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!