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| Moored at Ayala Cove, Angel Is. |
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| Golden Gate |
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| 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.
