I raised single reefed main between the marina east seawall and pier 35 and then headed out into the central bay, heading east on the southerly breeze, the flags on the end of pier 39 fluttering moderately behind us.
The city was resting under cloudy bright skies as we headed east toward the D-E span of the Bay Bridge.
At first, our only coupany out there on the bay was some ferries, like this one heading north.
The bay was cloudy bright, but Mt. Tam in the distance was socked in.
The breeze was now highly variable in velocity, sustained at just a few knots with some gusts up to 8-10 knots and it was tempting to put out more jib than the double reef that I had pulled out initially, but I resisted in case a storm cell with strong winds moved through the area. Behind us, the Alcatraz ferry was steaming out of port and I didn't see any tourists on deck. Perhaps there were some inside.
We also had the company of low flying jets like this one heading for the Oakland Airport.
This ferry had steamied out of Pier 43 and was headed for the Ferry Building.
Off in the north, I spotted the Hawaiian Chieftain motoring to the south and she soon closed the gap between us and her.
I saw the two crew persons on the bowsprit and thought they might be preparing to raise the sails, but instead they were battening them down.
She crossed in front of us, heading for the A-B span of the Bay Bridge. I hope we get to see her under sail again while she is visiting the bay.
The city was gayed out by the overcast skies as we continued sailing toward the Bay Bridge in highly variable winds.
The Chieftain looks quite massive when you look at her from behind. I wonder if she is nicely appointed belowdecks.
It was 3:40 pm as we passed opposite the Ferry Building and one of the catamaran ferries was blasting toward us at this time.
Off in the west, we began to see some patches of blue in breaks in the clouds, but we were experiencing some light rain sprinkles from time to time.
The ebb current was moving us eastward as we sailed toward the Bay Bridge and we ended up sailing under the D-E span about mid-span as skies brightened further.
We took a quick peek and photo of our favorite lighthouse on Yerba Buena before coming about and heading back under the D-E span, now sailing with the current and making much faster headway.
Off to starboard, that tug and barge that we often see was heading back toward the Bay Bridge after earlier steaming northward out of the southbay.
Now some big patches of blue were showing in the sky over the bay and we were in sunshine from time ot time.
This inbound container ship was headed for the D-E span of the Bay Bridge as we ghosted westward....
...but this freighter was steaming out of the Port of Oakland toward the Bay Bridge D-E span, so that inbound freighter slowed down and at one point was pointed directly at us before changing course again when the D-E span cleared.
I decided to beat against the wind toward the A-B span of the Bay Bridge and perhaps check out the Chieftain and the Lady Washington at their dock location in the south bay, and it was now 4:40 pm as we approached the Ferry Building.
That inbound freighter had a tug escort as she steamed under the D-E span of the bridge.
A bit later, the Bay Bridge and the Port of Oakland were basking in sunshine.
Some patches of blue sky were still visible over the central bay but in the distant west I could see storm clouds gathering.
We sailed under the A-B span of the bridge and enjoyed views of the city framed by the bridge.
I eventually gave up on beating southward and headed back toward the bridge again as this ferry from Oakland-Alameda was blasting toward the Ferry Building.
The sun was hiding behind the Financial District towers as we sailed northward on broad reach port tack for a while and then switched to doing wing and wing for a while. Eventually, I furled the jib and sailed main only.
A patch of blue sky still persisted over the bay and the city, but the dark storm clouds were moving closer on the upper level westerly winds.
No boats were tied up at the free-parking public pier 1.5 as we sailed past.
A bit of brightness persisted over the city as we approached the central bay.
Over the central bay, that patch of blue sky had disappeared, but the sun was shining through a cloud-gap in the southwest for a while.
Some interesting variations in the colors of the clouds developed as sundown neared.
The clouds closed in together and no more blue sky was visible as we headed for home port.
I doused the main in front of the end of pier 35, and tied it up while heading for the marina entrance and also readied lines and fenders. The marina had filled in so we were not in danger of dragging the keel in the mud, but the south wind had strengthened so I stopped ANTICIPATION when she was about 2/3rds of the way into the slip, quickly turned off the engine and hopped onto the starboard side dock finger to move quickly to the bow and leaned all my weight and muscle into the bowpulpit to stop the wind from pushing the boat up against the main dock. Then quickly tied up the bow lines. I finished tying up and then quickly put on the helm and sail covers as the sprinkles of rain now harolded the next wave of rain storms to move into the city. Mother Nature was nice to give us this break of a few hours so we could get in a nice outing in mostly benign conditions.
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