Cyber9erCruise '99 (Nov 6-7, 1999)
CyberCruisers,
What a wonderful weekend for a CyberCruise. We had warm weather,
calm water, got several blimp shots on TV, and the 49ers won by
35 points.
Well, maybe not, but the intrepid did venture out. When Teresa and
I arrived about 3:30 on Saturday, there were 6 boats...4 of them
motor boats! California Girl and Wildflower were glad to see us on
their side of the raft-up. We were soon sitting comfortably on the
SeaRay, Stevara, telling stories about Amazon women.
The barbeques came out after sunset, and we had the usual assortment
of CyberGoodies. Pelican arrived but, due to technical difficulties,
decided to anchor alone. Rod entertained us with his TiVo gadget...
including a video of Marlee's tap dance routine from earlier that day.
Those have to be the World's mellowest dogs on Incessant Wonder.
I'm not sure what happened after I hit the sack around 9:30, but at
about 1:30AM I heard, "Anyone awake?" coming from Wildflower. Anyone
awake!?! How could anyone sleep with the boats banging around that
way? Fearing the boats were going to beat each other to pieces, we
decided to break off, head closer to shore, and each drop our own
hook. California Girl, Wildflower, and Invictus managed to break away
and successfully anchor, but the rest of the night was anything but
peaceful. The wind and waves were fetching from the South-East, and
despite the fact that we were tucked as far into the cove as possible,
we bounced like a cheerleader all night.
When the sun came up Sunday morning, the motor boats were gone, as was
Pelican. We managed to make breakfast and coffee on the rocking boat,
but the clouds were looking ominous and rafting together was out of
the question. It was obvious that the rain was on its way and that the
blimp would be staying on the ground, so we decided to make a break.
I'm not sure how the trip home was for Wildflower and California Girl,
and it wasn't too bad for Invictus at first...except that the wind was
coming from where we wanted to go. We tacked back and forth across
The Bay, and had a pretty nice sail, until we got to about Coyote Pt.
That is when it started to blow harder than I've ever seen it on The
Bay. I'm sure it had to be 50kts. We had way too much sail up, so
I decided to drop the jib and sail under reefed main only. Working
the foredeck was really tough. The waves were breaking over me as
I tried to drop the jib and get some bungee cords around it. It
was all I could do to hang on, but I managed to get the flapping sail
under control. That is when I noticed that we'd blown out the leach.
Even without the jib, the reefed main was too much sail. Fearing that
we'd blow the main, too, we decided to drop all sail and...I hate to
say this...motor home. Again, I risked life and limb to drop and
furl the sail, but I somehow managed it without being swept off the
boat. The Ol' Atomic 4 was a lifesaver!
But it still wasn't easy. We were heading directly into the stiff
wind and big chop. The spray was so intense that it seemed like a
constant rain. It stung my face and burned my eyes. The A4 was doing
all it could to make headway into the terrible conditions. The waves
were slamming the hull and dropping it with a thud every time we went
through one. It was the most miserable conditions I've ever had on
Invictus...and must have been near the limits of structural integrity
for a Catalina.
But the A4 pushed us on valiantly. We passed the SM Bridge, we made
the first channel marker, we got into Redwood Creek, where waves were
breaking on the shore...and finally pulled into our slip. Everything
was soaked.
We unloaded the boat and headed home in the beginning raindrops. Just
after getting home, it started to pour. We took a warm shower and
watched the 49ers thinking we were so glad not to have stayed.
So, when is the next CyberCruise?
Dudley
.
Saturday was a busy day at home so me 'n' Jenn set sail around 4:30pm.
Wonderful evening sail watching the sun go down and the lights come up in
the city - and nice and warm too. Bay sailing at it's best - beam reach to
starboard tack all the way to Hunters Point. By then it was dark and, as we
turned the corner at HP, we furled up and powered up. I remembered there
were several unlit piers sticking out which we zigzagged around and then
overshot the last one. Checking the chart we should have turned in
immediately after the last pier. We backed tracked and headed for the 1 & 2
markers. After we past the 3&4 markers we turned left into the mud. So we
back tracked through 3&4 and Jenn spotted the raftup. There were so many
bright lights it looked like a working dock and also made it very hard to
see any details. Then we spotted Dud.
Pelican was in the mud with engine on (the prop thrust pushes the stern and
keel down) and afloat with the engine off so we didn't have much room to
move. We decided to drop the anchor nad reverse back into the raft up but
even with Rod's mighty outboard and dink we found it too hard.
BTW, for those of you wondering why we didn't raft up first and them ferry
the anchor out with the dink, Pelican has a 45Lb CQR with an all chain rode.
Once the dink's obout 10 feet from the boat the rode sinks to the bottom
and does a really good job of anchoring the dink.
After an hour of backing and filling, warping and wandering, a loose line
wrapped the prop and that was that. Much to the chagrin of crew, I decided
to hang on the hook till dawn and then figure things out then. Meantime Rod
very kindly taxied me'n Jenn to and from the Mother ship.
Our anchorage, well chosen to be totally exposed when the wind backed on the
approach of the forecast front, became quite uncomfortable. Around 1:00am I
decided to peek out and found the raftup downwind and astern of us whereas
at 10pm it was on our Starboard beam. All the boats, except for the big
guys, looked miserable pitching and banging around. Don hollered over that
the three sailboats were heading into the cove. Our anchorage really was
quite exposed so, since I was expecting the weather to worsen, I decided
that it best to don the wet suit and cut the line loose from the prop
despite words of encouragement from Terry - "Doug, don't do it".
The line had fouled the prop with the engine in forward gear and I could not
shift it into neutral or reverse. I tried reversing the engine by hand but
to no avail. I know it sounds crazy but I decided to crank the starter to
'unload' the gearbox and immediately pull the gear shift to neutral. It
worked and the engine started in neutral. Note Pelican's gearbox is a Hirth
equivalent - ie geared not hydraulic. I gingerly inched the gear shift in
reverse while hauling on the loose end of the fouled line but, once again,
everything stopped.
I found it quite an effort to don the wet suit, strap on 24ibs of lead, and
get over the side of the boat and into the water. I had a pretty good knife
on a lanyard around my wrist but had to just hang around for a bit until I
got used to the cold and the motion of the boat. Believe me, messing around
under your boat in a sheltered harbor in warm water and I nice sunny day is
much easier than at night, with a pitching boat. The only good thing was
that there was no current to speak of.
Under water I could feel the line round the shaft but, obviously, I couldn't
see a thing. I had to grab the shaft with my left hand and saw away with my
right. What with the dark, and pitching boat I did manage to slice my
finger along with the rope. It didn't take too long to peel away the line
and check that the prop turned OK. Back onboard I found I had all sorts of
nicks in my hands from the barnacles and my trusty knife. (Dud, I took great
care to cut off a minimum of your line and, of course, I saved the snubber
attached).
By now the three sail boats had 'landed' in the cove. Steve gave me a
'heads up' on the depth but I decided I didn't want to spend another hour
messing around trying to raft up again in even shallower water so we decided
to call it quits. Jenn 'n I motored out through the markers, round HP and
headed for home. The drive back was very pleasant with the wind either
behind us or non existent.
Our slip at the Marina was heaven - no wind and no swell. We tied up, hit
the sack and slept like babes. We awoke at 9:30am to a light drizzle. Jenn
headed home to make some breakfast while I put Pelican to bed. It looks as
if I stretched the gearbox shift cable during the night's antics so it may
need replacing. Other than that Pelican stands ready for the next
Cybercruise onslaught.
Doug
Hey guys,
Dudley's story was well told and absolutely correct in every way. But, I
didn't want you all to think that I sat down below the WHOLE time. In fact,
I also sat outside (WITHOUT A DODGER) and wave after wave after wave, just
a constant beating, hit me in the back of the head. It was hard and sharp.
I had to hold on tight! I'm not proud, I will honestly say that this was
the most scared I've been so far. The mast breaking was awful, but still,
this was scarier to me. As I held the tiller, Dudley slowly crawled forward
to take the jib down, and I'll bet my wet, stinging eyes were the size of
quarters. Invictus bolted up at least 12 feet and then shot down with a
most powerful blow and bang, and the wave washed right over him and onto
me! I could barely see him most of the time.
Every now and then I'd go below to wipe up the floor. We had rolling water
inside the boat. Nearly everything got wet.
Dudley is my hero.
But, I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!
Torp
It sure started off nice. It was dead calm when I left Alameda just a
little after noon. There was a slight breeze from the south when I
dropped anchor at about 1:00 PM as far into the cove as I dared, knowing
it was just a little past the high tide. It was warm and sunny, and the
blimp kept circling us.
Around 4:30, however, then wind picked up. We were still getting
shelter from the cove, so it wasn't too bad, although I guess I
misjudged the depth as the larger powerboat started hitting bottom. We
had three sailboats and 4 powerboats in the raftup, and then Doug in
Pelican arrived. He had dropped his bow anchor and we were trying to
pull/motor him into the raftup when he wrapped one of the lines around
his prop and was dead. He decided that he would be better off swinging
on his own anchor away from the rest of us, so we dinghied him and his
crew over for cocktails.
Dinner was great, and then we turned in for the night. It was a short
sleep. It was just after midnight that I got up to check on things, as
we were definitely rocken and rollin. The wind speed wasn't that much
greater, but it had shifted around to the east, which let the waves come
straight into the cove with nothing to knock them down. The sail boats
at the end were getting the worst of it, and they were pitching 2 to 3
times what the big trawler next to them was.
The anchors hadn't budged, the fenders were well placed, the lines
were well rigged, so I decided that we were riding about as well as we
could and returned to my bunk. By 1:00 AM, however, sleep was out of
the question, as I felt like I was being tossed into the air as the bow
pitched up and down. I came on deck to discover that Invictus and
Wildflower had already departed and were motoring deeper into the cove.
Everyone (except Steve Downie) was on deck, and we discussed our
options. Further into the cove didn't look any better, and the forecast
was for increasing winds and rain. As much as I hated to, bugging out
seemed like the best thing to do.
Everyone except California Girl had been part of the decision, so I
crawled over (going boat to boat was a challenge) next to her and called
"STEVE??" "Steeeeeeve?"
The lights are on, Virginia and the kids were up, where is Steve?
"Uh? What?" came the groggy reply.
"Steve, we're leaving. Thought you might like to know."
"Wait, I just woke up, is this an emergency?"
"Nope, you have a few minutes, but you need to get up." I admire this
guy, a true sailor, he can sleep through anything.
I felt bad about Pelican, knowing that she had a line wrapped around
her prop and had fewer options. Stevara (powerboat) and I retrieved our
stern anchors with our dinghies, and I was about to head over to Pelican
when I saw her motoring off. I don't know how he freed that line, but
he managed to get going again.
California Girl peeled off first, and headed deeper into the cove.
The power boat at the end peeled off next. The three of us remaining
all had bow anchors out, which we retrieved at the same time and peeled
off as our anchor broke free. The ride back was uneventful, the sea was
following and didn't bother us at all. It wasn't nearly as choppy out
in the deeper water. When I got back to Alameda, I was wondering what
all the fuss was about, as it seemed almost calm in the marina.
The downpour started about 2:00 PM, which made me glad that I wasn't
still out. It was disappointing that we didn't get to raft up for the
game, but the portion of the cybercruise on Saturday was great! We will
just have to try again next year.
So, where is the next cybercruise? I heard that the yacht club at
Horseshoe Cove (our usual January spot) has been closed.
Rod
Cyber9erCruise '97 (Nov 1-2, 1997)
They both left their slips
for the CyberCruise,
Headed South from Alameda,
Had no time to lose.
What they didn't know,
With the tide going down,
Was that they would soon
Find themselves aground.
And when duty called,
So she couldn't go.
He decided to her rescue,
He would row.
He couldn't get to shore
In that little dink.
And everyone knew that
Her panties were pink.
The Perry arrived,
With a keg full of stout,
And when a swell hit,
It would roll all about.
But that didn't matter.
It had a good head.
And after a few,
We all want to bed.
Sunday morning at dawn,
With the first sun ray,
It became quite clear,
T'was a beautiful day.
The dinghies were launched,
The beer babes did row.
Did they get free beer?
The answer is no.
The schock pulled away,
In the first quarter.
Seems they were afraid,
They'd run out of water.
Leaving Splash all alone,
With 3 floating boats,
But all by himself,
He handled those ropes.
Then out came the decals,
For which there was a beer,
If someone could get one,
On their spouse's rear.
But what is that photo?
Take a look at the butt.
If you think it's cute,
You must be a nut.
We were all ready,
With the blimp in the sky.
But at every commercial,
They just flew on by.
The blimp was from Goodyear,
Not Fuji or Met,
Those other two blimps,
Were a much better bet.
By late in the day,
We had someone new,
To add to the list,
Of the CyberCruise crew.
But too soon it ended,
We packed up our stuff.
See you all next time,
I can't get enough.
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 1994 07:45:05 +0800
Subject: All-Madden CyberCruise
Well, we did it! As a lead in to the game after a commercial
break in the second quarter, they started with a close-up shot,
from the blimp,of the CyberCruisers gathered in front of the TV
on Nipper. Several of the CyberCruisers are recognizable as the
shot zooms out to reveal the rest of the crew on Lively, and
continues to zoom until all the boats are shown on the screen.
Meanwhile, John Madden accurately explains what we are doing,
"These boaters all tie up together to watch the game", and,
"It looks like they're all on one boat". Pat Summerall adds a
few comments which continue into the game "action". Madden and
Summerall start saying "That's what a boat looks like from a blimp"
We had eight boats, Nipper (Nordic Trawler), Lively (Olsen 30),
Wildflower (Cal 27), Starshine (Ericson 32), Invictus (Catalina 27),
Leapin' Lizard (San Juan 28), Sanctuary (McGregor 19), and Twilight
Zone (Merit 25). We plenty of food and spirits. We had beautiful
warm weather and smooth water. But it all seemed secondary to the
thrill of seeing the CyberCruise on the tube.
Great weekend, all. Thanks,
Dudley
.
1995 Cyber9erCruise
Sun Nov 26 21:39:58 1995
I got a flood of names this afternoon, and I probably don't have them
all straight, so I won't use any for fear of not mentioning somebody
that I should.
I want to thank you all for your hospitality and a good time! Ye gods,
the food was unbelievable and my wine was puny in the company it was
in. Wow, I counted 16 boats at one time, quite a raft!
Thanks again,
Jon
Mon Nov 27 09:09:05
CyberCruisers,
Well, another successful CyberCruise is in the books. We didn't get our
blimp shot, but what the heck...been there, done that!
Great sailing both days. The run down the Bay has seldom been as beautiful
as yesterday. A fitting climax to a wonderful weekend.
Apparently, nobody had any problem finding Candlestick Cove. There were
11 boats already rafted together when we arrived at 6:30PM.
Court was in session when Teresa, Shannon, Stu, and I arrived. There was
talk about keel-hauling Dudley, but the wine tasting tempered the
mood. And Don looked great in his AOL t-shirt.
After some boat-hopping to sample the goodies, we crawled into our sacks
for what would have qualified for a very quiet night if it hadn't been for
California Girl's squeeky fender.
Sunday morning arrived as a bright blue sky. The dinghys were deployed for
some water fun before the game started. The water's edge showed a red hue
as more and more tailgaters arrived in their 49er colors.
A couple of boats left and several more arrived.
Two TVs were set up on Incessant Wonder (upper and lower), where most people
gathered to watch the game. The 49ers soon had the game in hand (nice to
know that the CyberCruisers aren't a jinx) and the party began to spill over
into the TV-less boats.
Sometime around the 4th quarter, Invictus untied for the trip home. We held
a broad reach most of the way down the Bay. What a pleasant weekend...and
friendly, too!
Dudley
.
Mon Nov 27 10:03:28
Yes, it was a great cybercruise!
Saturday was very calm, a bit hazy, and warm. I arrived at Candlestick
cove about 1:30, and found one fellow cybercruiser already there. Before
I had finished tying alongside, Doug arrived. Before he had even
come alongside, there were two other boats approaching. We waved them
off for a few minutes, as the wind had picked up and we wanted to get
a second bow anchor set.
And then the boats just kept comming. I counted 11 that were there
for Saturday night. A couple left in the morning, before the game. A
few others arrived, including one boat that no one seemed to know and who
didn't seem to know what cybercruise was. There may have been as many as 18
at one time Sunday.
Sunday was aboslutley beautiful, with shorts and tee shirts being the
order of the day.
Since I was the token power boat (or "docking station",as Dudely
referred to me) and prominantly located in the center of the raft up,
my boat became the "adult" party center, and Steve Downie's boat became
the children's entertainment center. For Saturday night dinner, the kids
had Spagetti'os and a movie on Steve's boat, and a bunch of people had
pot luck on my boat. Didn't know we were having a pot luck, mind you.
I guess everyone like the smell of my steaks. It worked out real nice,
however.
For the game, there was the most incredible spread of food and wine. Some
one had brought over a small TV and had managed to tie it to the bimini top.
My TV was in the cabin, so we had game viewing on the flybridge and
cabin. We only had one corkscrew, so we were always searching for it.
I have no idea how many people were on my boat at one time. Thirty?
Fourty?
The raft up started to break up during the fourth quarter. The 49'ers
were way ahead, and there was no sign of the blimp. Finally, as the game
ended, a camera on top of the stadium panned out into the bay, but by that
time we were just a bunch of boats instead of this massive raftup.
I know I sure had a good time. Based on the number of empty wine bottles
I removed from my boat when we got back, I am sure a lot of others must have
also.
So, by my calculations, the next cybercruise should be the day of the
three bridge fiasco at Horseshoe cove. Can someone give me the exact
date?
Rod
Tue Nov 28 00:05:05
Gee, I met some great people on Sunday, and with thanks to Jon Larson
who offered me a ride to the supposed CyberCruise raftup...but could
it be that we went to the wrong group of people ?
I must admit I was a bit nervous as we headed to the cove from Coyote
Point...after all, we were heading to a large group of snobs, a group
of elitist, people who epitomize the world of "yachting"...yes, the
very group I had been warned about on this list from the many angry,
hostile, and bitter "normal" sailing types...
So I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment when we finally arrived
and not one woman was wearing high heels and nylons...(I wanted to see
if any had hairy matted legs underneath the nylons), and as a matter
of fact, not one of the gents (if I dare use the word in vain) even
had on one of those fancy blue blazers with the funny white hats that
"yawwwwwting" types wear. I mean, geez, where were all the Thurston
Howells and Lovey Dovys ????
Could Jon have taken me to the wrong place ? Surely this was a
possibility since this group of people seemed like warm friendly
people, similar to the group of people I used to sail with down in the
Channel Islands where we would go on a montly sail out to the islands
with a dozen or more boats...
Everyone seemed like they were having a great time, sharing wine and
snacks, the sun was out, it seemed like a lovely day, well for
everyone except the Rams...they didn't appear to be too happy. (maybe
they came in through AOL...)
So while a bunch of you are pulling out of this list, so be it, and
enjoy yourself...since the group of CyberCruisers I met didn't seem
like CyberSnobs to me, they seemed like everyday normal type sailors.
Who for the most part are not begging anyone to stay on this list or
pleading for anyone to come out and enjoy the Bay with them. But they
do welcome anyone to come along if they like...and they didn't tell
anyone to leave...
Thanks to all for the wonderful time me and my son had, we look
forward to seeing you guys again...the only thing I regret is that I
only took one bottle of wine with me, had I known the group better I
probably would have taken at least 2 or 3...;-)
The next CyberCruise might be cold, so maybe we can sit around and
have a nice hot cup of noodles...thats always good to warm you up!
Alan
Tue Nov 28 07:42:08
Hi Folks
I just wanted to say that I had a super duper whammy smoken awesome
good time out there this weekend and If you didn't make it well I
guess we better do something about that next time. The ride home was
amazing. I decided to just hang overnight at oyster point. I will add
though that there was a stretch on the way to oyster point that I hit
over 10 knots on my loran. That was just before I saw god. He said all
good cybercruisers deserve a break once in a while. By the way he was
sailing on the same broad reach Dudly and some of you were on, on the
way home, may you saw him screamin passed you too Tears rollin out of
his Eye's... Screamin .....I don't wanna work tamorrrowww I Just wanna
play saillbbooattt aahhhaahhhahhh!!
Hee Hee Hee
AK ;-)
1997 Cyber9erCruise, March 22-23, 1997
From Downwind:
As usual for me, the trip is in the sailing, more than the
socializing, but even that was great.
The trip up was marked by good winds after all that warm still air, it
was a welcome relief. We had Dragon Lady's sails up, all of them
including the mizzen and we were BLASTING along. Well, blasting as
much as you can in a 13 tone vessel. We were doing quite well going
up the shallow east side of the bay until we reefed the main, and even
then were probably doing hull speed. Then we tried to drop the main
and sail with jib and mizzen alone, a tactic that has been reported to
work well on a ketch, but it slowed us down so much that the seas
caused us to 'wallow'. I suspect that this works best on a beam
reach, and not so well close hauled. So up went the main again and
away we blasted. Crew going up were Julie...Mary's sister, Cat, and
Hoover. Mary and Julie took care of Tristan while the rest of us
sailed. Seemed a bit crowded in the cockpit at times.
The raft was nice and close to the beach this time, so the winds were
mostly blocked by the island. It was COLD though. I think that's why
almost all evening activity seemed to be located below deck this time.
Dudley's boat had 15-16 people on board at one point. There were 7 or
8 boats (???? help me out here) this time.
The trip back on Sunday was marked by light winds until we were almost
Hunter's point, then it picked up... and got very very windy. The
tide was going the wrong way of course, so the seas were getting
rougher all the way down the bay as time went on. We saw something
like 20 knots of wind (estimate) and we were blasting along again.
Dragon Lady caught up to, and passed Invictus, just as Dudley was
putting up a larger headsail in the shadow of San Bruno. This was
good for moral as Dudley made comments the night before how he caught
up and passed Dragon Lady on the way up. Then Invictus passed us in
the light air with his lapper up and were going going gone. The wind
picked up a LOT after the shadow and we sailed over the reef in
something like 7-10 feed of water at close to hull speed. The wind
direction the whole time was off the beam or off the bow, very
different. After the San Mateo Bridge, the south bay exhibited it's
most excellent rolling seas, which when we had Athena, would have been
YAHOO sailing. Dragon Lady seemed to handle it well, but we were
racing straight downwind at that point, trying to beat the low tide
(0.6ft) which at Peninsula might mean more mud than water and no way
in for a few more hours.
Entering the Redwood Creek approach, we could see the bar high and dry
on either side of us. As we passed WestPoint Slough, we saw a strange
sight. There was a *large* power yacht (figure about 40') sitting
high and dry ON TOP of one of the realllly nasty Wrecks along the
side. Through the binoc's you could see people standing on deck, and
on the rusty slimy steel frame members of the wreck's skeleton looking
over the hull and doing a lot of pointing. The bottom of their hull
was at least 2 feet off the bottom of the slough. Looked almost like
it was in a cradle. It HAD to have been damaged.
As we motored down towards Pete's (planned to dock at the guest dock
for a couple hours to let the water get thick again, we could see a
large trawler sitting at the dock, right in the middle, leaving no
room for D.L. so, since it was already low tide, I opted to try
getting into Peninsula. Though the depth sounder read things like
3.0-4.0 feet most of the way, Dragon Lady just slid right down the
channel without hardly slowing at low rpm's on the prop, and we
managed to get in without getting stuck, to the applause of a group of
people standing on the dock.
