Anyway, we made it out and raised full main just outside the marina exit and pulled out full jib as we motored toward the bay, and soon finding this sailboat motoring eastward against the still ebbing current. She had doused sails a while earlier, giving up on trying to fight the current by sailing.
We headed for the gate, knowing that the tide would be turning from ebb to flood around 5 pm, so we would have flood assist for our return trip if the wind died out. This Pilot boat was blasting westward, caring nothing about currents or winds.
We were being carried westerly by the current and just a few puffs of breeze-- the flags on the end of pier 39 showing almost no flutter at this time, so we began to invoke our special relationship with mother nature, inviting her to send us at least some sailing breeze.
Out to the north of us, the Blue and Gold ferry was on her way back to home port after taking quite a good load of passengers on a trip to the gate and back around Alcatraz. It was a school holiday for some kids, so that probably added to the number of passengers for this ferry.
Behind this ferry, the Red and White ferry was also heading for home port, having rounded Alcatraz, but she had, as usual, far fewer passengers, probably due to her less proximate location to pier 39 at pier 43.5.
Way out to the west, thsi nice sailboat, dragging her fenders, was sailing northward across the bay.
Skies were mostly overcast with just minor patches of blue sky showing through.
As we mostly drifted with the current between piers 39 and 45, MADE Easy was motoring along the cityfront.
The city was enjoying thin sunshine through the cloud layer.
This Hunter 41 sailboat motorsailed past us, heaidng east, presumably toward her home port.
Way out in the west, we saw an inbound tanker with tug escorts doing a pilot change. Probably that's were that pilot boat was heading when she blasted past us. Seems like we are seeing more pilot changes on the bay these days. It used to be quite a rare sight.
As we drifted past the pier at Aquatic Park, now having no breeze at all, but hoping for some to come up soon, GZ LOUISE motorsailed past to port. Geez Louise was, I think, an expression used back in the 30s and 40s as a declaration of exasperation.
Her crew was enjoying the thin sunshine and moderate temperatures.
We watched as these rowers left Aquatic Park and headed west in their outrigger boats. Ahead of them, a rowboat rower as also heading west.
The BASS-TUB steamed past us, heading for the gate with a good load of passengers.
Gz Louise stopped motorsailing and begain to try to find some wind for sailing. She was now just a hundred yards or so away from us and probably near her home port.
We watched as this Coast Guard patrol boat steamed eastward with what looked like a load of passengers out for a bay cruise. This is the second time we've seen this type of event. I can't ever recall seeing passengers on a Coast Guard patrol boat before a week or so ago when I spotted one for the first time in memory. Perhaps these are homeland security VIPs being entertained by the CG to butter them up for budget building purposes, now that the CG is a department of that bureaucracy.
A light breeze of a few knots came up now and we began to be able to beat slowly westward, cutting through the flat bay waters like soft butter as TIME & TIDE motorsailed past us to starboard.
To the west of us, this lovely sailboat, named Duango, perhaps a race boat, was heading north, sailing a bit off the wind and looking good out there! In the background, you can see another sailboat sailing along the shore of Yellow Bluff.
The buildings on Russian Hill were basking in the thin sunshine as we sailed past the marina at Gashouse Cove.
As we ghosted westward in the light breeze, this lovely C&C sailboat was sailing northward, returning from being outside the gate.
The GGB was enjoying hazy late afternoon sunshine, and the waters between us and the gate looked quite flat with perhaps no breeze, so I decided to head back toward home port.
This tractor tug was just hanging out off the beach at Crissy Field as we sailed northeastward to get in position to watch the sundown through the gate. A bit later, she started steaming eastward so perhaps the crew was having a snack while resting near Crissy Field.
The sun was starting to go down into the thin cloud layers above the horizon as we sailed out toward Alcatraz.
In the northeast, a group of dwellings on the hills were flashing like diamonds with reflected sunshine.
We began gybing back and forth in the light breeze, as we neared the southern shore of Alcatraz, watching as the sun sank lower in the sky.
At some times, she was entirely visible....
... and at other times only part of her was visible, the rest obscured by the thicker clouds above the horizon.
She was quite the spectacular sight as she dropped near the sea with a thick cloud bisecting her.
A bit later she showed as a ribbon of light above the sea....
... with some sunset color developing on the clouds over the bay.
We caught the last sun rays as the western sky turned a golden color.
Some sunset color developed over the bay, but the clouds were not positioned for a spectacular sunset.
City lights were now brightening on shore, and the wind died out, so we had to begin motoring toward home port, furling the jib as we motored along.
I doused the main in front of pier 39 so that the now flooding current would not carry us past pier 35 as city lights brightened further in the darkening sky.
We motored into port, landing fine by playing the flood current just right, tied up and covered sails and helm before retreating into the cabin for some wine and cheese and crackers while playing with the photos of the outing. I was happy that we were able to get out for a second day in a row after being shut out of sailing the first part of the week due to the stormy weather.
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