Sailing Season 2003

(Sorry about the text running together but I can't seem to fix it at the moment.)Winter Review - There has not been a whole lot of wind this winter. January and February have been very beautiful with little rain and many sunny, windless days. I did take my parents out for a wonderful sail in January for their annual trip. We sailed to Pac Bell on day that looked like rain but actually had some nice southern winds. Made some great time coming home in the estuary. Had another great sail on the day of the Columbia disaster in early Feb. So sad. We also signed up a new partner - Mr. Murray Mcleod of Vallejo. He will be a nice addition to our partnership (4).BIG TUESDAY 2-25-03 - What an awesome sail yesterday. One of the best solo sails ever! Sierra and I took off around 10am on a seemingly windless day. I thought we would motor over to TI Cove and hang. Boy was I wrong. By 11:30 we were out at Alcatraz and there was a little wind ahead. We were motor sailing with the 130 up front. We were heading straight for Angel when we got a lift and were able to head for Sausalito. Then it really started picking up. Too much sail. Headed for Sausalito and put a reef in and down to the working jib. Now let's play. Took a quick look at the tables and slack was just about to start and rolling into a flood. A perfect setup for wandering out the gate. I look around and I am the only boat in town! I sail towards Crissy then take a port tack out the Gate with a couple of tour boats. They leave and I have the place to myself. Now the fun starts as the wind increases and the swells start. I tack at Craig's Beach and then over towards Baker. It is stunningly beautiful out after a morning rain the clearing winds are a whipping at 18-22. A big tanker rolls by and I let her pass. Now the waves are really big and we pound on a couple. What a sail. Now it's time to head back to Alameda and we reach across with some surfing and the speedo passes the 8 mark. I get back towards the Bay Bridge and it is still blowing...what the heck, one more run towards the island. Almost too much wind! I make it back around 5 and it takes an hour to get the boat in ship shape. I take my time and reflect on how lucky I am to own such a wonderful boat on such a beautiful bay. What a day...what a life!!! Had a nice sail on Sat. 3-29 with Arnie, Tex, Kendell, Susan and Molly. Light to moderate winds that shut off around Angel then it picked up for a nice sail home wing on wing. Dropped the crew at JL and then over to Chevey's for dinner with family and Tex and Alex. Sierra was a big hit! Tex the boys and I slept on the boat at Fortman and had a nice paddle about nine in the kayacks. Next morning we had poppyseed french toast and some hammock time. Good times were had by all.4-5-03 - Took out Lori and Karla for a great sail to Angel Island for lunch in a beautiful cove on the south side. They had a great time. The sail back was nice and the wind really picked up.4-14-03 Had set up a sail with Pete but he couldn't make it I went out for a great day on the bay with my bud, Sierra. Had a classic sail up towards Alcatraz as the winds were perfect. Bagged a sunset and then headed down the estuary. Broke the kill switch but was able to fix it during the week. Off for a week in Cancun area for some scuba!5-3-4-03 Murray took the Addiction out for the Vallejo race and did very well. They placed 4th and 6th among the other Newports which is very respectable. On the way home the steering failed and the emergency tiller came in handy. I went up to inspect and found the nuts had come off the tightner. I reconnected the cable and secured the nuts and we are back in Biz. This weekend is KFOG Kaboom and it should be a blast!!!5-11-03 We headed out to the show with Arnie, Hailey, Frank, Leslie, Brian, Christie, Geoff and Craig for a wonderful evening aboard the Addiction. Sailed hard on the wind for several hours and then found a nice spot away from the crowd at TI Cove. Brought some curry Chicken Salad for the main entree for the third year in a row and everyone loved it. Had some great wine as well as conversation and then dessert (we will never forget dessert!). Then off to the show.... we love KFOG (local radio http://www.kfog.com/ ) great tunes and cool DJ's. This was their 10th annual fireworks show I do believe. And it was a stunner. Started off with some great colors and finished with a bang. The neat thing they do is synch it to music. We were well outside