New Jib!

North Marathon200 100% Jib

Finally got to try the new 100% jib! Shape looks really nice even though the wind was a little weak! This sail is really intended for the summer months here, where winds are usually in the 25kn range and higher. I ended up having to furl the 125% Genoa all the time, which is not a good operation mode, adds some stretch and reduces the life expectancy of that sail. The Genoa is really not meant to be run at these wind speeds and I didn't want to ruin this nice sail. Also, when heeling over the low cut Genny actually scooped up some water once in a while which is not good either, obviously. 

So this new sail should get us through the summer without having to furl all the time. The weight of the sail is 8.4oz, that should be fine up to 35kn windspeed. It is also cut much higher so it won't scoop up any water when going through waves. What I really like is that there is a series of 3 telltales in a row, that you can use also when the sail is slightly furled. 

Foggy morning sail

SF skyline on the way back to San Mateo

More maintenance!

Spend the last couple of weekends doing some maintenance work on the boat: Oil and filter change, transmission fluid change, fuel filter change and zinc change for the heat exchanger. Looks like the zinc really needs to be replaced every half year, this one was down to a nubbin again. Also started to redo all of the brightwork which is quite some chore with all the wood on the boat: Toe rails, rub rails, hand rails and the cockpit frame / back rests! Plan is to get all of the old varnish off and repaint everything with Cetol. Varnishing turned out to be very unpractical here, the California sun eats through the varnish in no time and the varnish started peeling off everywhere, already half a year after we redid the whole thing. I also had to repair some electric wiring and replace a couple of fuses.

For a treat after all the work we took the boat to Clipper Cove at Treasure Island in the middle of the Bay and stayed there over night. Quite a different setting from our usual Ayala Cove hideout, with the Bay Bridge looming overhead and the decrepit Naval Yard around. Also didn't feel like swimming in the murky water.. But was still nice and quite a different experience. On the way back no wind at all, so we couldn't really test the new 100% Jib and ended up motoring all the way back home to Coyote Point.

Treasure Island Marina

Anchorage at Clipper Cove

Bay bridge during morning fog

The spi is up!

Despite the fact that my broken pole ring is still stuck on the spi track, we managed to get the spi up during a very relaxing and calm Sunday afternoon sail here on the Bay. Double handing that huge sail is quite a challenge, especially when it needs to come down and the wind has come up. I really need to get a spinnaker sock to make that part a little easier. 880sqft are actually a huge headache on the bow if you have to collect it all by yourself while dropping the halyard at the same time!

Hurricane Sandy

I hope everybody will stay safe over there in the tristate area! Especially since there are quite a few Tartan34Cs located in this area. Last year during Hurricane Irene we survived quite well but it was a very close call for Constance with the piers almost floating off the pilons at Cedar Point. With the full moon spring tide just happening today and the full fetch of 50+ kts sustained winds across the Long Island Sound it could be much worse this time..

New home!

SF skyline from the water

Moved Constance to her new location in Coyote Point marina last weekend. When we left our favorite anchorage at Angel Island in the morning, everything seemed calm and quiet. But it does make sense to check the local forecast! The Coast Guard had issued a small craft advisory for the afternoon and, sure enough, as soon as we passed the bridge on the left in the picture above, the wind started gusting and we went from full sails to reefed jib, then 1st reef in the main, finally to even more reefed jib in a very short period of time. Beam reaching at 7.5kn was quite some fun and we caught up with a much bigger Hunter even!

Constance under way

Just off Pinole Pt in San Pablo Bay, the wind always picks up quite a bit. In these pictures we're beating upwind in about 30kn sustained wind. Main sail is in the 1st reef, our 130% genoa is probably rolled up to 40% remaining area. Still going fast at 5kn over ground with the beginning of the flood tide against us! You see that the water is quite flat which is usually only the case when the tide runs with the wind. I wouldn't want to be beating upwind here in 30kn when the ebb is running full steam. You'll get very steep waves breaking short which makes sailing very wet and uncomfortable. I think this was probably our fastest trip to SF so far in less than 5hrs!

