Fourth Charter

This past Tuesday (8/05) was a weird day to be on San Francisco Bay. Winds were SW between 10 - 20 kn with afternoon gusts expected up to 35 kn. To be on the safe side we headed to the NE of Angel Island where the winds are typically quieter. Today however, the best description of the winds would be "sans wind!" We set our sails to heave-to (in case winds picked up) and ate our lunch. It was so quiet and peaceful. After an hour or so we motored back towards the City until we found winds coming down "the Slot." It was *quite* breezy :-)

We noticed lots of seabirds - sorry, I do not know the name of them - presumably Mommies and their chicks. The picture to the right shows a pair.
The birds were always in pairs and in constant communication with each other unless Mommy was underwater fishing.
The Mommy bird has a loud and deep squawk while the chick has a soft peep call. I don't remember seeing these chicks on my previous sailings so maybe they are "fresh off the nest."

As you can see in the photographs it was quite a hazy day on the Bay. Below is a picture of the bay. Our famous inversion layer can be seen hovering directly above the city of San Francisco. There was a brilliant rainbow in the herringboned-shaped cloud which is barely detectable about 1/3 down in the center of the picture. Without a polarizing lens on the camera the colors are awash. For the picture, we are facing South; San Francisco is on the right, Oakland is on the left (East), with Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge in the center of the photograph.


Well, until next time...

Happy Sails!

First Night Sail

What an interesting experience!

Last night (Saturday, Aug 2nd), we set sail from OSCS to learn about the challenges when sailing at night, including identifying ships by their running lights, understanding ship traffic control language, and plotting a course around buoys and channel markers. Perhaps we'd even get to see a falling star or two.

I have been on the water at night at other times, the most recent during a cruise on a humongous cruise ship in the Mediterranean where a storm caught up to us with waves slapping against the dinning room windows. It was very unnerving to say the least! Last night was no such experience. Instead, the wind and waves cooperated in a lively but spirited way. Easterly winds from 18-21 kn with 2 ft -3 ft waves. Our average speed was about 6 kn and a top speed of 8 kn downwind.

The intriguing thing for me was the way the night and surrounding lights played with the mind's perception of time and space. In the darkness our 4-hour journey seemed to have been only an hour or so. Perhaps this was due to the new experience as I became absorbed by the moment and forgot about time. My perception of space was also distorted, surprising so. Brightly lit objects many miles away seemed to be very close while dimly lit objects seem very far away. One channel buoy looked to be quite a ways away until we sailed past it and we were all shocked at how big it's metal skeleton appeared. I have sailed past that buoy many times during the day and I remember it only as being much smaller. I now have a better appreciation of the skills required to sail at night and also understand why night-time collisions can occur even to experienced captains.

The one disappointing aspect of our night sail (besides it being too short and the light pollution that limited star gazing) was the lack of ship traffic on the Bay. I had hope to gain much more experience in identifying ships simply by their running lights. There were a few ships (tug boats, dinner yachts, and ferries), but not enough for a meaningful long-term lesson. I guess I'll just have to schedule a few more nighttime sailings.

Now if we can only get the city of San Francisco to turn off all its lights for a few hours :-)

Third Charter

What a day to be on the Bay! Blustery winds (10-20 kn), waves of 2-3 feet, and very few obstacles (i.e. boats w/ no skippers). It was great!

Due to other obligations it's been a month since I last sailed. I was grateful to be on the water again. Philip (my sailing buddy) and I practiced MOBs (Man Over Board) drills and towards the late afternoon these were becoming quite challenging. It's one thing to rescue somebody in calm waters (5-10 kn), but it's quite a different story when the winds and waves conspire to keep the victim to themselves. Yep, I hate to admit it, but our attempt to rescue Bob (our "victim" who's a partially water-filled orange juice container) turned into a recovery effort. However, it was a great learning experience and I am very glad to not have been the one in the water!

August will be packed-full of sailing events with a night sailing session this coming weekend, a few more charters, Bareboat Cruising course and (hopefully) certification, mariners' medical course, and ending with an overnight OCSC weekend cruise to Drakes Bay on the beautiful ship "Seaward," an 82' schooner. This will be my first sailing adventure outside the Golden Gate bridge. I'm a little anxious to hit the open water yet... I wish the cruise was tomorrow :-)

Happy Sails!
Doug

Second Charter

Last Friday (Jun-6) was my second charter towards my US Sail Bareboat Cruising (BBC) cruising. Although the temp and clear skies were perfect for a sail, the winds were less than desirable... there weren't any! I think we motored 75% of the time, trying to find some wind. This is so unusual for San Francisco in the summer. Normally, one has to reduce sail area due to the strong and gusting winds. Being new to sailing, I have to rely on others for historical information such as this, but it does coincide with what I have been reading lately.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves, passing away the idle time discussing sail trim, visualize specific maneuvers, and planning our next trip. We also practiced our plotting and navigation skills, describing the different markings on our chart and estimating water depths along the way. Our sail plan actually turned out to be a great exercise.

I've been spending quite a bit of time trying to research something I saw that day. We were in The Slot and the tide was flooding (coming in). The mammal appeared to be a dolphin, or perhaps a porpoise. I only got two glimpses of it before it vanished below the surface. It was rather small, maybe 4-6 feet long and it's coloring was very dark, not black but dark brown. There was no distinctive markings that I noticed. It's dorsal fin was triangular and not as far back towards its tail as I've seen in other pictures of dolphins. One final observation, it was alone, no others were seen.

I've got to keep my camera handy!

First Wednesday Night Sail

Last week I joined a crew for my first Wednesday Night sail with OCSC and Skipper Fred (pic, right). As background, OCSC has one every Wednesday with reduced charter rates for the 2-hour charter, and on the first Wednesday of every month they offer a free BBQ to charterers afterwards. This is a perfect venue to meet new people with similar interests. It's a lot of fun and the food is really good, especially the chili!

Being the summer, you'd expect the winds to be howling around 5PM. Not so on this day, we were lucky to see 3 knots of wind! We had to motor out into The Slot (between San Francisco and Alcatraz Island) to find a little more wind. The weather was perfect (sans wind) and we had a great time reminiscing about past adventures. A great game to try while waiting for the wind is to identify the creatures that come by. Hopefully, I'll remember next time to keep my camera at the ready!

First Charter

Passed my BC test yesterday, finally. Yeah! :-)

Chartered my first of 5 sailings today. I had a great crew who helped my traverse my new ropes. Great weather, too: winds between 10-15 kn, slack currents. We made good time to Angel Island. Docked in Ayala Cove for lunch - well worth the $10 docking fee - and checked out the visitors center. If you're into Nautical history, this is a fine place to visit and bring your kids, too.

Sailed around the island, down the "Slot" and surfed home. Surfing is fun! Especially in 3 ft-4 ft swells like today. Plenty of speed without all the splashing.

Next up: Bareboat Cruising (BBC) course in June. This WILL be challenging.

Happy Sails.

Getting Started

I began my journey a couple of months ago and will summarize first:

April 2008
Joined Olympic Circle Sailing Club (OCSC) because, well, they're the best around. Great facilities (read boats), great instructors & staff, and perfect location for true sailing. Small craft advisories? No problem. That's what foul weather gear is for! I'm enrolled in their US Sail certification program. Passed Basic Keelboat (BK)!

May 2008
Enrolled in Basic Cruising (BC). This is one tough class. Well, for me anyways. I've been a couch potato for quite some time. There are muscles screaming at me that I never knew existed! But hey, my sleep is the soundest it's been in a long long time!