As we headed westward, the flags on the end of pier 39 were fluttering in a breeze of about 20 knots.
We sailed out toward Alcatraz, with the rather strong flood current pushing us northward, and we passed well in front of this inbound tanker.
We tacked back toward the city as we neared the shore of Alcatraz, and the city was basking in direct overhead sunshine at that time.
Our old pal, ADVENTURE CAT, was heading home with just a few passengers on deck and flying main-only.
We continued beating westward against the flood current, and on one of our beats toward the city, we spotted this sailboat behind us, heaidng west. Not many boats were out on the bay cruising around-- we saw just a few.
On another beat toward the city, we spotted GOLDEN BEAR, the boat owned by the Blue Water Foundation, heading out and sailing jib only....
.... with crew doing something with the main sail on the boom and passengers well fortified against the chilly winds.
We tacked to the west again to sail just east of the leeward marks for the Intercollegiate Dingy Championship Regatta, and watched as the dingys rounded the marks ...
... and then headed back upwind, like this straggler in the race.
Many photos of this regatta can be found on my photo album website at
http://cbergstedt.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php?
Here is a video I took on Monday from the shore near the St. Francis YC.
On another tack toward the city, we watched as the racers sailed downwind toward the leeward mark again, like these three here...
... and this group here, that included some Stanford boats. Stanford seemed to be well-represented in the regatta with several boats competing.
We eventually left behind the racing dingy fleet and continued beating toward the gate, hoping to catch more of the dingy racing on the return trip, and now encountering some few kiteboarders playing around on the windswept bay, like this one.
The Golden Gate Bridge was locked in some haze as we approached, and if you look closely, you will spot one of the kiteboarders playing around by the gate...
... and later blasting past us as we headed out the gate.
We approached the gate from well inside the south tower, passing by Blackaller Buoy, and sailing out between the south tower and midspan, making it out rather easily, probably because the flood current had subsided by this time. We just ducked out the gate a short ways and then came about and headed back inside.
We spotted the same kiteboarder heaidng toward the shore as we sailed toward the dingy race course.
Behind us, we also spotted a lone sailboarder out on the sun sparkled bay.
As we approached the windward mark of the dingy race course, the racers were heading upwind toward the mark....
.....and soon the lead boats were rounding the mark in a small group....
.... with a much larger traffic jam at the mark following the leaders.
We watched the racing for a while and then headed out toward Alcastraz before doing a chicken gybe and heading for home port with the city enjoying the now-later-afternoon sunshine.
A Coast Guard fast boat blasted along the shore, almost hidden by the spray she created.
The flags on the end of pier 39 were still fluttering ni a breeze of abour 15 knots as we passed.
We sailed into the lee of pier 35, doused sail and then motored around and into the marina, landing fine in the now slightly ebbing current. We managed to beat to the gate and reach back in less than 3 hours-- another delightful time on the bay with an enthusiastic young sailor from France.
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