The return trip from Half Moon Bay actually occurred the day after the trip down. Down Saturday, back up Sunday. It’s just been a week or so since I’ve had a chance to write this.
So, kids, let’s go back to the ship’s log and see what I can remember:
1055 – Depart Half Moon Bay
I think we all slept well, given the fatigue factor. I put Bruce and Judy in the v-berth, Ralph on the starboard settee, and I crawled into the quarter-berth along with my clothes and boxes and all the other stuff I keep there. I figured I’d be most used to squeezing into that space. I slept okay. It was kind of hard keeping the temperature at a level we all liked. And folks getting up to go up to the bathroom woke me up a couple times. It’s funny how people always seem to make a lot of noise when they are trying hard to be quiet.
The morning dawned cold and wet. And foggy. Which, of course, was some cause for concern, at least for me. I had decided we wouldn’t need to leave until about 1100, which would put us at the Gate around max flood. As we went to breakfast, I was hoping the weather would improve. No such luck.
A storm was on its way in, though it wasn’t supposed to arrive until that night or the next morning. As I ate my home-fries and omelete (yes, I made a rare exception to my no eggs rule), I watched the drizzle turn to raid. Ugh.
We cast off pretty quickly. I let the motor warm up for awhile while Bruce and Judy got settled below. Ralph came up, and without words it was basically decided he and I would run the boat topside, with support from the folks below. I had weather-radio on in the cabin, and Bruce was put in charge of monitoring conditions and keeping the GPS dry down below. We suspected it was going to be a rough ride for Judy. It was, but she maintained a great attitude throughout.
Just like that we were backing out of the slip and slowly puttering out of Pillar Point Harbor. The visibility was still poor, so we steered compass courses to get past the buoys and avoid the reef. I decided we would head out about three miles before turning northward. With the fog, I wanted plenty of space to work with.
1113 – G3 buoy
Amelia was getting a pretty good tossing in the swells. We rounded the first buoy and headed toward G1. The fishing boats were coming in. And I was analyzing the situation in my head. Bruce reported conditions at the Gate were still okay. And that the main storm was still far away.
1127 – G1 buoy
Set a compass course to get some space offshore, and figured we’d need to motor about 45 minutes.
1215 – Position check.
GPS showed we were right where we wanted to be. Excellent. It was still raining and the boat was still tossing around. I snapped on my tether and headed to the mast. I really should get those lines led aft, but it was good practice going up there. I managed to get the main up and set the reef while the boat bounced up and down. Oops, we didn’t record the course change in the log. But we spun her around and started heading up the coast. Which, at this point, was not visible. A big power-yacht passed us and slowly disappeared in the gloom.
At this point the weather cleared. If I had waited 10 minutes, I would have been putting the main up in clouded sunlight. Go figure.
We were out far enough that the swells weren’t bad, and now we could see the coast again. It ended up being pretty beautiful.
We put Handy in charge of steering the boat. Judy rested below. Bruce came up. Snacks came out. We motorsailed, listening to weather at the Gate. Finally the motor was turned off and we sailed in gentle winds.
The great thing about the impending weather development, was the wind direction. The storm coming in was influencing the wind, so we had a tame southerly to ride home on. We gybed up the coast on close and beam reaches. Much better than bashing up close hauled.
1320 – 0M
1425 – 312M
Our last gybe had us just outside the bar, heading to the entrance of the main shipping channel. We watched a big tanker pass us in the southern lane to our port side.
Ralph was looking through the binoculars. “Hey, there’s a red buoy in front of us.” Right where it was supposed to be. It’s a great feeling to have the navigation right on for your first coastal trip.
1530 – Abeam SF Bar Channel R2. 60M
I swear the boat was smiling. She just frolicked down the channel on a smooth beam reach. All of us sat in the cockpit chatting. I’m pretty sure Bruce threw out a couple more bad jokes, just for fun. Judy was looking mighty glad to be approaching the bay.
1550 – Abeam SF R8. 44M
1620 – Abeam Mile Rocks. 40M
1635 – Pass under the Gate
We ended up making great time back. And it’s amazing how flat the bay seems after being on the ocean all day. Amelia seemed proud of her efforts, and was now gliding gently toward Pt. Blunt. A Coast Guard boat passed us. The light on Alcatraz blinked. Could it be any better?
1705 – Abeam Pt. Blunt. Started the motor to warm it up. Continued sailing.
1728 – Saw a brand new yellow rubber ducky floating North of Southhampton Shoal. Too funny.
1740 – Richmond breakwater. Motor in gear.
1813 – Back in the slip at Marina Bay. Congrats all around. And the damn main halyard zoomed up the mast again. Oh well, at least it didn’t fall through again. A quick trip to the top will get it back down.
We said our goodbyes, I grabbed some food, and slept like a log.
