Saturday, December 16, 2006
SATURDAY 16 DEC 06-- SHIFTY WINDS & UNUSUAL SUNDOWN DISPLAY
Michael and Stevan joined us for an afternoon sail and we left port about 1:30 pm, put out full canvas and began sailing to the northwest
with the ebb current dragging us westward.
Hardly a breath of breeze was blowing, and the flags on the end of pier 39 were essentially limp.
Behind us the city was overcast and looking a bit gloomy.
We were ghosting to the northwest when a nice northwesterly breeze came up and we started sailing with some reasonable headway to the north, passing to the east of Alcatraz.
We continued sailing northward into the lee of Angel Island where the breeze softened and showed no sign of freshening again, so we came about and headed back toward home port, sailing with the current and enjoying a view of the GGB with interesting cloud patterns behind it.
We ghosted past Alcatraz and motored for a while to pass safely in front of an inbound freighter, then picked up a freshening westerly as we approached pier 39, where the flags were now fluttering nicely.
We sailed past the end of pier 39 on a close reach starboard tack and then tacked onto port tack to head out to watch the sundown which began with some dramatic light and shadow displays.
As we sailed past the weather side of Alcatraz, the light and shadow display over the gate was spectacular.
Michael was at the helm and bundled up in his foulies against the wind chill which was probably in the 30s....
...and Stevan was well bundled as well, but all were enjoying the freshening breeze and the dramatic sunset skies...
...which continued to change and develop in a spectacular manner.
The dark clouds over the gate took on the appearance of battling monsters.
A bit of sunset color was developing over the Marin Headlands.
Dramatic cloud patterns and some blue sky extended over the western part of the city.
The breeze softened so we came about and headed back toward home port, giving up on the idea of shooting the gate at sunset, but watching more vivid drama develop over the gate.
Here a cloud monster is about to gobble some blue sky and the cloud ahead.
We eventually picked up a steady westerly breeze again and made good headway toward home port, switching to wing and wing after approaching the cityfront, and watching this vessel steam past, loaded with sattelite communication gear, and probably a research vessel of some kind.
Dusk was falling as we approached the marina and got ready to douse sails and land.Dusk was falling as we approached the marina and got ready to douse sails and land.
The predicted showers and possible thundershowers did not materialize, and we were fortunate to have some periods of good breeze to allow us to do some enjoyable sailing, coupled with the dramatic sundown and sunset skies.
Michael and Stevan joined us for an afternoon sail and we left port about 1:30 pm, put out full canvas and began sailing to the northwest
with the ebb current dragging us westward.
Hardly a breath of breeze was blowing, and the flags on the end of pier 39 were essentially limp.
Behind us the city was overcast and looking a bit gloomy.
We were ghosting to the northwest when a nice northwesterly breeze came up and we started sailing with some reasonable headway to the north, passing to the east of Alcatraz.
We continued sailing northward into the lee of Angel Island where the breeze softened and showed no sign of freshening again, so we came about and headed back toward home port, sailing with the current and enjoying a view of the GGB with interesting cloud patterns behind it.
We ghosted past Alcatraz and motored for a while to pass safely in front of an inbound freighter, then picked up a freshening westerly as we approached pier 39, where the flags were now fluttering nicely.
We sailed past the end of pier 39 on a close reach starboard tack and then tacked onto port tack to head out to watch the sundown which began with some dramatic light and shadow displays.
As we sailed past the weather side of Alcatraz, the light and shadow display over the gate was spectacular.
Michael was at the helm and bundled up in his foulies against the wind chill which was probably in the 30s....
...and Stevan was well bundled as well, but all were enjoying the freshening breeze and the dramatic sunset skies...
...which continued to change and develop in a spectacular manner.
The dark clouds over the gate took on the appearance of battling monsters.
A bit of sunset color was developing over the Marin Headlands.
Dramatic cloud patterns and some blue sky extended over the western part of the city.
