I rented a Catalina 22 in Vancouver, BC and sailed all over English Bay and right up to the cityfront. It seemed very San Francisco-esque, though cleaner and somewhat smaller. The weather was sunny and warm. Coming back toward the harbor I got the boat on a fast and furious beam reach; it was perfect.
The boat work party last weekend was good. Only a few of us did actual boat work, the rest socialized and hung out. It was nice to see folks.
I replaced the galley faucet, and had some help scrubbing the hull and cleaning/oiling some of the exterior teak including the handrails. Amelia is looking good.
I really need to look into buying some fabric and see if I can make new cushions myself.
I did manage to stop by West Marine for a couple extra PFDs, and then went to the boat to clean out some of the old crap onboard, including old clothes, old catalogs, old tide tables, etc.
I’m hoping to get some more boat work done on Friday.
Saturday was sailing with Captain Dennis and friends on a Cal 30 called Clio. Dennis is 61, and a real character. He is a nudist, and quite excited about it. A great guy with a lot of stories to share.
We sailed to Racoon Strait and got there right as the America’s Cup boats were rounding their mark. It was spectacular to see those old racing boats in friendly competition here on the bay. They are so damn fast. We were less than 50 yards from them! I was geeking out over those boats! Ellison’s luxury motoryacht was cruising menacingly nearby as well.
We passed the old museum scow schooner “Alma” under full sail. What a treat to see her out there.
Then we ducked under the Golden Gate. I was at the helm tacking out and then reaching back in. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve sailed under the Gate, but it’s always quite an experience.
We hot-rodded through Aquatic Park, and up the face of Alcatraz before heading home. All the folks on board were great company, and it was just a hell of a day.
Today I took Ralph, Becky, my cousin Robert, and his girlfriend Daphne sailing. It was blowing like crazy and we were fighting the wind even with a reefed main. The upwind sail out was hardcore — the beam reach back was much more pleasant. We just rocketed home, even with the main still reefed.
Sun, Jun. 22nd, 2003, 11:57 pm
Last Sunday was a great sail on Ellen’s boat with her, Joe, Roberta and Jean. We went to China camp and hove-to for lunch. Worked pretty well. Then sailed back to San Rafael and motored up the canal to sight-see. It was hot and warm — very nice, but I got pretty tired and wanted to get home.
Sailed on Selene Saturday. A neat boat, to be sure, but I’d never want to own it. Too much woodwork and whatnot to maintain. No wonder Stan has his sailing crew do the maintenance work for him. But it was a nice sail to the SF Cityfront. We hung out by the ferry terminal and had lunch, then around Yerba Buena and back toward Richmond East of TI. I was driving on the way back, and we snuck through the J/105 fleet that was sailing to Tiburon after their race.
Sunday Elisa met me at the dock and we went out for a sail. Her lessons have really paid off — she was doing great running the boat. We tacked over to Angel Island with a reef in the main, hove to for lunch off Pt Simpton, then sailed back downwind, unreefed. It was an awesome sailing weekend! The only downside was missing Ellen and her crew who were, I found out later, on a mooring at nearby Ayala Cove.
Today Cathy met me at the dock at noon and we went for a short sail over to Southampton Shoal and back. It was windy without being insanely windy, so we made good time and had some extra time to practice various sailing manuevers in the marina basin. We tried to rescue my floating winch handle that fell overboard, but it drifted under a dock after we made several unsuccessful attempts to fish it out of the water. Cathy insisted on buying me a new one, even though I told her it wasn’t a big deal.