guess we all did a good job because he passed everyone on the trip. So my next CPM, in March will be as a skipper. Looking forward to it.

October 23, 2008

Picked up Wildcat at 1630 in Richmond at KKMI and motored back the the slip, a trip of about 15 miles. It was a beautiful warm day, but no wind for sailing. Even the slot was almost completely calm and flat, as reflected in the above picture (yes that is the City in the distance on the right). Not quite mirror flat but about as close as it gets in the bay.

October 17-19, 2008

This was a busy sailing weekend for me - another Type II CPM trip, this time as Jr. Navigator. For those of you unfamiliar with all of the jargon in the last sentence let me break it down for you. A CPM is a US Sailing class given by Club Nautique with the impressive full title of "Coastal Passage Making." The objective is to teach the students to be prepared to both navigate and skipper a sail boat in coastal waters. A Type II CPM is one where the boat is out in the ocean for the entire night - that's right we sail through the night and each take a shift at the helm and as crew (watch). Our skipper put together a good duty roster so we each were able to get some rest time during the evening as well. The Jr. Nav. is suppose to support and observe what the Navigator is doing and fill in if the Navigator needs some rest. The main responsibility of the Navigator is to maintain the ships log and to keep track of where our boat is, where it is heading and when it is likely to arrive. The Nav. must also keep track of other boats that are in our vicinity in order to avoid collision.

Our crew for this trip consisted of Bryan Hoadley, skipper, Terry Rodery, Navigator, Jim English and me as Jr. Nav, and Eric Charles as crew. We were lucky in that we had a good instructor, Dave Scott and a good boat Perriwinkle, a 41 ft 2006 Hunter. We left the dock about 1630 on Friday night and motored over to the Alameda estuary to run the measured mile to calibrate our ships log. Then we motored out to around Pier 39 before putting up the sails and motor sailing out the into the ocean. We zig-zagged out to the main shipping channel and then motored out along the north side of the shipping channel until we were past the San Francisco Bar (that is an area of shallow water and not a place to stop off and get a beer) and into deep water. Then we set a course for the Farallons. On the way there we were able to sail on occasion. Once we got to the Farallons and waived to the birds and sea lions we turned south to head for Half Moon Bay. The wind direction was not the best, so we did a few jibes until be got to the Western shipping channel, where we decided to motor through on a 90 degree angle. I went off shift and quickly went below to get some sleep.

When I woke up and came back to my duty station everything had changed. We were now sailing in the fog with 20 knot winds from the SW. We were about to enter the southern shipping channel and we learned from VTS (vessel traffic service) that there was a cargo ship coming up from the south and about to enter the shipping channel. That news resulted in a bit of angst. Our instructor, Dave, quickly asked the Navigator to determine how quickly we would pass through the shipping channel at our current speed and when would the incoming vessel reach our location. Based on the info provided, we cranked up the engine and began motor sailing so that our speed increased to almost 9 knots. Showing his greater experience, Dave then hailed VTS and reported our location and direction and that we were in fog with limited visibility. VTS gave us updated details about the inbound traffic, but more importantly, the inbound ship now knew we were out there as well. Long story short, the cargo ship passed to our aft and sounded a single horn as it passed us.

We eventually got into Half Moon Bay at 0730, quickly secured a place to anchor, and hit the bunks for a needed nap. We got up about 1115 and headed over to the dock to get a slip for the night. We then spent the afternoon doing close quarter maneuvers under power. A number of boats were down for the Pumpkin festival and there was a cocktail party at 1630 at one of the boats. Pete and Bethany were down in Nanaimo, and they came over to the cocktail party. We all went over to the HMB YC for a beer and then to Mezzaluna for dinner. We called it quits about 2130 since we had to get up at 0600 to head back to Alameda.

The next day was uneventful. We motored most of the way home until we got in the bay. Then we did some crew overboard drills and practice other skills before getting back to the slip around 1600.

After cleaning up the boat and doing the final check out, I headed over to Wildcat. I had to bring her over to KKMI in Richmond for a haul out. its about a 15 mile trip, which I did single handed. I got over there about 2000 in the dark. But all went well and Lynne drove over to pick me up and take me home.

October 16, 2008

The local Nonsuch Owners group got together at Encinal YC for drinks and dinner. Lynne, Caitlin and I motored Wildcat over from out slip and tied up at the guest dock. It was very interesting talking to other Nonsuch owners, all of whom obviously take a lot of pride in their boats. Pete and Bethany were there with Nanaimo as well. After dinner we motored back to the slip and got in around 2130.

October 11, 2008

This weekend for Fleet week we took Wildcat out with Caitlin and her friend Casey, Gail and Howard Berman and Lynne and me.  The wind was blowing at 20knts at the dock! It was also coming straight down the estuary, so we motored out to Jack London where the estuary bends a bit south and we we able to sail close hauled up to the end of the estuary.  Unfortunately be the time we go out to the bay Casey was not feeling well. So we made a right and headed to the protected Clipper Cove to watch the air show from its protected waters.  After dropping the hook on the north side of the cove we had lunch and relaxed.  The Blue Angles flew directly over us on a number of runs.  It was quite nice.  After the show we motored back down the estuary to the slip. Since Fleet week is probably the most crowed day on the bay (everyone who has a boat and has not forgotten how to use it tries to get front row seats on the water to see the show), there is also a huge crowd of boats returning after the show.  This year was no exception.  When we got back to the slip we had some more appetizers and drinks, but as soon as the sun went down the air chilled and everyone decided to leave and let me close down the boat.  As I was making entries in the log book I radioed Nanaimo to find out where they were.  Pete responded and said they were just returning to the slip. Since Bethany and Pete know Gail and Howard we went over to their boat to say hello.  I ended up staying an comparing notes on boat improvements with Pete for a while before heading back to Wildcat to close her up.