Lorriane, Tim, Cindy and I had a nice sail today since we all had the day off. We sailed a little Southward from Alameda, ultimately heading toward Ballena Bay and the old NAS before heading back. Then we stopped at the “local chain Mexican place” for dinner.
I’d like to plan some longer trips, but blocking out longer timeframes has been challenging lately!
We had a very pleasant, albeit short sailing trip today. I had to be back in The City for a birthday party in the evening, so we were only out from about 12:30pm to 4:30pm. Before sailing we stopped at the engine place for replacement screws for the water pump since one fell into the blige and got lost when we replaced the impeller. They happened to be out of the exact correct ones, so we got the screw’s size and fasioned a temporary fix by adding a bunch of washers to one that was longer than we needed. No leaks, worked great.
It was sort of the “usual” short day out of Alameda: motored out the estuary, sailed toward Hunter’s Point, then toward SF, then alongside the Bay Bridge and back toward Alemeda. There was a lot of traffic in all directions; big ships, barges, dredges, etc. On the way back in we passed close to the “Commander’s House” on Yerba Buena Island.
The group today was Linhy, Peggy, Steve and Mark (aka Steve’s Dad). They did most of the driving while I relaxed on the cabin top (and kept an eye out for any oncoming craft, of course). Oh yeah, the Vietnamese sandwiches are always a good choice; today they were extra fresh. Thanks guys!
The winds were mild so we had decent sailing without straining anything too hard or having to reef. It was really warm and sunny on the water; we could see the fog rolling over the pink triangle on Twin Peaks above San Francisco.
The sailing today with Karen, Kathleen and John was great! We left the estuary and sailed around Alcatraz, toward Sausalito and toward the Gate, then down the Cityfront and back.
Awhile back I had re-rigged the second reef line, so today we tested it out by double reefing for our sailing in The Slot. The boat was well balanced, as expected; it was so manageable that it wasn’t until we were tacking near Harding Rock and the jib whipped around furiously, that I got some perspective about how much mainsail area was reduced. My only real complaint is it takes some work to get that reef put in well, so it’s hard to set it up once we are already underway.
I was obviously pleased with the sails and boat behavior, and the camraderie and conversation with this group seemed especially great too.
I think I need a thesaurus so I can come up with better adjectives than “great.”
We had a great sailing day today. I can’t believe how few times this year have been sailing days, but now that the summer weather and wind seem to have set it, I’m hoping to get out there much more often.
We left Alameda around noon. On the previous trip the engine had been running a little hot, so I replaced the thermostat. Today it was still running hot and the water flow from the exhaust was anemic. We pulled in to Fortmann and replaced the impeller in the water pump (and added a bit of transmission oil). Once that was done and we ran the engine for a bit, water flow came back to normal and so did the temperature.
We motored most of the way out of the Estuary. We saw a sailboat tack right in front of a moving barge, which was really scary to watch. The sailboat missed the barge by about 20 feet. We were reminded by another sailboat that there are folks out there who don’t know the basic navigation rules and are a menance to themselves and others!
The wind was moderate to high; we sailed all day with a reef in the main, out of Alameda, across the bay toward Hunter’s Point, back up toward the baseball park in San Francisco and to the Bay Bridge before heading back. Steph, Linhy and Steve and I enjoyed a clear and gorgeous day out there!
Steph got a great picture of the classic wooden schooner Dauntless a few moments before it passed us like we were standing still (we weren’t!):
I’m planning to sail next Saturday. Email me if you’d like to go.
I went for a bicycle ride around Richmond today, including a quick tour of the boatyard at KKMI. Immediately upon entering the yard I came across Pegasus 55, one of Phillipe Kahn’s “old” race boats (which is for sale) and one of the BMW Oracle America’s Cup boats. I’m a total “boat nerd,” as I really like seeing these types of things.
Here are a couple shots of the aforementioned vessels:
