As we headed west on the southwest breeze, sailing against a flood current, we spotted the Rocket Boat heaidnd back to the dock at pier 39 west-side marina-- a new and, for us sailors, unwelcome addition to the tourist boat traffic on the bay!
Relatively few boats were out on the central bay waters, but we did pass this nice Catalina heading downwind.....
...this J106 also blasting downwind...
....another Catalina flying full canvas...
... and WANDERIN' BEAR, a small Hunter, I think.
We had to tack away from the shore of Alcatraz because the flood current puhsed us northward and we couldn't clear the buoy guarding the rocks on the southwest side, and we soon spotted PRIVATEER heading home to pier 39 with some charter passengers aboard.
We just sailed away from the island and then tacked toward Sausalito again, eventually sailing into light winds and reefing the jib down to a postage stamp size for more comfortable sailing in the heavy winds further sout
Greg was at the helm as we sailed across the bay toward the San Francisco shore in winds that were quite variable.
Closer to the shore of the headlands, a large sailboat and a ketch were heading southeast toward the central bay.
Eventually, we spotted the ketch heading out the gate on the sparkling bay waters.
A fully-canvassed sailboat with sails flogging a bit in the strong winds passed in front of us and behind another sailboat with reefed sails on an almost parallel course to ours.
A trimaran named FLIP FLAP 'N FLY passed us heading back from the gate.
We soon spotted some kiteboarders like this one passing close to us as we continued southward toward the sore of the city.
This kiteboarder kite provided a colorful foreground to the fog bank that was creeping over the hills of the headlands.
Closer to the shore of the city, that race boat from Mexico, RAINCLOUD, had rounded a buoy and set her spinnaker before blasting downwind-- practiciing for the Rolex Big Boat Series starting on Thursday. They seem to be out every day practicing so that they can compete well against local boats with local knowledge of the bay.
Closer to the shore of the city, that race boat from Mexico, RAINCLOUD, had rounded a buoy and set her spinnaker before blasting downwind-- practiciing for the Rolex Big Boat Series starting on Thursday. They seem to be out every day practicing so that they can compete well against local boats with local knowledge of the bay.
Speaking of boats practicing for the upcoming race, we eventually spotted STEWBALL blasting toward us from near the gate, and worried about a collision for a few moments-- though we had right of way.
But we were clear of her, and before arriving near our position, the crew began a gybe anyway.....
....her big asymmetrical spinnker crossing the bow at this point.....
...and almost properly trimmer here.
A short time later, another race boat was headed our way with a colorful blue spinnaker flying, and here's a short video of how good a race boat looks as she passes with kite flying.
We tacked after approaching closer to the shore and watched as this sailboarder transitioned from barely moving to encountering much stronger winds in just a few yards.
We sailed toward the gate on close reach port tack, being resisted and pushed northward by the flood current, almost getting out the gate just inside the north tower, but then having to tack twice to sail out the gate.
As usual, a number of people were standing on the ridge of the Marin Headlands watching us and the other boats on the bay.
Jillian, Heidi, and Peter were enjoying their first time of sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge.
We sailed out a short ways and then came about and headed back inside, pulling out more jib for downwind power.
With flood current assist, we made great headway and were soon approaching home port while this catamaran was heading west in the strong winds.
The city was enjoying hazy sunshine as we approached home port.
Flags on the end of pier 39 were fluttering in the breeze of about 20 knots as we sailed past.
We sailed into the lee of pier 35 to douse sails and get ready for landing while motoring around the pier, eventually motoring into the marina and landing fine in the flood current. After a trip to the restroom, we sat in the sun warmed cockpit and enjoyed wine and cheese and crackers and cookies and good conversation-- another great afternoon in San Francisco.
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