Friday, November 24, 2006
THURSDAY 11/23/06-- CLEAR DAY AND NORTH WIND
After some rain yesterday, we awoke today to brilliantly sunny skies and very clear and fresh air. We headed out about 1:30 pm just as the tide was turning from flood to ebb.
The flags over pier 39 were fluttering nicely in the northerly breeze of about 8-10 knots.
We raised a full main while slowly motoring into the wind after exiting the marina. After entering the central bay, we sailed to the north on main only for a short distance and then tacked to the southwest, pulling out the jib to full and heading for the gate.
The flags on the end of pier 39 were also fluttering smartly in the northerly breeze.
The city was enjoying the clear air and brilliant sunshine as we sailed along on starboard tack close reach, but a bit off the wind....
....as was Alcatraz.
Way off in the west, Sausalito and Mt. Tam looked especially vivid in the clear air.
As we sailed past Fort Mason, a sailboat out of the San Francisco marina, left port, raised sails and started sailing toward the northeast, passing in front of us....
...and then GOOD TIMES passed to starboard.
Ahead the Golden Gate Bridge was gleaming in the slanted fall sunshine with the dramatic Marin Headlands in the background.
The wind ahead looked to be softening, so we gave up on shooting the gate and came about to head back toward home port against the waxing ebb current.
We passed the small sailboat that was already returning from the gate as we headed that way...
....as a pair of pelicans swooped overhead.
Soon we left that small sailboat far behind....
....and a bit later we noticed that she had changed course to sail across the gate....
....and then she doused sails and began motoring eastward.
A couple of sailboats were sailing westward with the waxing ebb current.
We sailed to a point opposite the Fort Mason piers, enjoying this view of Russian Hill.
Our eastward progress was stopped by a couple of ferry wakes and then the wind softened to a level that was insufficient to stem the current and we were forced to begin motorsailing under main only.
The city was still gleaming in the afternoon sun.
We turned on our cellphone and found we had a couple of messages from our boat neighbor Damien who owns GO DOG GO, a Santana 22 with no engine. He said he was stuck in light air south of Angel Island and might need a tow back to port. Fortunately the northerly breeze started freshening again, so we turned off the engine, pulled out the jib again and headed out to the NNE to rendezvous with the DOG.
We found them about a quarter mile south of Angel Island trying to do wing and wing,and suggested that they shift to port tack broad reach pointing toward Treasure Island and let the ebb current carry them westward.
We passed the DOG as she sailed eastward....
....and after a bit, suggested she shift to doing wing and wing again.
We pulled in the jib to avoid pulling too far ahead of the DOG in case the breeze died out again, and led the way toward home port, making slow but definite progress against the still waxing ebb current.
The Dog was still doing wing and wing after passing Alcatraz.
The city was illuminated by the late sun as we approached home port.
The wind gradually shifted more westward, which was a blessing, since we were encountering stronger ebb current trying to drag us westward.
As we approached the marina, the sun was glinting off the Bank of America tower....
....and the flags at the end of pier 39 were fluttering nicely in the westerly breeze.
We were grateful that a sufficiently strong northerly had blown up to enable the DOG to make it back to home port under sail. It would have been a drag to have hadqwaawq to drag her most of the way across the bay while motoring against the ebb current.
After some rain yesterday, we awoke today to brilliantly sunny skies and very clear and fresh air. We headed out about 1:30 pm just as the tide was turning from flood to ebb.
The flags over pier 39 were fluttering nicely in the northerly breeze of about 8-10 knots.
We raised a full main while slowly motoring into the wind after exiting the marina. After entering the central bay, we sailed to the north on main only for a short distance and then tacked to the southwest, pulling out the jib to full and heading for the gate.
The flags on the end of pier 39 were also fluttering smartly in the northerly breeze.
The city was enjoying the clear air and brilliant sunshine as we sailed along on starboard tack close reach, but a bit off the wind....
....as was Alcatraz.
Way off in the west, Sausalito and Mt. Tam looked especially vivid in the clear air.
As we sailed past Fort Mason, a sailboat out of the San Francisco marina, left port, raised sails and started sailing toward the northeast, passing in front of us....
...and then GOOD TIMES passed to starboard.
Ahead the Golden Gate Bridge was gleaming in the slanted fall sunshine with the dramatic Marin Headlands in the background.
The wind ahead looked to be softening, so we gave up on shooting the gate and came about to head back toward home port against the waxing ebb current.
We passed the small sailboat that was already returning from the gate as we headed that way...
....as a pair of pelicans swooped overhead.
Soon we left that small sailboat far behind....
....and a bit later we noticed that she had changed course to sail across the gate....
....and then she doused sails and began motoring eastward.
A couple of sailboats were sailing westward with the waxing ebb current.
We sailed to a point opposite the Fort Mason piers, enjoying this view of Russian Hill.
Our eastward progress was stopped by a couple of ferry wakes and then the wind softened to a level that was insufficient to stem the current and we were forced to begin motorsailing under main only.
The city was still gleaming in the afternoon sun.
We turned on our cellphone and found we had a couple of messages from our boat neighbor Damien who owns GO DOG GO, a Santana 22 with no engine. He said he was stuck in light air south of Angel Island and might need a tow back to port. Fortunately the northerly breeze started freshening again, so we turned off the engine, pulled out the jib again and headed out to the NNE to rendezvous with the DOG.
We found them about a quarter mile south of Angel Island trying to do wing and wing,and suggested that they shift to port tack broad reach pointing toward Treasure Island and let the ebb current carry them westward.
We passed the DOG as she sailed eastward....
....and after a bit, suggested she shift to doing wing and wing again.
We pulled in the jib to avoid pulling too far ahead of the DOG in case the breeze died out again, and led the way toward home port, making slow but definite progress against the still waxing ebb current.
The Dog was still doing wing and wing after passing Alcatraz.
The city was illuminated by the late sun as we approached home port.
The wind gradually shifted more westward, which was a blessing, since we were encountering stronger ebb current trying to drag us westward.
As we approached the marina, the sun was glinting off the Bank of America tower....
....and the flags at the end of pier 39 were fluttering nicely in the westerly breeze.
We were grateful that a sufficiently strong northerly had blown up to enable the DOG to make it back to home port under sail. It would have been a drag to have hadqwaawq to drag her most of the way across the bay while motoring against the ebb current.
# posted by charlie bergstedt @ 2:14 PM 
