A race boat was heading home with spinnaker flying and a cruising boat was heading west with double-reefed main.
We sailed out a ways and watched as neighbor race boat ZSA ZSA headed for the lee of pier 35 after finishing a race.
We sailed out a ways and then came about and headed down the cityfront, pulling out the jib ot full for downwind power, accompanied by this small Ranger sailboat.
A C&C sailboat named WARP SPEED was heading downwind....
....while another C&C sailboat named NORTH STAR was heading west with full canvas flying and drastically luffing up her main. It's rare to see one C&C sailboat on the bay during an outing, so having two of these Canadian-made boats cross paths is rare indeed.
As we continued toward the Bay Bridge, this military vessel steamed past. Since we have no military in the Bay Area any more, I wonder if this is a surplus vessel owned by some private party.
We saw a number of pelicans flying past, like this one flying low over the water.
This small Catalina was heaidng west.
Over by Yerba Buena, a large sailboat was heading west after passing under the D-E span of the bridge. With full canvas flying, she was well-heeled-over in the winds in that part of the bay. She may have had too much canvas when she arrived in the stronger winds of the main bay.
That small Catalina was now heading back downwind along the cityfront.
High cloud patterns were over the city-- unusual for this time of year.
As we approached the Bay Bridge, the fireboat that is docked just north of the bridge is was heading out.
We sailed under the A-B span and then shortened the jib and came about and headed back north again. Behind us, the Bay Bridge was gleaming in the late afternoon sun.
This catboat south of the Bay Bridge was heading toward the Oakland-Alameda Estuary.
As we headed north, we started being passed by other sailboats heading in the opposite direction, like this large sailboat named TIKI J.
That nuisance Rocket Boat blasted past.
A small Islander passed, sailing main only.
This small Catalina passed to port-- main only also.
Her crew looked relaxed in the light air in the lee of the city.
Off to the northeast, this large sailboat was heading for the D-E span of the Bay Bridge. Her name was ZEST and she was looking good.
The Ferry Building clock showed 5 pm as we continued northward toward the main bay.
Another small sailboat passed to starboard-- main only also.
This small sailboat was blasting downwind with full canvas flying and looking good!
The fireboat was steaming back toward her home port-- perhaps she just went out for a brief exercise of her engines to keep them running well.
This lovely large sailboat passed to starboard, heading for the Bay Bridge.
As we approached the main bay, I spotted Olivier on Corto Maltese sailing into the lee of pier 35 and expected him to drop sail there, but....
..... instead they came back out onto the bay and headed west along with us.
Olivier's godson from France, Edouard, was at the helm at this point, and behind Corto Maltese, PRIVATEER was entering the lee of pier 35 to douse sail.
Corto Maltese and ANTICIPATION were soon blasting westward in winds on the main bay that seemed to be in the 35-40 knots range. Though the current was flooding, the wind waves were quite big and we took blast after blast of spray, including one big blast that complete soaked me. We continued sailing in these extreme conditions until we were passing Alcatraz and had to tack away. Then I decided it was silly to stress ANTICIPATION in these strong winds so fell off and headed back to the lee of pier 35 to douse sail, as Corto Maltese had done. As they passed us, I invited Olivier and Edouard to come over for wine and cheese after docking, and they did, bringing a bottle of wine from the French winery that is owned by Edouard's family. French wine, roquefort cheese from France and some American crackers--- tasted really great after the sailing outing.
Later, I went out to the end of the pier to check out the sunset-- quite nice....
.... and a bit dramatic.
No comments:
Post a Comment