Delta run!

Took Constance out for a Suisun Bay circumnavigation. The direction to where you set sails from here is pretty much determined by the tides. Maximum current can easily be 3-4kn and somehow the complicated tidal system of the SF Bay and Delta results in currents that don't really behave like sine curves. In other words, when it floods, it floods. Period. The moment the tide turns from ebb to flood there is basically a millisecond of slack water and the next moment the full current pushes in the other direction. The actual occurrence of that millisecond can differ wildly even within a few meters, so around slack the surface of the water here looks very much confused, with one set of currents setting one way and a few meters away it's setting the opposite direction. You can see big swirls spinning around the water surface and vicious ripples everywhere.

Harbor seals on a channel marker. Check out the current!

So, in any event the current can push you nicely if it happens to go the same direction you intend to go. For a roundtrip you have to take into account when slack water occurs and then ride the opposing tide back home. Perfect! It so happens that a full tidal cycle is 28 days (the time it takes the moon to go around our planet once), with a complete phase change every 7 days. So when today at noon it floods it will invariable mean in 7 days you will have an ebb current at exactly the same time of the day. For us it means, one weekend we can sail down to San Francisco, and the next weekend we'll have to go up to the Delta.

Anchored behind Skag Island

The Delta is actually quite beautiful despite being barren and somewhat off the beaten track. There are some nice hideaways and channels which offer protection from the relentless thermal blow (every day 25kn in the summer!). Good idea to spend some time there waiting for the tide to turn and meanwhile enjoying scenery, a dip in the refreshing (but somewhat murky) waters, and having some snacks and drinks! On the way back we went the less traveled northern route through Grizzly Bay, along side the Ghost Fleet and back into Benicia. Under 1st reefed main with a gentle current pushing, it took us less than 2.5hrs upwind for the 15 miles back home!

Anchor Beer!

The failed attempt

Course plot

Leaving Angel Island around 11a. In hindsight too late! Fighting the remainder of the flood tide to make it through the Golden Gate. You can actually see how we drifted back in the tacks, and also how much better the pointing angle got when close to shore. Big breakers around Pt Bonita, short tack away from those nasty things and then cutting on the potato patch shoal side though the channel. The point where we realized that we were't going to make it in the upper left. That was around 3p with just 5mls out of the Golden Gate and still 20mls to go with increasing wind from W-NW. Quick upwind tack to get the main down and then flying back into the SF Bay!

Lessons learned: 1) If the wind is N-NW there is no chance to get to Pt Reyes. Should have opted for Halfmoon Bay instead. Need to wait for a stable SW wind situation. 2) Need to leave early in the morning for any venture out of the SF Bay. If there's a flood tide running don't even attempt to go out. That makes the way back also easier as the flood in the afternoon helps getting back in and you avoid big wave against current action. 3) Better safe than sorry!

July 4th cruise!

Moored at Ayala Cove, Angel Is.

Golden Gate

Alcatraz at sunset from Angel Island

For the week of 4th of July we had big plans, going on a little cruise with 2 friends from the NY. Just in time, I had the boat ready to cruise, with the prop installed and all systems in perfect conditions, including a new dinghy and a used outboard I got from one of my Benicia sailing friends. Turned out things on a sailboat never go as planned, especially if you're on a meticulously planned schedule. First, when refilling the water tanks I accidentally opened the wrong port and before I knew it filled some liters of water into the diesel tank. Ouch! It took us some time to siphon the water out from the bottom of the fuel tank (which is thankfully a V-shape design, that makes that part less difficult). Of course every time we switched on the engine later on there was some anxiety of the engine stalling, and the Racor filter was constantly monitored for signs of water collecting at the bottom. 

