Saturday, December 08, 2007
SATURDAY, 8 DEC. 07-- SHORT SAIL IN LIGHT WINDS
All morning, it seemed as if there would be no breeze at all for sailing all day, but in the early afternoon a light westerly came up and we hurried to get out there and take advantage of it.
When we left port, the westerly had virtually died out again, but we hoped for some wind on the bay.
We headed out into the central bay and sailed to the northeast with the city receding behind, but the waxing ebb current dragging us northward.
Out in the west, a number of sailboats were probaby struggling with the ebb current.
A couple of sailboas were over by the shore fo Alcatraz, one sailing with the current and the other motorsailing against it.
This nice Catalina was motorsailing eastward against the current.
Off in the northeast, a couple of sailboats were sailing against the current under spinnaker.
Along the shore of Treasure Island, a cutter-rigged sailboat, flying full canvas, was heading southeast, taking advantage of the lighter current near shore.
A nice sailboat with a large crew and flying a large genoa passed astern, heading south and looking good out there.
Most of the crew was in the cockpit, but one was amidship for some reason that was unclear at this point, but the lines dragging in the water should have been a clue.
In the eastern sky, the MetLife blimp was poking around.
Looking back, we now saw that that sailboat with large crew had raised her spinnaker, but had not yet dropped her genoa.
She was soon sailing nicely along the cityfront under main and spinnaker.
Over in the northeast, we saw a group of sailboats racing in the Berkeley Y.C.'s midwinter series, and wished we had strong enough winds to get over there to watch and photograph the race boats, but alas, the freshening breeze was not materializing. As I'm writing this, a strong northly wind has blown up in the evening... drat... wish it had arrived in the early afternoon!
A large sailboat with just a couple of crewmembers, passed astern, making some headway against the current.
A short time later, another very large and beautiful sailboat, perhaps a Swan, passed astern, looking great and making fast headway, sailing with the current.....
....with a sizeable crew in the cockpit.
A nice looking Catalina passed a bit later, also looking good and making good headway, sailing with the current.
Only the skipper at the helm was visible on CAMILLE as she passed.
It became clear that the wind was not going to freshen, so we headed toward home port, and watched as this sailboat way over in the southwest was sailing against the current.
This cute Cal 22 passed to starboard, sailing northeast with poled out jib, but being dragged north by the current.
Her crew was clearly engrossed in a conversation on some topic.
Over in the east, a small sailboat that looked like a Hunter was sailing north with the current.
The breeze started to die out, so we had no choice but to start motorsailing toward home, and as we neared the cityfront, we saw the charter ketch PRIVATEER heading out....
....with a sizeable group of passengers.
As we motored into the fairway between the east marina seawall and pier 35, these two sailboats were motorsailing to the east behind us.....
... as were some other sailboats further east.
It was nice to be out on the water for a while, but sure hope we get some good sailing winds on sunday.
All morning, it seemed as if there would be no breeze at all for sailing all day, but in the early afternoon a light westerly came up and we hurried to get out there and take advantage of it.
When we left port, the westerly had virtually died out again, but we hoped for some wind on the bay.
We headed out into the central bay and sailed to the northeast with the city receding behind, but the waxing ebb current dragging us northward.
Out in the west, a number of sailboats were probaby struggling with the ebb current.
A couple of sailboas were over by the shore fo Alcatraz, one sailing with the current and the other motorsailing against it.
This nice Catalina was motorsailing eastward against the current.
Off in the northeast, a couple of sailboats were sailing against the current under spinnaker.
Along the shore of Treasure Island, a cutter-rigged sailboat, flying full canvas, was heading southeast, taking advantage of the lighter current near shore.
A nice sailboat with a large crew and flying a large genoa passed astern, heading south and looking good out there.
Most of the crew was in the cockpit, but one was amidship for some reason that was unclear at this point, but the lines dragging in the water should have been a clue.
In the eastern sky, the MetLife blimp was poking around.
Looking back, we now saw that that sailboat with large crew had raised her spinnaker, but had not yet dropped her genoa.
She was soon sailing nicely along the cityfront under main and spinnaker.
Over in the northeast, we saw a group of sailboats racing in the Berkeley Y.C.'s midwinter series, and wished we had strong enough winds to get over there to watch and photograph the race boats, but alas, the freshening breeze was not materializing. As I'm writing this, a strong northly wind has blown up in the evening... drat... wish it had arrived in the early afternoon!
A large sailboat with just a couple of crewmembers, passed astern, making some headway against the current.
A short time later, another very large and beautiful sailboat, perhaps a Swan, passed astern, looking great and making fast headway, sailing with the current.....
....with a sizeable crew in the cockpit.
A nice looking Catalina passed a bit later, also looking good and making good headway, sailing with the current.
Only the skipper at the helm was visible on CAMILLE as she passed.
It became clear that the wind was not going to freshen, so we headed toward home port, and watched as this sailboat way over in the southwest was sailing against the current.
This cute Cal 22 passed to starboard, sailing northeast with poled out jib, but being dragged north by the current.
Her crew was clearly engrossed in a conversation on some topic.
Over in the east, a small sailboat that looked like a Hunter was sailing north with the current.
The breeze started to die out, so we had no choice but to start motorsailing toward home, and as we neared the cityfront, we saw the charter ketch PRIVATEER heading out....
....with a sizeable group of passengers.
As we motored into the fairway between the east marina seawall and pier 35, these two sailboats were motorsailing to the east behind us.....
... as were some other sailboats further east.
It was nice to be out on the water for a while, but sure hope we get some good sailing winds on sunday.
# posted by charlie bergstedt @ 11:50 PM 
