Sailing on San Francisco Bay

Nice sailing toward San Francisco and the Bay Bridge, Yerba Buena and back to the estuary on Sunday. Just the regular “short trip” with fun conversation and tasty snacks. Guests Cathy and Carol.

I’ve never liked to be out on the bay for fireworks on July 4th. I figure it’s one of those days when lots of people who rarely go boating decide to take their boats out, and some of them will be drinking too much. Plus they may not know how to run the proper lights after dark, or how to navigate back safely at night.

The police must figure something similar; when we were heading back to the dock before sundown, all the police boats were gassing up and heading out. They all waved at us, smiling as they got ready for what has to be one of their busiest nights on the water. The little sailboat heading in wasn’t going to cause any problems.

We had left the dock around 3:30pm after an oil change. We motored out past Jack London Square, then raised the sails, with a reef in the main, and short-tacked the rest of the way out the estuary. Good practice and folks quickly got the hang of tacking. The wind was picking up and we got some vigorous sailing outside the estuary. A big ship was coming in, so we tacked south of the channel and headed toward a Coast Guard vessel that was slowly patrolling the area. Back and forth, up wind, until we crossed back over the channel to Yerba Buena and the Oakland side of the bridge. Then we turned around, and went from vigorous sailing close-hauled to a fast and level beam reach. Perfect for a short sail out and about, then back into the estuary, past the houseboats and back home. Kate, Constantine, Eddie, V.

Left Alameda at 1pm yesterday afternoon, motored to TI until we found wind. We reefed the main and headed into the slot; it was wild, windy, aggressive and fun. We sailed towards AI until everyone was soaked, then turned around and headed back to calmer waters and lots of big ship traffic in the estuary. Most of our sails don’t involve spray lashing over the boat, but once in awhile it sure is fun. Amelia felt balanced sailing close-hauled with a reefed main. Eddie, John V, Doug and me as salty sailing men.

Today’s sail was from Alameda, southward for a bit, up past the San Francisco Ferry Building and around Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island, with Lisa, John, Eric and Eddie. The weather was overcast but bright and the winds were moderate instead of howling. Our sailing in the slot was actually pretty smooth and comfortable. Fantastic conversation and lots of things to see including a close look at the new bay bridge structure.

We sailed about 26 nautical miles yesterday (about 30 statue miles), from Alameda to Angel Island and back. It was a blustery windy afternoon; we came across the slot reefed and close hauled and then eased off to duck behind AI as the winds picked up a bit. We stopped at the dock at Ayala Cove at Angel Island for awhile; Cindy, Steve, Lieva and Solon went to get an iced coffee and look around the island; I took some pictures and napped in the cabin. The sail back across the slot and down the Cityfront was equally vigorous and we even had enough wind leftover in Alameda to sail down the estuary at a good speed. A stop for diesel at Jack London and then back to the slip around 7pm.

It was just a gorgeous day with fun conversation, singing bad songs and fairly epic sailing.

Sailing today was with regular crew member John, and three women visiting from Poland: Ela, Justina and Evelynka.

I arrived a bit early in order to change the headsail on the furler and change the engine oil. It was the usual multitasking of those things, hosing down the boat, cleaning the hull some and finding small odds and ends that needed attention. I had come by a week or so beforehand to make sure the fire extinguishers were fully charged. I also made sure the insurance and towing policies are in effect. I haven’t needed to use the towing service since the first year I was sailing, but I think it’s great to have in case of an emergency.

We motored out, as usual, and enjoyed lunch (including John’s famous rice dish) before we reached the main bay. Once we got out of the estuary we found lots of wind. We sailed — with a reefed main, as usual for this time of year — toward SF, under the bridge, up the Cityfront and back toward Alameda. It wasn’t a super long sail but the visitors declared it their “best day in California.” Nice!

We actually had some decent wind in the estuary and sailed all the way back, which is a treat on the calm waters of the channel. We passed a ginormous container ship being turned around in the basin; I’ve seen so many of them yet I’m still impressed of the sheer size of such vessels. Lots of pictures were taken throughout the day.

Upon return we did the usual housecleaning and maintenance and hosed Amelia down again. She looked lovely glistening in the evening sun.

I’m a bit sore now; hopefully getting back into practice will take care of that!

Nice sailing today in light winds with Cindy and Ed. We motored out and put up the sails… and bobbed along without much doing. So we had lunch and then swapped out the 100% jib for the 150% genoa. We found a little wind and the big headsail got us moving for awhile. Then it died out again and we found ourselves sailing but not moving much against the ebb. So we headed in under power. It was a relatively short sailing day, buy very pleasant. Winter time is definitely around the corner as the wind is moderating and starting to change direction. I left the 150% ready for use next time, since I expect more of the same.

Sailing today with Bruce, Judy, Ed and John.

Today’s sailing was quite a bit more boisterious than that last few trips. Once we were outside the estuary we kept motoring toward the Bay Bridge, fighting the current and dodging lots of big ship traffic. Once we got past the bridge and toward The Slot, the wind picked up a lot, so we reefed and headed into the swells. What fun. I, of course, took a full wave to the face a couple times. We sailed close to Angel Island and then “chicken gybed” over and headed back via the “behind Treasure Island” route. Once we got back there where the water was calmer, things became much more relaxed!

Lorriane, Tim, Cindy and I had a nice sail today since we all had the day off. We sailed a little Southward from Alameda, ultimately heading toward Ballena Bay and the old NAS before heading back. Then we stopped at the “local chain Mexican place” for dinner.

I’d like to plan some longer trips, but blocking out longer timeframes has been challenging lately!