As we motored out of the marina, this lovely Catalina was sailing toward the west and looking good!
I raised full main while motoring northward into the wind, then pulled out the full jib while sailing northward, before tacking and heading for the gate on starboard tack close reach in the northwesterly breeze that the flags on pier 39 showed to be around 8 knots. Ahhhhhhhh... that felt good to be heeled over in a good wind again! It was about 2:30 pm when we made the tack to head for the gate.
It was hazy and chilly out ther-- Alcatraz was enjoying hazy sunshine-- but we were well-bundled up against the chill.
As we sailed westward, the Red and White ferry steamed out of port in front of us and headed for the gate, as did a fishing boat carrying tourists out of Fisherman's Wharf.
Behind us, the Blue and Gold ferry steamed out of port and passed us to port. She was moderately loaded with passengers.
As we continued sailing westward toward the gate in a breeze that freshened, we eased out the sails a bit and were now making fast headway for the gate as this nice large sailboat crossed in front of us. You see how hazy it was? No hint of the gate in the background of this photo.
This lovely sailboat passed us port to port, heading east and looking good!
A half-mile or so ahead of us, this sailboat was heading northward on port tack.
This lovely cutter-rigged sailboat named SLEEPER passed to starboard, also looking good.
The crew of SLEEPER was enjoying the good winds.
As we continued blasting westward, this APL freighter was steaming into the bay, lightly loaded with containers, and sending out a large wake because her wake-reducing bow bulb was out of the water.
As we approached the gate, a small sailboat was about to shoot the gate just inside the south tower.
We sailed out the gate between the south tower and midspan. It was now about 3:30 pm, so it had taken us about a half hour to sail to the gate.
We sailed out a short distance, enjoying the views of the bridge and the headlands and then came about and headed back inside the gate, as that small sailboat continued westward along the shore of the headlands.
That Catalina that we saw heading west was now sailing back inside the gate on the other side of the south tower, risky except in the benign conditions that were present at that time.
We sailed back inside and then fell off the wind to reef the jib so that we could sail northward on maximum close reach, hoping to sail to Raccoon Straits. We then came about and headed in that direction as this catamaran sailed toward the gate.
As we sailed northward, we spotted this balloon floating on the surface, heading out the gate with the ebb current.
As we sailed northward toward Raccoon Straits, this lovely sailboat passed, heading toward the gate from the north.
As we sailed northward toward Raccoon Straits, this lovely sailboat passed, heading toward the gate from the north.
That massive fog bank was now obscuring most of the headlands, and we could see nothing of Sausalito, Tiburon or Angel Island, so we abandoned the idea of continuing to head into the fog and instead fell off the wind to head for home port on broad reach port tack.
We spotted one freighter entering the gate in the thick mist, but she was taking the deep water channel route for some unknown reason. We later spotted this other APL freighter heading our way from the gate and we gybed to head for shore on starboard tack for a while and then switched to wing and wing for a while. Fortunately, the freighter was going slow and we easily passed well in front of her, then gybed again to head for home port.
Behind us, the sun was now mostly obscured by the fog hanging over the Presidio Hills.
That freighter that took the northerly route was just barely visible in the mist as she steamed towerd the Bay Bridge on the north side of Alcatraz. The other APL freighter actually slowed almost to a stop to allow the China Shipping Line freighter to head for the D-E span well ahead of her.
Behind us, a couple of other sailboats were ghostly in the mist.
As we approached pier 39, the city was locked in the ghostly haze.
The winds now shifted more into the west as we passed pier 39, but they were still blowing at about 8-10 knots.
A J24 passed us port to port as we sailed past the marina.
We continued sailing eastward against the waxing ebb current, hoping to be able to sail to the Bay Bridge to complete a two-bridge kiss. Coit Tower and the financial district buildings were also locked in the ghostly haze.
One of those sailboats that was behind us earlier was now motorsailing eastward with just her main up.
We were making slow progress toward the Bay Bridge against the current as the breeze had softened down to about 5 knots, so we eventually gybed toward the city-- the downtown buildings almost obscured in haze.
Suddenly, we spotted a glint of the sun reflecting off one of the windows of one of the high-rise buildings.
The setting sun was creating some sunset color on the tops fo the fog back as we sailed southeast on starboard tack.
We might have been able eventually to reach the Bay Bridge by gybing back and forth, but it seemed likely to take at least another half hour in the growing chill and darkness, so we gave up on that idea and headed up to sail toward home port. We were then making fast headway and soon sailed into the area between piers 33 and 35-- not a lee area now with the northerly wind, but a quiet area still because the buildings create a backwind effect. I doused sail there and then motored around pier 35 and into the marina.
It felt great to have been out there on the bay in a great breeze again!!! I hope Mother Nature will give us good breezes for the weekend also.
That was a wonderful start! I loved this new blog !
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