Finally we set sail and tacked out into San Pablo Bay into the building breeze. Like pretty much always, at Pinole Pt the wind picks up and we had to tuck in a reef. All of a sudden there was a snapping sound and the Jib came sliding down the forestay. Upon inspection we found the shackle missing that attaches the head of the sail to the upper part of the roller furling mechanism. It simply decided to let go without prior warning and was never seen again. Without foresail it would be difficult to make any headway upwind, so I bit the bullet and climbed the mast while we were sailing under main & engine alone. Collected some nice bruises thanks to some powerboat wake we had to go through while I was up there. After fixing the jib we went without further event and even got a mooring at Angel Island! The evening was crowned with a sunset walk to the top of Angel Island, beautiful views of the SF Bay with a low fog rolling in through the Golden Gate. 

The plan for the next day was to sail to Drakes Bay, out of the Golden Gate and into the open ocean. The weather forecast was calling for a moderate SW at 10-15kn, that should be perfect for going towards Pt Reyes in the NW. Unfortunately the tide was for the full morning against us so we got a late start at 11a to make it through the Golden Gate. We passed around 12:30 and tacked back and forth into the remainder of the flood tide. Meanwhile the wind was building, as it always does due to the thermal effects of the Central Valley. That blew away the fog, but rounding Pt Bonita we encountered some really confused sea state, with breakers 1/2 mile offshore. I didn't like that at all and we decided to keep cutting over the east end of the potato patch shoal which looked reasonably ok breakerwise. 

Once we cleared the patch which took us over one hour, it became clear that instead of the forecasted southwesterly we actually were facing dead upwind. Another 15mls to go would take us easily another 4-5hrs, we soon realized. No way  to make it to Drakes Bay before night fall! If we had known earlier we could have changed our plans to go to Half Moon Bay instead, but too late now! Quick considerations of all the options left only going back into SF Bay, what  a pity. So we turned around and decided to anchor for the night in Sausalito. Meanwhile the wind was blowing a good 25-30kn and we  took down the main and sail under jib only to prevent broaching in the now considerable waves rolling from behind. What a ride back into the Bay! By the time we finally dropped the hook in Sausalito we were happy not to have carried on. After a great dinner we had a nice and quiet evening watching the sunset.

Next day started beautiful and the promised SW finally set in, but unfortunately we were out of time so we couldn't go back out there. Another time then! Instead we went around Alcatraz, along the SF water front and slowly made our way home to Benicia.

The prop project!

propeller assembly ready to roll

Finally we're moving again, hurray! After some agonizing weeks trying to figure out how to install the old prop I got it all done. I eventually got the installation kit online (2 bronze locking nuts, the bronze keyway, and the cotter pin). Who would have thought there are so many different options to install a prop! As a further complication, everything had to be installed under water. Here in the marina the waters are not that clear, visibility about 20cm, so I spend a lot of time diving under the boat and securing everything in place. The most difficult part was the installation of the final cotter pin, which didn't like to go into its prescribed hole. I used up my 2 spare ones in the process and was almost ready to give up. Now that the prop is all clean and polished, the boat actually moves quite swiftly around, getting around 6.5kn at 2200rpm. With the 2blade Martec I got to that speed around 1800rpm and you can feel that the 3blade just doesn't have as much power. But at least it won't fall off (I hope!). As for that, I still haven't figured out how the 2blade came off by itself. I guess that will remain a puzzle...

Hookah dive system!

Airline 12V160-3 Hookah Dive System ready for action

My newest equipment addition: A 12V battery driven Hookah dive system! Comes with a 60ft pipe and a regulator that allows me diving under the boat for repairs, cleaning etc (oops, dropped something into the drink? Not a problem any more!). Already used it for cleaning the bottom and checking the new prop attachment. Works flawlessly, love it! I stayed like 30min under the boat and the main battery bank went just slightly down to 12.4V. 

Adrenaline high!

