Memorial Day Cruise!

The long weekend of Memorial Day was a great chance to get out of our usual SF and back routine and visit some places we haven't been to for a while. I checked the tide tables and coincidentally, it was just a perfect fit for a venture out to the North Bay! The morning ebb would take us nicely to SF and the afternoon flood then would flush us up through San Pablo and further up wherever we wanted to go. We decided to visit our old stomping grounds of Benicia, so many beautiful memories! 

To get out early enough (noon slack water at Treasure Island!) we spend Friday night on the boat and set out early in the morning after breakfast. I was expecting to motor at least some part of the distance, so we had brought a spare canister of Diesel, just in case. However, the wind was already setting in early in the morning and we ended up motoring only for a little stretch close to the Bay Bridge. We even ran the spinnaker pretty much all the way to early afternoon, where it started to gust up in the usual afternoon thermals setting in. At Berkeley Circle we made a little detour to say hello the the J24 state championships, where a friend of us was competing. They were struggling with fickle winds and strong currents, but with the help of the iron genny we were quickly out of there and started sailing again.

Under gennaker close to Richmond bridge

Cruising the North Bay, SF skyline in the background

Going through San Pablo Bay was a breeze, wind and current in the same direction usually means flat sea state and a very smooth ride. Beautiful! Seeing the familiar silhouette of the Carquinez bridge reminded us of the time 3 years ago when were sailing this stretch of water countless times. Of course, and just as usual, as soon as we entered the strait the winds sort of died, but we enjoyed sailing slowly along the beautiful scenery, pushed by the current, and finally docked at Benicia harbor. After a walk through beautiful downtown Benicia we settled for dinner at Sailor Jack's, a really nice restaurant offering creative and high quality seafood dishes in a very relaxed atmosphere. They are located on the water front, offering splendid views of the sun setting over Carquinez Strait. 

The way back wasn't going to be that easy, as we now had winds against us and the ebb too early to be useful getting all the way to SF. Already in the morning it was blowing quite hard and we decided to tuck a reef in right away. Just outside the bridge where the Bay opens it got really messy, the strong ebb tide against 25kn of wind created a huge chop. The boat was slamming down pretty hard into the waves, so we decided to get out of the main channel to have a little smoother ride, even though it meant being somewhat slower. We saw some boats deciding to go under bare poles, engine only, slamming up and down the waves. Good stomach training :-) Around Pinole point it probably blew the hardest with gusts in the 30s. But as we neared China Camp the waves got much better as the wind doesn't have enough fetch to create any bigger waves. What a difference going through Richmond bridge, we really had to take that reef out to make any progress after that. After a long day we finally picked up a mooring at Angel Island, our favorite spot to spend the night. Nothing more pretty and tranquil around in the area.

Cuvee Constance for dinner!

The next morning it felt like being anchored at Moorea, as a pair of outrigger canoes came paddling by the lush green scenery that envelopes Angel Islands north flank. The way home was uneventful and we had to motor quite a bit to get home since there was way less wind than the day before. Just when we entered the Coyote Point marina channel I heard some strange noises from down below, as if the propeller shaft was rubbing against something. Otherwise the engine was running fine with full power, but I was glad it didn't happen earlier and was able to investigate right away. Upon further investigation when we were eventually docked, I also noticed a pretty bad Diesel exhaust smell inside the cabin, something I had noted earlier but attributed to the wind blowing exhaust back into the cabin. Happens sometimes when you run under engine down wind. This time however it was clear that it was coming from the exhaust system. After a quick check I noticed that the exhaust elbow was cracked. Good grief! No more motoring until that is fixed I guess..

Broken exhaust elbow, see the crack at the connection to the engine...