Thursday started off with very light winds but by mid-afternoon, the wind was howling in the 25+ range. We left port around 5:15 pm for an evening sail and raised single reefed main just outside the marina, then headed out into the central bay, did a chicken gybe and headed for the Bay Bridge, pulling out a small jib.
We had strong winds as we headed down the cityfront along with this Beneteau...
... with a two person crew and named Mistral.
The sun is now illuminating the northern side of the financial district buildings making the view of the city more intereseting in the late afternoon and evening.
However, the Ferry Building was in the shadow of one of the financial district towers.
A small freighter with her own loading cranes was heading out to sea from the port of Oakland.
The rocket boat was blasting toward the cityfront after passing through the A-B span of the bridge.
A Blue and Gold ferry, one of many plying the waters this time of day, left the Ferry Building and headed for Oakland.
The rocket boat stopped near the shore of the city for a while, perhaps to allow passengers to take photos....
... before again rocketing back toward toward the south bay.
We were soon sailing under the A-B span of the bridge and, after sailing under, we came about and headed back north.
Another slightly bigger freighter was outbound from the Port of Oakland and passed through the D-E span as we were sailing under the A-B span.
As we headed up the cityfront in gusty wind conditions, this small Catalina passed us to starboard, heading toward the Bay Bridge.
We soon spotted this very large tugboat, the NARAGANSETT...
....towing what appeared to be an old navy ship of some sort and headed toward the south bay somewhere. I wonder what is this ship and where were they going with her and for what reason.
As we headed west in the strong breeze on the central bay, PRIVATEER, the charter ketch out of pier 39, crossed in front of us, heading for home port and struggling a bit in the strong winds.
We took some spray over the bow and toward the cockpit as we headed west, and I locked down the helm and stood behind the dodger until we arrived near the east shore of Alcatraz where we tacked to the south for a while before heading west again past the southern shore of the island.
Way off in the northeast, another sailboat was heading toward the city and seemed to be flying full canvas.
As soon as we sailed past Alcatraz, the wind started to soften and I eventually pulled out the full jib for more power in the winds that we now less than 10 knots. A short time later, as we approached Harding Rock, I decided to shake the reef out of the main as well before continuing to beat toward the gate.
This small boat crossed in front of us while we were on a starboard tack heading toward the city as she sailed downwind behind a colorful asymmetrical kite.
She gybed back onto port tack and passed us on our port side...
...her two-person crew enjoying the chilly evening air as they continued gybing back and forth down the bay.
Off in the distance, our old pal, ADVENTURE CAT, was heading for home port and passing Aquatic Park.
The sun dropped behind the hills of the Marin Headlands as we continued beating to the west, encountering freshening breezes as we sailed toward the cityfront on starboard tack and softening breezes as we sailed toward the headlands on port tack.
The city was enjoying the late sunshine as we were beating toward the gate.
A bit of sunset color developed on some thin cloud over the headlands..
... and on the clouds over the city.
We eventually gave up on shooting the gate when we were about a quarter mile away and came about and headed back toward home port as this tug and barge headed for the gate.
City lights were coming up as the sky darkened after sundown though this photo exaggerates the darkness at this time.
A very bright light shone at the top of Hyde Street, perhaps a film crew illuminating a scene-- we had seen a film crew shooting in North Beach earlier in the afternoon.
It was quite dark as we sailed past the end of pier 39 where the flags were still fluttering in a breeze of about 10 knots-- the wind was much stronger along the cityfront after we passed Aquatic Park, but not like when we headed out.
Financial District lights were bright in the dark sky as we sailed behind pier 35 to douse sails.
After dousing sails, we motored around the pier and into the marina, landing fine in the light ebb current then flowing through the marina. It was great that the wind velocity softened so we could do some full canvas sailing after being clobbered by the strong winds of the mid-day!
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