This was supposed to be a leisure sail into the Sacramento river delta, yet it turned out to be quite some adventure! Weather forecast was W10-15kn increasing to 15-20kn in the afternoon, nothing to be worried about on our boat. I guess I didn't really appreciate the thermal effects around here, where a really strong westerly kicks up as soon as the Central Valley heats up. So the Central Valley forecast had temperatures around 95F in the forecast, really hot and early for the season and plus the San Francisco Bay being still cold. So quite a thermal gradient here! More about that later..
Anyways we set out and tucked in a reef just to be safe and went riding up the flood tide at 8-9kn over ground, woohoo. On the way we got passed by some of the boats racing the Delta Ditch run (but not too many :-)) And as soon as we turned the corner after the bridge things really heated up. The guy in front of us wiped out with his spinnaker and we quickly reefed the jib. So after passing Middle ground we decided to stop for extended lunch break behind one of the islands and wait for the tide to turn to get back home. As we took the sail down I suddenly noticed that the engine didn't have any power and all of a sudden we were drifting with the current towards some sandbanks. Oops. So we unrolled the jib and sailed to some more or less protected spot where we dropped the anchor.

Track through Suisun Bay

After things had settled down I took out my snorkel gear and dove below the boat to see what had happened. Visibility in the murky water was about 4 inch (=10cm) so it was hard so see anything. So I couldn't almost believe my eyes when I finally found where the prop was supposed to be and was staring at a bare propeller shaft instead! Somehow the locking nut must have come loose and we had simply lost our prop!
Meanwhile the wind had started kicking up and we were witness to numerous boats in the race wiping out, shredding spinnakers, plus quite some chatter on the radio on grounded boats, dismasting etc. Jikes! So how to get back home without engine, not even thinking about getting docked! We waited for the tide to subside somewhat and then went to the task getting the anchor up hand over hand. Also, we had put in the 2nd reef in the main and went hauling on the chain while the boat was sailing left and right with the main up. Finally the anchor broke out and we were on our way! On the way back not too many boats any more. The wind kicked up to sustained 25-30kn with some gusts around 35kn. With the 2nd reef in and only maybe 1/3 of the jib we still were able to make 5kn headway on some pretty decent tacking angles (see pic!). Kudos to Olin Stephens! The channel is pretty narrow and we ended up tacking a total of 37 times till we made the Benicia harbor entrance. Totally exhausted, we finally arrived at the harbor entrance, after some anxious moments under the bridge, where we had to tack in fickle winds to avoid being swept on the bridge towers.
Docking turned out to be quite easy, as the wind had finally come down a bit and we were merely coasting into our berth. So now I just have to figure out how to get a new prop on and then we can go out again!

Sausalito!

Sailed to Sausalito and anchored in Richardson Bay over night. Impressive fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. On the way back it got quite windy with gusts up to 30kn. After staying at China Camp for lunch break we zoomed across San Pablo Bay with no main and just half of the jib up, at 7kn+ boat speed! Kind of different from last time where we were struggling getting back home..

Sunset at Richardson Bay

Windy day requires some gear!

Angel Island!

Ayala Cove, Angel Island

Golden Gate Bridge

First time pleasure sailing with Constance into the Central Bay area. This is a 50mile roundtrip so it requires an overnight stay. Perfect for a weekend! We stayed at Angel Island's Ayala Cove. You need to moor the boats between 2 buoys bow and stern which is a bit tricky given the shifty winds and currents in that cove. I bought a new 100ft mooring line for that purpose and it actually worked on first try! One problem is to get ashore since we don't have a dinghy (yet!). Thankfully a helpful boat neighbor gave us a lift with his inflatable and also picked us up on the way back. California is a friendly place! The next morning we went around the island, checked out the Golden Gate, Alcatraz and the SF waterfront before starting the long slough back. Took us 7 hours to get back as the current was  quite strong and the winds were super light. Good thing is the shallow draft of the Tartan34, so we could duck into the shallows on the southern side of the San Pablo Bay to avoid the most of the current.

