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5 Day Bay/Napa Cruise
July 4 Weekend 2005
Tex, Sierra and I departed Emery Cove on Sunday with Arnie aboard for a day sail. We sailed out towards the Richmond
Bridge with a double reef as the wind was over 20 as we headed out. We ended up towards The Sisters and then a few tacks
up Raccoon Straight as we pondered life's twists and turns. Then it was back to the cove for dinner at Chevy's. Back to
the boat and we could see a few fireworks but not much.
July 4th we headed out again with a double reef and over towards Angel for lunch and fun. At 2 we headed towards the
ballpark to pick up Hope, David, Arnie, Hailey and Rebecca for the fireworks show on the bay. Picked them up at 4pm and
headed out for a sail. Ended up at TI Cove for a great dinner with some special wines. At 8:40 we headed out for the show.
The wind was still blowing so we put up the jib and took off. We looked at the boat milage and we were soon to hit 10,000
nm! We toasted that one. We were hitting 6 with the jib up. We headed for the show and it was a great one! Fireworks on
the bay are always a treat! No fog too. Dropped them off back at Pier 40 and then headed back to TI. Found a nice spot
and then had to get Sierra to the beach. We pumped up the tender and headed in. He is always good about doing his biz and
jumping back onboard. Got to bed about 2am.
July 5 we had a nice breakfast of banana pancakes and fruit. Then at 10:30 we headed back to Pier 40 to pick up Dennis
and Scumby. We headed out and has a nice sail to Angel. We stopped for some Frisbee and played a round of golf there too.
Dave won on the last hole by 1 stroke. Headed back to South Beach Harbor for a tailgate and more! Tex and I headed to the
game against the Reds and had Club Level seats near 1st base. The Giants just cannot get it going this year. Had a great
time and ended up back at the boat about 10pm.
July 6 We dropped the lines about 6am and headed for Sam's in Tiburon. Had breakfast there and then picked up the wind
and headed for the Napa River. We had a favorable current and soon, the wind at our back. Got up to the river and headed
in. Sun was out and spirits high! We needed to give Sierra a break so we headed into the Vallejo Marina. The furler would
not furl. We could not enter the marina with a full sail out so we anchored to access the situation. We checked all the
lines and figured it was something up the mast. Tex was prepared to climb it if needed. We looked again at all the lines
and realized it was a simple tangle on the spin pole. Fixed it and went in. Got fuel and then we were off again. Up to
the lift bridge and under no problem. Had a very nice cross breeze and we were cruising! Even though it's 9 miles up to
the Napa Valley Marina it went very fast. We used the chart and some directions from the web and arrived at 4:00 without
incident. We had an offer to head into Napa but we were too tired. Had a early dinner, some backgammon and then a little
nap. At 8pm we paddled out for the sunset. Had a nice one and then back to the boat for a movie and bed.
July 7, Back up early and heading home. We got into the main channel about 2 miles out and the wind was just right.
We set the sails and watched the markers. Not well enough as we were stuck in no time. We had been here before. With the
tide dropping, we needed to move fast. I jumped in the tender with the lunch hook and set out for deep water. We began to
kedge and it worked just fine. Using the winch to pull us to the deep water we were out in 10 minutes. We watched even closer
for the rest of the trip on the river. Made it to the lift bridge and their hours had changed - they did not open until 9am
and we were early. Had a nice breakfast on the hook and then at 9am we went under. One more trip to the NVM and then down
river. We double reefed and then hit the bay. It was blowing and we were pounding! The waves were very big. We had to
tack many times and then started making headway. It was a very long trip and it seemed for every mile we gained we gave back
a half mile on the tack. That's sailing! We made it past Pt Pinole and then the Richmond Bridge was in view. The wind started
to die and so we motored. Still no wind after the bridge and we continued to motor sail. Finally after AI it really picked
up again and we were home free. Cleaned up and headed back home tired yet refreshed from a great 5 days on the water.
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