The breeze softened so we came about and headed back toward home port, giving up on the idea of shooting the gate at sunset, but watching more vivid drama develop over the gate.
Here a cloud monster is about to gobble some blue sky and the cloud ahead.
We eventually picked up a steady westerly breeze again and made good headway toward home port, switching to wing and wing after approaching the cityfront, and watching this vessel steam past, loaded with sattelite communication gear, and probably a research vessel of some kind.
Dusk was falling as we approached the marina and got ready to douse sails and land.Dusk was falling as we approached the marina and got ready to douse sails and land.
The predicted showers and possible thundershowers did not materialize, and we were fortunate to have some periods of good breeze to allow us to do some enjoyable sailing, coupled with the dramatic sundown and sunset skies.
Labels: sailboats, sailing, san francisco bay, sunsets
Friday, December 15, 2006
THURSDAY 14 DEC. 06-- LATE AFTERNOON ALMOST TO GGB AND BACK
Tuesday it rained all afternoon and we didnt feel like going out in it, so stayed in port.
Today, after a burrito lunch with my daughter in the Mission, followed by a shopping trip to West Marine and REI, I arrived back at the marina about 3:45, put the purchases away quickly and headed out for a late afternoon sailing outing.
The flags on Telegraph Hill and just outside the marina indicated a light to moderate breeze, so we pulled up a full main and put out a full jib ....
...and headed out into the central bay where we could just barely see a portion of the GGB in the fog.
A waxing flood current threatened to impeded our progress westward and after a couple of tacks we were still just barely past the end of pier 38 where the flags were fluttering moderately.
In the west, Mt. Tam was ghostly above the fog bank at the sea surface.
The light colored fog bank served as a backdrop for Alcatraz.
Eventually the breeze freshened a bit and we were then making moderate headway to the west on a southwest breeze against the current, and very much enjoying watching the city lights brighten on shore-- like Ghiradelli Square and Russian Hill above it....
... and Telegraph Hill and the Financial District behind us.
We had seen first a Coast Guard motor life boat head out at high speed toward the gate with emergency light flashing wildly. A bit later a Coast Guard fast boat blasted westward with flashing lights also. So we figured some sort of serious incident had occurred or was in progress, and we turned on the handheld VHF to check if there would be any announcements by the Coast Guard. Sure enough, a short time later came a voice on Channel 16: "PON PON; PON PON: HELLO ALL STATIONS. COAST GUARD STATION GOLDEN GATE HAS RECEIVED A REPORT OF A PERSON IN THE WATER MIDSPAN OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. [TRANSLATION-- SOMEONE JUMPED FROM THE BRIDGE TO COMMIT SUICIDE.] ALL VESSELS IN THE VICINITY ARE REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT AND REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS TO THE COAST GUARD. MARINERS ARE REQUEST TO ASSIST IF POSIBLE."
We tacked toward Fort Mason and caught this lovely view of Ghiradelli, Russian Hill and the financial district buildings peeking over the east slope of Russian Hill from just west of the pier at Aquatic Park.
Then we tacked to the west and sailed toward the gate in the moderate breeze making slow headway against the flood current.
Soon we could see the two Coast Guard vessels running a search pattern back and forth inside the gate, since the flood current would carry any body eastward from the gate. The CG fast boat discontinued its search effort and headed back east, but the CG motor life boat continued the search for a while more. As we sailed toward the gate in the growing darkness, we experienced mixed emotions of enjoying the full canvas sailing in moderate winds together with some apprehension that we might actually see a body floating in the bay somewhere around our boat.
We did keep an eye on the water ahead and on both sides from time to time, but were happy that we didnt spot anything. Happily the fog lifted as we sailed to the west and the GGB, Sausalito, etc. were now clearly visible. We sailed to within a quarter mile or so of the GGB and the breeze was softening, so we came about and headed for home port, continuing to look around for a floating body, but also enjoying the city lights. With the flood current assist and a steady but light breeze, we made good headway toward home port until we passed pier 45 and then the breeze died, so we pulled in the jib and rode the ebb past pier 39, then turned on the engine and motored toward the marina entrance, dropped the main and tied her up while approaching pier 35, then motored into the marina.
