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!