Winds were moderate as we left port, so we let that seduce us into putting out full canvas before heading out into the bay.
We sailed to the west on the southwest breeze for a while and then tacked inot the lee of pier 45, as our old pal ADVENTURE CAT 2 was raising her main. She headed east, so I surmised that she was doing a special private charter since she never heads that way on a regular scheduled outing.
The charter ketch PRIVATEER was also heading out on a charter and sailing westward.
After tacking out from the lee of pier 45, we headed westward again, and now the wind started fresheing dramatically and we were overpowered with full canvas and had two choices: fall off and reef the jib down ot a postage stamp size and parhaps still be overpowered with full main if the wind contunued to build, or fall off to a beam to broad reach and head for the weather side of Angel Island, which is what we did.
We screamed across the bay, passing the wesather side of Alcatraz and soon were approaching the Corinthian YC on the north end of Raccoon Straits in a much lighter breeze.
The breeze softened to just a few knots at the west mouth of the striats, and we did a soft gybe without pulling in the main and headed down the straits, sailing all the way to the east mouth in light winds and then coming about and heading back up the striats, as was this Catalina also flying full canvas.
In the lee of Belvedere, we reefed the main and the jib and, unfortunately, a wind hole developed there and we were stuck in it for about a half hour, finally drifting past this lovely ketch tied to a buoy on the north side of the straits, and getting into some wind again.
A dingy sailor was heaidng downwind in good winds outside the wind hole and we were soon in that wind as well, happy to be well reefed.
This Islander 37 came out of the marina in Tiburon and headed toward the central bay with full canvas flying-- possibly a mistake if they were heading out into the central bay.
We sailed to the southeast on the quite southerly wind for a while and then tacked toward Sausalito to give ourselves a more off the wind sail back to home port, pulling in the jib a bit more to reduce canvas before heading into the blasting bay winds again, all teh while watching the CALL OF THE SEA schooner come out of Richardson Bay, fall off to a broad reach when the 25-30 knot winds were encountered and finally come about and head back toward Richardson Bay.
We blasted across the bay on a beam reach, having to head up a bit as we approached the weather side of Alcatraz to safely pass the buoy there, and then fell off to head the rest of the way home, sailing into the lee of pier 35 to douse sails and then discovering that the engine wouldn't start and eventually having to have the marina patrol boat tow us into port-- not a great ending to a quite exciting outing.
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