As we headed in, we enjoyed this view of Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, and the pleasant sensation of having spent a couple of delightful hours on our fabulous bay-- only slightly spoiled by the thoughts of another suicide jumper off our favorite bridge.
Tuesday it rained all afternoon and we didnt feel like going out in it, so stayed in port.
Today, after a burrito lunch with my daughter in the Mission, followed by a shopping trip to West Marine and REI, I arrived back at the marina about 3:45, put the purchases away quickly and headed out for a late afternoon sailing outing.
The flags on Telegraph Hill and just outside the marina indicated a light to moderate breeze, so we pulled up a full main and put out a full jib ....
...and headed out into the central bay where we could just barely see a portion of the GGB in the fog.
A waxing flood current threatened to impeded our progress westward and after a couple of tacks we were still just barely past the end of pier 38 where the flags were fluttering moderately.
In the west, Mt. Tam was ghostly above the fog bank at the sea surface.
The light colored fog bank served as a backdrop for Alcatraz.
Eventually the breeze freshened a bit and we were then making moderate headway to the west on a southwest breeze against the current, and very much enjoying watching the city lights brighten on shore-- like Ghiradelli Square and Russian Hill above it....
... and Telegraph Hill and the Financial District behind us.
We had seen first a Coast Guard motor life boat head out at high speed toward the gate with emergency light flashing wildly. A bit later a Coast Guard fast boat blasted westward with flashing lights also. So we figured some sort of serious incident had occurred or was in progress, and we turned on the handheld VHF to check if there would be any announcements by the Coast Guard. Sure enough, a short time later came a voice on Channel 16: "PON PON; PON PON: HELLO ALL STATIONS. COAST GUARD STATION GOLDEN GATE HAS RECEIVED A REPORT OF A PERSON IN THE WATER MIDSPAN OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. [TRANSLATION-- SOMEONE JUMPED FROM THE BRIDGE TO COMMIT SUICIDE.] ALL VESSELS IN THE VICINITY ARE REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT AND REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS TO THE COAST GUARD. MARINERS ARE REQUEST TO ASSIST IF POSIBLE."
We tacked toward Fort Mason and caught this lovely view of Ghiradelli, Russian Hill and the financial district buildings peeking over the east slope of Russian Hill from just west of the pier at Aquatic Park.
Then we tacked to the west and sailed toward the gate in the moderate breeze making slow headway against the flood current.
Soon we could see the two Coast Guard vessels running a search pattern back and forth inside the gate, since the flood current would carry any body eastward from the gate. The CG fast boat discontinued its search effort and headed back east, but the CG motor life boat continued the search for a while more. As we sailed toward the gate in the growing darkness, we experienced mixed emotions of enjoying the full canvas sailing in moderate winds together with some apprehension that we might actually see a body floating in the bay somewhere around our boat.
We did keep an eye on the water ahead and on both sides from time to time, but were happy that we didnt spot anything. Happily the fog lifted as we sailed to the west and the GGB, Sausalito, etc. were now clearly visible. We sailed to within a quarter mile or so of the GGB and the breeze was softening, so we came about and headed for home port, continuing to look around for a floating body, but also enjoying the city lights. With the flood current assist and a steady but light breeze, we made good headway toward home port until we passed pier 45 and then the breeze died, so we pulled in the jib and rode the ebb past pier 39, then turned on the engine and motored toward the marina entrance, dropped the main and tied her up while approaching pier 35, then motored into the marina.
As we headed in, we enjoyed this view of Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, and the pleasant sensation of having spent a couple of delightful hours on our fabulous bay-- only slightly spoiled by the thoughts of another suicide jumper off our favorite bridge.