the hundreds of boats and sailed the entire show. What a cool way to go. The key was to stay near the Bay Bridge above the smoke and away from the crowd. What a night!!!5-21-03 Had an excellent sail out to Angel today! I went solo as Sierra has a broken leg from a stick throwing incident at Lake Don Pedro. He was running for the stick and stuck his hind leg in a hole and broke it clean. Now he has a pin for the next several weeks. Anywho I digress...I got an early start and once I got toward Alcatraz the wind was a blowing. I headed for the lee of Angel and found Craig's Cove. Hung out there and had lunch. Put a reef in and headed back. Once under the bridge I pulled the reef out and headed to the estuary. But wait, I still had time to do a south tour and had a lovely sail out towards the anchored container ships. Great day!5-28-03 Took out the two Dave's today for another great day on the bay. Nobody out and the winds picked up after the bridge. We had a very pleasant sail out to the north side of Angel and I challenged the crew to a game of bocce in the cove. We docked and walked up to the picnic area and commenced the battle. Dave #1 had never played before but seemed to have a flair for the game. We had some nice play but he took off and blasted us. On of the memorable shots was up a small hill and next to a cement block. If you threw your ball past it would roll back right where you wanted it. Dave #2 won that one with some lucky shots. Back to the water and we threw a reef in as it was picking up. Had another very nice sail back past TI Cove and into the estuary. Hot in the 90's so we kill the engine and go for a swim. Water is perfect and we are laughing our heads off as we swim around the boat! Don't know why but the water as Dave #1 said was delightful! Closed her up and look forward to the next adventure.July 2003Went to San Diego over the 4th of July. When I got back I attempted to get a group together for a sail. Everybody bailed so I was off to go alone. Stopped by Bobs office in Oakland and he was not in yet but his brother was there. Tim was visiting from up near Shasta with his 22 year old son, Graham. I asked them if they wanted to go for a sail. They looked excited but couldnt decide. I finally twisted their arm and off we went. They really liked the interior and were pretty excited about the sail. We got out the estuary and the wind was 15-17 but with a very westerly push. We made a few tacks and decided to head for Pac Bell. Got into the cove and dropped the hook for lunch. Had a good one and then it was time to head home. Went for a swim in the estuary and then headed for Union City.Jean called to say he has a cousin in town and would love to go sailing. I signed him up for the next week and invited Dennis and Dannille as well. We meet at Jack London to pick up Jean and then a nice sail to Pier 40 to pick up Dennis. We set sail for Angel Island for lunch. We arrived at Craigs Cove and set the hook. The Chieften was moored at the dock and there was little wind in the cove as it was a very hot day. We opened some wine and had a great lunch. I went down below and came back up to find the entire crew in the water and swimming to the beach. What a shock! So I jumped in too and the water was great on such a hot day. Swam a bit then called everyone in as we needed to get to Pier 40 by 3:30. Dropped Dennis off and continued for a nice run down the estuary.July 26, My first race on the Addiction! It was the second half opener sponsored by the Encinal Yacht Club. Murray had put things together and with me we had 5 crew. The race started off the Berkeley Pier at about noon. We were in a fleet of 5 Newports and several Catalinas. We got a lucky great start and we are off. Our mark is just off Point Bonita. We started a little on the high side and had to do a tack at Angel. As we passed Angel and headed for the Gate. Low and behold the Americas Cup boats are racing. What a thrill to see these boats up close and personal. The wind is about 17 and they are flying. We head towards the fog and under the Gate and the wind dies alot. I have been on the rail for about an hour and get asked to take the helm. We are only doing 4-5 knots and sometimes less. The fog is choking off the wind. Only a few boats around. We make the mark and start heading back to the yacht club for the finish line. We see another Newport round the mark after us. Whew, at least were are not last. We heading back towards the Gate along the north