MONDAY, 4 APRIL 09 -- RAINY DAY SAIL TO THE GATE AND BACK

We headed out about 5:15 pm to sail to the gate and back, raised full main just outside the marina and pulled out a small jib before heading out into the central bay and sailing toward the gate on the breeze out of the south.



Flags on the end of pier 39 were fluttering moderately due to the lee effect of the pier and the winds on the bay were also moderate.




Behind us, one cruise ship was tied up at pier 35, and another one was tied up at pier 27.



A small outbound freighter seemed to be fully loaded-- yea for our trade deficit!





A Coast Guard fast boat blasted past us, heading east.




As we sailed between pier 39 and pier 45, the city was overcast and some misty rain was beginning to fall, leading eventually to a rather steady drizzle that lasted all the way to the gate and back. Winds were highly variable-- some soft spots and some heavy gustyness from time to time. We sailed out the gate into some flood eddies at and outside the gate, just ducking out and then coming about and heading back inside. With flood current, and good winds, we were soon back at pier 39. I doused the jib as we sailed past pier 39 and then headed into the wind to douse the main. We then motored into port and landed fine in the flood current, stopping ANTICIPATION when she was about 2/3 of the way into the slip. I climbed off and walked to the bow and waited for the wind to blow ANTICIPATION all the way into the slip and then tied up the bow. We were out there for less than 2 hours and it felt good to be out there despite the rain.