Monday, August 20, 2007
THURSDAY 16 AUGUST 07-- TO HARDING ROCK AND BACK-- STRONG FLOOD CURRENT
Thursday was sunny and warm and we left port about noon for an afternoon sail, hoping to get to the gate and back before the strong afternoon winds came up.
As we left port, winds were about 10 knots.
The dredging barge was back. Apparently the survey boats that we saw a while back were checking the depth and had determined that they hadn't dredged to a sufficient depth.
The survey boat was running back and forth around pier 35 as we headed out into the central bay.
We headed west on the southwest breeze and eventually approached Alcatraz and watched the California Hornblower steaming past the island on a lunch cruise.
A coast guard patrol boat steamed past to port, heading for the gate.
Ahead of us, a nice looking sailboat was crossing the gate.
Winds were lighter north of Alcatraz and the flood current pushed us more northward as we ghosted to the west past Harding Rock buoy with the gate in the background
A bit later, this sailboat crossed in front of us, heading for Sausalito.
This small sailboat was in the process of shaking out the reef in the main as we passed.
We attempted to beat our way westward against the flood current, and this sailboat passed us on one of our tacks to the south.
A bit later, Adventure Cat passed us to starboard, heading for the gate.
We managed to make sufficient headway to approach the Harding Rock buoy with Mt. Tam in the background and enjoying brilliant sunshine. You can see the flood current rushing past the buoy, though it doesn't look that strong at this point.
Adventure Cat2 appeared to be heading for Sausalito to pick up passengers, while Adventure Cat1 was virtually becalmed in the light air north of Harding Rock, and soon began motorsailing.
A bit later, we gave up on trying to make further progress westward and headed back toward home port, enjoying this view of the city in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.
Pier 39 flags were fluttering in a breeze of about 10-15 knots as we passed.
We sailed into the lee of pier 35 to douse sails and prepare for landing and then motored around the dredging equipment on the west side of the pier.
Thursday was sunny and warm and we left port about noon for an afternoon sail, hoping to get to the gate and back before the strong afternoon winds came up.
As we left port, winds were about 10 knots.
The dredging barge was back. Apparently the survey boats that we saw a while back were checking the depth and had determined that they hadn't dredged to a sufficient depth.
The survey boat was running back and forth around pier 35 as we headed out into the central bay.
We headed west on the southwest breeze and eventually approached Alcatraz and watched the California Hornblower steaming past the island on a lunch cruise.
A coast guard patrol boat steamed past to port, heading for the gate.
Ahead of us, a nice looking sailboat was crossing the gate.
Winds were lighter north of Alcatraz and the flood current pushed us more northward as we ghosted to the west past Harding Rock buoy with the gate in the background
A bit later, this sailboat crossed in front of us, heading for Sausalito.
This small sailboat was in the process of shaking out the reef in the main as we passed.
We attempted to beat our way westward against the flood current, and this sailboat passed us on one of our tacks to the south.
A bit later, Adventure Cat passed us to starboard, heading for the gate.
We managed to make sufficient headway to approach the Harding Rock buoy with Mt. Tam in the background and enjoying brilliant sunshine. You can see the flood current rushing past the buoy, though it doesn't look that strong at this point.
Adventure Cat2 appeared to be heading for Sausalito to pick up passengers, while Adventure Cat1 was virtually becalmed in the light air north of Harding Rock, and soon began motorsailing.
A bit later, we gave up on trying to make further progress westward and headed back toward home port, enjoying this view of the city in the brilliant afternoon sunshine.
Pier 39 flags were fluttering in a breeze of about 10-15 knots as we passed.
We sailed into the lee of pier 35 to douse sails and prepare for landing and then motored around the dredging equipment on the west side of the pier.
# posted by charlie bergstedt @ 12:34 AM 