Later, while putting things away, we heard that the power boat in the
slough was from our marina. They got stuck there earlier that evening
and couldn't get free despite someone trying to pull them off.
Considering what they were sitting on top of, it's a wonder the
weren't holed...or maybe they were... Goes to point out, you need
local knowledge before going down there!!!
The evening punctuated the trip nicely with the partial lunar eclipse
(very nice) and a spectacular view of Hale-Bopp as the early fog
cleared to a clear and spotless sky.
Crew on the way back, Cat (highly recommended). Hoover couldn't do
the return trip because of scheduling conflicts and Julie decided the
trip up was just too much for her, so hooked a ride back down via
train. Mary (due next month) did quite well, but it was a bit of a
strain since she also had to look after Tristan, and he was a handful
at times. This will most likely be our last trip for a few months, at
least until after the new baby is born and is a month or two old.
See ya all later this summer !!!!!
From Rod:
I was still in the docks in Alameda, trying to get ready, when I heard
Dragon Lady call Invictus. They were just passing the San Mateo Bridge.
Granada joined in, and told us that he was already at the cove
but couldn't find anybody.
I arrived about two, and found Granada anchored immediatly behind
California Girl and Wildflower, both of which were vacant! They were
swinging in the breeze quite a bit, so I decided against trying to pull
up along side, so I dropped my bow anchor 100' ahead, then ran a line
over to California Girl and started roping myself over.
Just as I got the line across (and really creating a navigation
hazard) the crews of Wild Flower and California Girl returned, all
aboard Merilon. We managed to get rafted up, and had time to share a
glass of Steve's beer and one of Tom's brownies before Tom had to leave.
Unfortunately, he managed to wrap his anchor line around his prop (a
whole bunch of times!) and jam his rudder. Steve and I freed the
rudder, pulled his anchor up, and Tom sailed off for home, after
thrusting a note at me to call his wife and let her know he would be
just a little late!
Sam and kids arrived next, Dudley and Darwin a short time later.
Schock Full O'Nuts was enjoying the sail, so they hailed us as they
passed by the cove the first time and then came back to join us a few
hours later.
Lynne OJ and friend called us from the TIO yacht club, and I dinghied
them over for a while. Charles and Myra (TASHERANA) drove over and
managed to hail us by voice.
We were really settled into party mode when Dudley and Steve decided
that my dinghy needed to be taken for a test ride. After buzzing the
raft up a few times, they took off (its dark, and late, mind you)
towards the lights of the Bay Bridge. As the dinghy disappeared into
the night gloom, I remarked "I hope their not headed back to the Tied
House, 'cause the dinghy doesn't have enough gas to make it that far!"
A wasn't *tooo* long before they came paddling back. But I suggest
that neither one of them should ever be allowed to own a personal
watercraft!
The weather on Sunday was even better than saturday. Saturday was
cool (not too bad), but Sunday had the kids *swimming* along the beach.
All in all, it was a GREAT cybercruise.
There was a little bit of talk about arranging a cybercruise in the
delta during the summer. That's my normal summer stomping ground, so I
am all for it. How about late in July? Mildred Island is my favorite
place for a raft up, but that would be quite a trip for most. Pototo
Slough would be a couple of hours closer.
Think about it.
Rod
From Hank:
Another great cybercruise...
We started Friday night, Abby and I went to the boat to swap the CNG
cylinder, charge the batteries and generally square things away. The
East Bay traffic up 880 was *savage*; if any of you have the East Bay
<-> Silicon Valley commute, I feel for ya.
We weren't able to get the CNG cylinder out, and the fact that the
high-press regulator was still showing pressure made us nervous enough
to not want to deal with it. We found out later that the bottle has
reverse threads (and this is normal), which explains why we couldn't
get the fitting to budge...
Friday was a beautiful evening, and after a West Marine run and
getting the batteries on the charger, we went to dinner at the Tied
House and watched the comet from the deck out back. When we got back
to the boat, we promptly crashed on the settees...