More maintenance!

I meant to post this a while ago: Here is what the boatyard in Berkeley did to improve the spreader. When I shipped the mast there they found out that one of the spreaders had developed a crack in the aluminium on the trailing edge. They could still weld the crack, but the root cause of the problem was a construction feature (or flaw) of single spreader S&S designs, which allows the spreader to move freely back and forth to better respond to loads on the mast when sailing. As a result, the lee spreader is kind of flopping back and forth when under way, hence the wear on the edges. The yard machined jackets around the stressed area of the spreader and also changed the connectors to the mast such that the spreader won't be able to move any longer (see picture). That should last the foreseeable future and was actually much cheaper than replacing the whole assembly. I never really like the sight of the floppy spreader so I'm quite happy with it!

New spreader jackets

Other than that we rebedded the chain plates, and sealed the mast foot which was leaking a bit. So far no more rain water in the bilge! We'll see what else is leaking in the next big rain :-). Also, I got a shipment of balsa core and xbonded fiber glass to tackle the next big chore: replacing the soft spots in the deck and on the cabin top. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about that one, probably will start with the cabin top as it is a smaller spot and less conspicuous. In case I mess up it should be easier to fix..

As for cruising, we've been taking the boat out quite a bit, and I'm still marveling about the Martec folding prop, quietly but efficiently pushing the boat in and out of the marina and sometimes against the raging currents of the Carquinez Strait. I'm also getting a lot of practice reversing the boat into the slip. Not an easy task when it is windy, but so far no scratches to report!

Varnishing!

2nd weekend in a row we spend sanding and varnishing. It's not super pretty but I think it should be ok now after the 3rd layer. Need to go sailing again!

Suisun fleet!

Some more impressions from sailing by the anchored fleet. Wonder if they will be ever used again! These are mostly cargo ships, tankers and other supply vessels, being mothballed for decades now. The battleship USS Iowa was also anchored here for quite a while, but left unfortunately last November, so no pics.

The mothball fleet close up

Sailing the Delta

It's unbelievable, here we are in early February and it feels almost like summer! The winds around this time of the year tend to be very benign and are mostly from the East, so we tacked up the Sacramento River delta to visit the mothball fleet. One has to be very careful as it gets shallow very quick on the sides. There is a huge sandbank in the middle of the river (which is like 5 miles wide here), and you can see birds walking on the water at high tide. Either they have very long legs or it is darn shallow over there!

calm conditions

Suisun fleet!

Very calm conditions today with winds just below 10kn. Enough for Constance to get some heel going and trucking upriver at 4.5kn! The new folding prop works marvelous, we added some 0.5-1kn under sail, and reach hull speed already at 1800rpm when using the engine.

Heading up the river

New home!

Constance getting her feet wet in her new home in Benicia.

Sailing!

While transferring Constance across the SF Bay

Finally got everything fixed and set up so we could actually move the boat. The new Martec 14/14 folding prop works like a charm! At 1800rpm the boat now goes 6kn through the water, something I never was able to do with the old fixed 12/12 tri-blade, even when revving as high as 3000rpm. One downside we found out just past San Pablo point: The wash from the prop is so powerful it pushed water through the cockpit drain pipes back into the boat, and it started siphoning into the bilge. Big surprise when I looked down the hatch and saw water puddling over the floor boards! Even after turning off the engine the siphoning wouldn't stop and the bilge pump wasn't able to push against it, so the water level kept rising :-o. So for a moment I thought we had a serious issue from somewhere else, but once we started the manual bilge pump I figured it out where the water was coming from and we were able to clear all the water out. So another thing I have to update on this boat: Make sure the drain pipe loops way above the waterline to prevent siphoning, plus install a backwash valve at the pump. Other than that we managed to cross the jib and main halyards so the jib wouldn't unfurl. Need to fix that, too..