side. We see alot more wind on the other side of the bridge. We get under and boy what a difference. The wind goes from 10 knots to 35 in no time. The speedo jumps up to 9 and we are out of control! We let the spinnaker fly as we are broaching. We make the decision to strike the kite. Murray heads to the foredeck and pulls it down. The other Craig is at the helm and he says prepare to gybe. I try to pull in the main but it is difficult. He cranks on the wheel and the wind captures the sail and has such force that it breaks the traveler shackle clean. We decide to retire as there is no way to control the sail. we start the engine and get control and bring it down. The Newport next to us is having trouble and soon their spinnaker is shredded by the big winds. We have a $30 repair and theirs is a $2k repair. We make it back to the docks after a long motor. We contact the committee boat by radio to tell them our status. DNF I liked the racing but know in my heart I am a cruiser. I think about one race a year is plenty. Murray fixed the shackle and beefed it up. Wsith that much wind we had no biz doing a gybe.August 5Took her out all by my lonesome today for a great sail. Got out towards the Gate for some flat water and nice winds. As I was heading back home the wind was 12-17 and I wanted to try to raise the spinnaker by myself for the first time. Yikes! I set everything up and put the spinnaker in place. I had a little trouble but finally got it up there and what a beautiful site! The wind was perfect and in no time I was doing 7.5 knots! Went under the bridge and started heading towards home. What a great day! 12-16-03 BIG Weeekend! Its almost Christmas and time for a California sailing adventure! I departed goodole Fortman on Monday morining and motored twards the bay bridge. It was sunny with a crispness in the air that says winter. I had not put the sails up as I was doubious about sailing to my destination. After crossing under the bridge, I sense a slight breeze, yes there is wind. I carefully put up the sails and off I went at 3-4 knots for almost an hour. The she quit. With the sails down, I motor past Alcatraz and more wind ahead. Wind again. This time a lot more and I tack towards Angel hitting 6.5 knots on a reach. Seveal beautiful winter runs between Angel and the wind line and I am in shorts on this gourgous day on the bay. 3:00 and time to head for Schoonmaker Marina in Sausalito. I sail to the marina and check out the D dock. I have been assigbed D-95. I pull in and someone has taken my slip. A quick tie-up at the end of the dock and thankfully someone is still at the office. I pick up a gate key and she assigns me another slip. I pull in and Sierra is ready to play on the beach. A great sunset follows and we head below for some pasta and fine wine. Drop around 8pm with a fine sleep and dreams. 12-17-03 Heading out of Sausalito this morning with Jay and Big Dave on board (and of course Sierra). Wind is up at 10:30 and we head towards Angel with 12-15 knots. We have the #2 up and we are flying. The tides are perfect and so we slide out the Gate a few times and what a great day to be on the bay. Only a few boats out and it feels like we have the place to ourselves. We hove to for lunch in front of St Francis YC. Then its back out the Gate laughing and telling stories about the faire and folks we all know. Jay breaks out some wine and the party continues. We get back in for clean up and some bocce on the beach. Some darts with Dave and then dinner in town at a wonderful Thai restaurant. That night I have a good sleep in the v-berth with some Animatrix on. 12-18-03 Heading Home I start the day with a jog at sunrise (very deep red colors) and a bike ride in the hills. After breakfast I set out in a lite breeze for Alameda. The tide is pulling me out the Gate but I have enough wind to get me over to Crissy. I sail for about 2.5 hours in moderate winds and enjoy the beauty of the bay. Not as windy as yesterday but nice. The wind dies near the Bay bridge so I take down the sails and have a lite lunch. Off towards the estuary I relax for a while then head in front of a tanker. At about 4:30 I drop anchor at Encinal and watch a gourgous sunset from the boat. Then into the slip and out by 7:30. The next night I meet Drew at Yoshis for the Charlie Hunter show. Great guitar and jazz. We ride down the estuary and then I get him back to his car. What a great week!!!!

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