Our daysail and raft-up crew arrived the next day between 12 and 1 or
so. We stowed gear and provisions and left Ballena Isle. The wind was
already blowing about 15 or so, so we raised the main with one reef
in (memo to skipper: improve reefing system). The foredeck crew
strapped on their harnesses and went forward to hoist the number 3
genoa.
It was a great sail... we headed underneath the west side of the bay
bridge and hit the usual Yerba Buena backwind effect, stalling us
and forcing us to head up towards the city. Once underneath the
bridge, the wind began to build up to "fresh breeze" and once
we cleared cityfront and were in the central bay proper, it notched
up to "screamin". Matt and Brian had the helm most of the time,
as we rocketed towards the back of Angel Island on a close reach.
The wind speed had increased again and Brian was having trouble
holding course, falling off to windward to drop apparent wind
speed. I decided that the wind speed through Raccoon Strait
was probably over 25 knots, and the idea of beating to windward
into that didn't sound like much fun. How we always seem to be
in the windiest part of the bay with an overpowered race boat
is beyond me, but it's rarely boring.
The foredeck crew went forward and doused the number 3, and we
cracked off towards the east side of the bay bridge. We screamed
along at near hull speed on reefed main only. As we passed Clipper
Cove, I fired up the VHF on low power and contacted _Incessant Wonder_
to let them know we were coming back, and basically waved as we
went by.
We went into the estruary, refueled and dropped off the day sailors
at the Tied House. Now we were down to our CyberCruise crew:
Lamont, Eric, Jen, Abby and me. We rehoisted the main and
motorsailed off into the gathering fog. I knew there was bad shoal
water at the south approach to the cove, so we sailed up to the
Navy dock before dousing sail. As we approached, we hit the fog
line and the wind picked up a lot. The boats inside the anchorage
were swinging on their anchor rodes and we did a lot of dodging
at low power.
We tied up to _Dragon Lady_, consumed much liquid refreshment, made
dinner on the portable butane stove and had a great evening.
Woke up early the next day after sleeping very well. It was sunny and
warm and we sat in the cockpit, enjoyed a snack and talked with the
other crews. Enjoyed a beautiful morning as the rest of the crew
gradually got up, ate and started squaring away the boat. We needed
to take off early to get into the marina before the low tide at 5 PM.
Right after _Dragon Lady_ won her anchor we cast off and powered off
towards the Navy dock again. We decided to hoist the main still reefed
and shake it out later if the wind went light. The foredeck crew strapped
in and we made sail for the north point of Treasure Island. In the
central bay, the wind was blowing briskly and we had a great beat to
windward and a strong reach down to the bridge.
After we passed the bridge, the wind just plain died. I hoisted the
iron genoa and Yanmar-San carried us all the way down to the Navy
shipyard where the breeze filled in strong again. We sailed back
to the marina where Club Nautique was doing a racing seminar in
Hunter 28.5s... I was very tempted to shake out the reef in the main
and race these guys around the buoys, but we were all about ready
to go in, so we did.
Thanks, y'all, it was a great weekend.
From Dudley
OK, 15 people in a Catalina 27 has to be some sort of record.
And what's the kid count? Is it 2:1 yet?
And the food! It must be that every boat brings enough to
feed everyone.
I think, thanks to Anna, that I'm getting to like powerboats.
Where can I pick up a fast jetski?
Sailing weather is back! I couldn't get the tiller out of
Teresa's hands once we hit the South Bay Slides. She was
having a case of the yahoos. Note to Darwin: No circles were
sailed around anyone.
Next CyberCruise is to The Slough (in May). Re-read Darwin's
story about the boat stuck on top of a sunken boat yesterday.
I saw it, too, on my way in. I can't imagine what might go
through the mind of someone as they sit in their 40 foot motor
yacht two feet out of the water on the crumbling remains of
an old tug boat. And since I've had Anna's course in Power
Boater Sensitivity Training, my sense of sorrow for the poor
people overwhelmed my instinct to laugh hysterically. Please
be careful when you come down to Redwood City.
And I've still got my hat!
