Nice sailing yesterday with Laurel, Marshal and Stacey. Had light to moderate winds, and managed to avoid rain while we were out there. Made it all the way to the cityfront and back. There’s something really nice about sailing in colder weather. The different clouds and skies are a nice change of pace.
Today I’m sailing with Captain Ellen and her crew.
The challenger series for the America’s Cup has started! I wish I had ESPN.
From Latitude 38:
“In this first day of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series to find out who goes up against the Kiwis in February, American entries kicked ass. In addition to Oracle BMW beating Prada’s Luna Rossa by 42 seconds, OneWorld of Seattle clobbered the semi-serious Mascalzone Latino entry from Italy, and Team Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes narrowly edged Great Britain’s Wight Lightning. The excellent latter match was the featured contest on the OLN network (channel 404 in Marin), and it looked to us as if Stars & Stripes was a bit slower but had a more clever afterguard.”
Where is my towel?
I decided to spend most of the week in Alameda. Alameda is sort of a home to me. It’s where the boat was purchased, it’s the place I chose to register as her “homeport” — and sailing on the “estuary” is about as good as it gets.
I departed Richmond around 1pm on Tuesday. It had been a slow morning of email and going through my full pre-sailing checklist and getting things ready. Sailing with crew makes things easy to manage. Singlehanding is a whole different adventure. I’ve found the difference between successfully singlehanding and having a scary or dangerous sail is preparation. Get everything ready beforehand and think about various situations that can happen out there, before heading out.
I raised the main as I left the marina, and started sailing upon reaching the Richmond Harbor Channel. I was close hauled, but with room to spare. Once outside the channel, I came about and pointed the boat at Treasure Island. Set the self steering and off we (the boat and I) went. The winds were moderate, increasing a bit at the Slot. In fact, the rail was in the water for a little while, but the wind seemed steady and I knew it would lessen behind the TI, so I didn’t reef the main.
Coming across was relatively uneventful (a good indication of a successful trip). I like to sit on the foredeck when it’s not too rough and watch the boat sail itself. It was hot all day, and I remained in shorts and a tee-shirt the whole time. A tug and barge passed just before the East span of the Bay Bridge.
The wind cut out as I neared the entrance to the Oakland Inner Harbor Channel (aka the “estuary”) so I brought the sails down and motored in. Ah, to be back in Alameda. I don’t think I can really describe it. The town itself is nice, but for me it’s about all the time I’ve spent here, and the boat-related adventures that go with it.
There were three big ships crammed up end-to-end at the APL dock. Rather unusual (next morning, two were gone, out to sea). A big dredge barge was moored right in the middle of the channel off Jack London square. I squeezed through the narrow side, relieved there were no unseen cables in my way under the water.
Marina Village, OYC, Wind River, Fortmann, Grand slipped past my starboard side. Finally, back at the funky old Alameda Marina, the boat’s home for so many years. Old wooden docks and attitude. Checked in, secured Amelia in her guest slip, hosed her down, had dinner.
I practiced bringing the boat in to the slip backwards. I did pretty well too, despite a group of about 10 people watching. It’s weird to be flipped around. I felt a little confused berthed this way, since the expected view out each window is different!
