Friday, March 02, 2007
THURSDAY 01 MAR 07-- RACCOON STRAITS AND SAILING WITH SOME BIG GUYS
Tuesday was a stormy day in SF so we unhappily stayed in port. Today, the forecast was for scattered afternoon showers, but as Bob arrived at the boat, the sun was shining and a nice westerly wind was blowing.
We headed out about 2 pm with the wind blowing at about 7-10 knots, raised full main and put out small jib and headed out into the central bay.
We sailed out to the west for a bit and then tacked back toward pier 45, as the city was enjoying some hazy sunshine.
As we tacked away from pier 45, Bob was at the helm and the city was receding behind us.
With a good strong breeze freshening to 10 knots or so, we decided to fall off and head over toward Angel Island to see if we could find enough wind in Raccoon Straits to sail down it against the ebb current, rounding the NW point of Angel Island and finding enough breeze to make slow progress down the straits.
After gybing a few times in the winds that were shifting in velocity and direction, we finally managed to sail to Ayala Cove which was almost deserted-- only 2 boats tied to the new buoy field in the cove and none at the docks.
We shortened the jib in anticipation of stronger winds in the central bay when we arrived there and then came about and headed toward Tiburon on close reach port tack, then tacked to the south to sail out of the straits and straight toward the GGB with ebb current assist and almost continuously freshening winds.
We saw some large sailing ships heading into the bay, so we fell off to sail on an intercept course parallel to the gate, and the first ship that we encountered was the GASLIGHT, a scow schooner out of Sausalito.
Not a large sailing ship, but FLAMBE, a neighbor boat with Chris and Christian aboard with one other crew, was also heading east with the big ships.
We managed to sail across the bow of the GASLIGHT and then across the bow of this beautiful square rigged ship-- the LADY WASHINGTON.
We then crossed in front of the Hawaiian Chieftan and noted that she was flying full canvas....
....and had a totally new paint job from that which she had when she was home ported here on SF Bay.
The LADY WASHINGTON looked very beautiful as she sailed dead downwind-- which is probably why we could pass her with main only, since her foresails were blanketed by the aft ones, and so had reduced sail power.
Bob was at the helm so I could concentrate on taking photos of the big ships.
We came about so that FLAMBE could pass us and then we came about again and headed after her and the large ships.
The three large ships were sailing almost parallel to each other.
The city was enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, and a couple of dingys were sailing out of the SF marina to do some sailing practice with some coaches following behind in small powerboats.
We gradally closed the distance between us and FLAMBE as the dingys continued their sailing practice-- gybing downwind.
Eventually we passed FLAMBE though she was flying full canvas, sailing dead downwind with poled out jib.
We were also closing on the large ships.
The city was enjoying late afternoon sunshine as we sailed between pier 45 and pier 39.
The HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAN looked great in the late afternoon sun with full canvas flying!
Note that she now has Grays Harbor, WA as her designated home port. She is now owned by the Grays Harbor Historical Society, as is the LADY WASHINGTON. She was originally sold to some outfit on the east coast, but is now back on the west coast
again.
FLAMBE was sailing past pier 39, still doing wing and wing.
The two big ships were almost parallel as we passed pier 35.
We followed them for a while longer and then came about and headed back toward the lee of pier 35 to douse the main and prepare for landing. We then motored into the marina and as we neared our slip, we could feel the keel start to drag in the mud-- more seriously as we headed into the slip and had to power up to overcome the drag. But we landed okay and were happy to have had a great outing and the extra special pleasure of sailing with the beautiful large ships, and also encountering FLAMBE out on the bay for the first time.
Tuesday was a stormy day in SF so we unhappily stayed in port. Today, the forecast was for scattered afternoon showers, but as Bob arrived at the boat, the sun was shining and a nice westerly wind was blowing.
We headed out about 2 pm with the wind blowing at about 7-10 knots, raised full main and put out small jib and headed out into the central bay.
We sailed out to the west for a bit and then tacked back toward pier 45, as the city was enjoying some hazy sunshine.
As we tacked away from pier 45, Bob was at the helm and the city was receding behind us.
With a good strong breeze freshening to 10 knots or so, we decided to fall off and head over toward Angel Island to see if we could find enough wind in Raccoon Straits to sail down it against the ebb current, rounding the NW point of Angel Island and finding enough breeze to make slow progress down the straits.
After gybing a few times in the winds that were shifting in velocity and direction, we finally managed to sail to Ayala Cove which was almost deserted-- only 2 boats tied to the new buoy field in the cove and none at the docks.
We shortened the jib in anticipation of stronger winds in the central bay when we arrived there and then came about and headed toward Tiburon on close reach port tack, then tacked to the south to sail out of the straits and straight toward the GGB with ebb current assist and almost continuously freshening winds.
We saw some large sailing ships heading into the bay, so we fell off to sail on an intercept course parallel to the gate, and the first ship that we encountered was the GASLIGHT, a scow schooner out of Sausalito.
Not a large sailing ship, but FLAMBE, a neighbor boat with Chris and Christian aboard with one other crew, was also heading east with the big ships.
We managed to sail across the bow of the GASLIGHT and then across the bow of this beautiful square rigged ship-- the LADY WASHINGTON.
We then crossed in front of the Hawaiian Chieftan and noted that she was flying full canvas....
....and had a totally new paint job from that which she had when she was home ported here on SF Bay.
The LADY WASHINGTON looked very beautiful as she sailed dead downwind-- which is probably why we could pass her with main only, since her foresails were blanketed by the aft ones, and so had reduced sail power.
Bob was at the helm so I could concentrate on taking photos of the big ships.
We came about so that FLAMBE could pass us and then we came about again and headed after her and the large ships.
The three large ships were sailing almost parallel to each other.
The city was enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, and a couple of dingys were sailing out of the SF marina to do some sailing practice with some coaches following behind in small powerboats.
We gradally closed the distance between us and FLAMBE as the dingys continued their sailing practice-- gybing downwind.
Eventually we passed FLAMBE though she was flying full canvas, sailing dead downwind with poled out jib.
We were also closing on the large ships.
The city was enjoying late afternoon sunshine as we sailed between pier 45 and pier 39.
The HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAN looked great in the late afternoon sun with full canvas flying!
Note that she now has Grays Harbor, WA as her designated home port. She is now owned by the Grays Harbor Historical Society, as is the LADY WASHINGTON. She was originally sold to some outfit on the east coast, but is now back on the west coast
again.
FLAMBE was sailing past pier 39, still doing wing and wing.
The two big ships were almost parallel as we passed pier 35.
We followed them for a while longer and then came about and headed back toward the lee of pier 35 to douse the main and prepare for landing. We then motored into the marina and as we neared our slip, we could feel the keel start to drag in the mud-- more seriously as we headed into the slip and had to power up to overcome the drag. But we landed okay and were happy to have had a great outing and the extra special pleasure of sailing with the beautiful large ships, and also encountering FLAMBE out on the bay for the first time.
# posted by charlie bergstedt @ 12:02 AM 