Labels: coast guard search, sailboats, sailing, san francisco bay, suicide jumper
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
SUNDAY 10 DEC. 06-- LIGHT WINDS-- ORACLE BMW MATCH RACING
Another break in the rainy weather gave us an opportunity to enjoy some more great sailing on the bay. We headed out with reefed main in case of storm winds coming in, but pulled out full jib since the winds were currently quite light.
We sailed out to the northwest with light flood current resisting westward progress, and then tacked to the southwest to sail toward the end of pier 39 where the flags were fluttering lightly.
We had to tack away and for a time the breeze softened and we were being driven back to the east by the flood current. A while later a nice westerly asserted and we were able to make progress sailing toward the northwest, and watched marina neighbor, Andrew, on his ketch, THAI SAPPHIRE, come motoring up.
While they headed up into the wind to raise sails, we headed off for a rendezvous with another marina neighbor, Chris, on his charter sailboat LOLA flying a full main and a cruising spinnaker.
Meanwhile, THAI SAPPHIRE had finished raising main and putting out jib and was sailing toward the gate on close reach starboard tack.
We hung around LOLA for a bit to take some more photos, and let Chris take some of ANTICIPATION, figuring that we could readily catch up with THAI SAPPHIRE.
She was about a quarter mile ahead of us when we headed out after her.
We started catching up with her as we passed the Golden Gate Yacht Club, in front of which some Star dingies were either racing or practicing.
For a while after that, we were not making any progress catching THAI SAPPHIRE because we were hindered by the dirty air coming from her sails, so we fell off a bit and moved away from her, and then gradually started to catch up.
A short time later, we had passed her.
Andrew called out to say that he was going to fall off and watch the Oracle-BMW match racing that was taking place in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club, so we decided to do the same and fell off the wind to head over to watch the racing.
The two boats were maneuvering for the anticipated start of the next race as we approached-- tacking around in behind the start line.
They approached the start line....
... then they were off and racing!
The boat on the right was in the dirty air of the other, so tacked away into clear air.
As they passed us to port, they were in the process of tacking again onto port tack.
The two boats were closing with one on starboard tack and the other on port tack.
The boat on the left tacked again to cover the other one, or so it seems from the photo....
..but both rounded the mark and headed downwind under spinnaker looking to be neck and neck.
After rounding the leeward mark, both tacked upwind again and the lead boat was approaching the mark several boat lengths ahead of the other on starboard tack...
...tacked onto port tack to lay the mark while readying the spinnaker pole for the spinnaker set...
....and did its spinnaker set while still on port tack, as the trailing boat approached the mark.
The lead boat was off on its spinnaker run...
.. while the trailing boat was rounding the mark and preparing for spinnaker set....
....then did a gybe set while rounding the mark, as the lead boat gybed onto starboard tack also...
.. and both were now sailing parallel and looking to be neck and neck.
The formerly trailing boat now took the lead, perhaps getting some better wind or covering the lead boat and blocking its wind, so the boat on the left headed up to cover and slow down the other boat by taking its wind...
...and soon was behind the lead boat in a cover position.
The lead boat gybed to get away, but the trailing boat gybed to maintain cover....
... and it looked as if that tactic worked and the inside boat would win the race.
After watching this, we decided to head for the gate, trying to match speed with THAI SAPPHIRE.
Another large sailboat a ways off to starboard was also heading for the gate.
The GGB was enjoying nice sunshine as we ghosted toward her in softening winds.
The city was gleaming in the afternoon sunshine.
We shook the reef out of the main for more power, and we were making some slow progress toward the gate, but it was nearing current turn to ebb, so we decided to come about and head back toward home port.
We made slow but steady progress back to the area in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club, where the two boats were still match racing...\
...but a short time later, the wind softened and we were making little to no progress toward home port for a half hour or so, so we started motoring toward home port as the sun went down behind the Presidio hills.
As we passed the marina, we noticed that the two race boats were being towed down the cityfront at high speed. Perhaps they were docking at the South Beach marina.
The motoring was frustrating, but overall we had a very nice outing.
Another break in the rainy weather gave us an opportunity to enjoy some more great sailing on the bay. We headed out with reefed main in case of storm winds coming in, but pulled out full jib since the winds were currently quite light.
We sailed out to the northwest with light flood current resisting westward progress, and then tacked to the southwest to sail toward the end of pier 39 where the flags were fluttering lightly.
We had to tack away and for a time the breeze softened and we were being driven back to the east by the flood current. A while later a nice westerly asserted and we were able to make progress sailing toward the northwest, and watched marina neighbor, Andrew, on his ketch, THAI SAPPHIRE, come motoring up.
While they headed up into the wind to raise sails, we headed off for a rendezvous with another marina neighbor, Chris, on his charter sailboat LOLA flying a full main and a cruising spinnaker.
Meanwhile, THAI SAPPHIRE had finished raising main and putting out jib and was sailing toward the gate on close reach starboard tack.
We hung around LOLA for a bit to take some more photos, and let Chris take some of ANTICIPATION, figuring that we could readily catch up with THAI SAPPHIRE.
She was about a quarter mile ahead of us when we headed out after her.
We started catching up with her as we passed the Golden Gate Yacht Club, in front of which some Star dingies were either racing or practicing.
For a while after that, we were not making any progress catching THAI SAPPHIRE because we were hindered by the dirty air coming from her sails, so we fell off a bit and moved away from her, and then gradually started to catch up.
A short time later, we had passed her.
Andrew called out to say that he was going to fall off and watch the Oracle-BMW match racing that was taking place in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club, so we decided to do the same and fell off the wind to head over to watch the racing.
The two boats were maneuvering for the anticipated start of the next race as we approached-- tacking around in behind the start line.
They approached the start line....
... then they were off and racing!
The boat on the right was in the dirty air of the other, so tacked away into clear air.
As they passed us to port, they were in the process of tacking again onto port tack.
The two boats were closing with one on starboard tack and the other on port tack.
The boat on the left tacked again to cover the other one, or so it seems from the photo....
..but both rounded the mark and headed downwind under spinnaker looking to be neck and neck.
After rounding the leeward mark, both tacked upwind again and the lead boat was approaching the mark several boat lengths ahead of the other on starboard tack...
...tacked onto port tack to lay the mark while readying the spinnaker pole for the spinnaker set...
....and did its spinnaker set while still on port tack, as the trailing boat approached the mark.
The lead boat was off on its spinnaker run...
.. while the trailing boat was rounding the mark and preparing for spinnaker set....
....then did a gybe set while rounding the mark, as the lead boat gybed onto starboard tack also...
.. and both were now sailing parallel and looking to be neck and neck.
The formerly trailing boat now took the lead, perhaps getting some better wind or covering the lead boat and blocking its wind, so the boat on the left headed up to cover and slow down the other boat by taking its wind...
...and soon was behind the lead boat in a cover position.
The lead boat gybed to get away, but the trailing boat gybed to maintain cover....
... and it looked as if that tactic worked and the inside boat would win the race.
After watching this, we decided to head for the gate, trying to match speed with THAI SAPPHIRE.
Another large sailboat a ways off to starboard was also heading for the gate.
The GGB was enjoying nice sunshine as we ghosted toward her in softening winds.
The city was gleaming in the afternoon sunshine.
We shook the reef out of the main for more power, and we were making some slow progress toward the gate, but it was nearing current turn to ebb, so we decided to come about and head back toward home port.
We made slow but steady progress back to the area in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club, where the two boats were still match racing...\
...but a short time later, the wind softened and we were making little to no progress toward home port for a half hour or so, so we started motoring toward home port as the sun went down behind the Presidio hills.
As we passed the marina, we noticed that the two race boats were being towed down the cityfront at high speed. Perhaps they were docking at the South Beach marina.
The motoring was frustrating, but overall we had a very nice outing.
Labels: ORACLE-BMW racing, sailboat racing, sailboats, sailing, san francisco, san francisco bay
