DRAKES BAY - 14-15 OCT 2000 Hey Everybody, For those interested (otherwise delete)...Dudley, Rowin' Ryan, Kitty Catalina, and I had such a cozy, fun time at Drake's Bay. It was quite an adventure. It took us 8 1/2 hours to get there. Got to the boat Friday night with food and drinks, loaded up the frig, and then went to bed. Woke up at 2:00 AM on Saturday morning and headed out. We motor sailed all the way out the Gate during the ebb (the only way to do it). I was driving through the Potato Patch....what a thrill that was!...."Dudley, please check on Catalina"...."Teresa, she's fine. She's cuddled up with Ryan"....Anyway, it was a bumpy, crashing ride for a while, but then we were able to put all the sails up and turn the motor off for a while. The sun rose and warmed us up a little. We could see the fog rolling in though and knew it was going to be cold. After we anchored, Ryan decided to pump up the Zodiac and go for some thrill rides. A few previously injured, but now cured seals were being released back into the wild so he saw that up, close, and personal. They swam around him for a while too. As the evening wore on the wind grew and grew and it got really foggy. It must have been in the 40's too. Ryan clocked the wind at 20 knots (it was probably stronger than that throughout the night). Al, a neighbor boater on Pegasus who frequents this Bay, said that sometimes the wind builds to 45 knots and dishes up quite a chop. I believe it! Thank goodness for good anchors!! We were able to BBQ despite the wind. We relaxed, listened to music, tried some Scrabble, played with the cat, listened to the wind, took naps, and ate well, despite running out of the Big Propane. Have any of you tried to BBQ eggs in a frying pan? Don't. It doesn't work. Well, it eventually does something, but two hours later you're still eating runny eggs....We were napping when Tiger Beetle came by the boat, but we later contacted one another on the radio. We all had an enjoyable ride to Drake's Bay. Woke up at 6:00 AM Sunday morning, ate, got dressed, and headed out of Drake's Bay by 7:00 AM. It was calm and foggy. Love that radar! We saw a couple of dolphins, but I bet they wished for more exciting seas to play in...We motored all the way to the Gate. Poor Dudley tried to sail, but there was no wind. He didn't pout for very long as I can cheer him up fast...(smile)...We motored under the Gate by 11:30 AM and to our amazement, the Bay was absolutely flat. Still flat at 2:30. We took our time and hung around for a while so Ryan could zip around in the Zodiac. He did circles around Kia Orana until he ran out of gas. Does that have a familiar ring to it? (smile) Finally, we hit some wind at Coyote Point around 3:15, just as we were entering the channel. Oh, and, ahm, when you're gliding into your slip and you want to slow it down, don't put it in forward. If you do, you had better know how to put it in reverse ASAP, and turn up the power. This was only my second time parking Kia Orana. I must have been pretty tired. I stopped her quickly though...No injuries, no dents, nothing broken, just Dudley's big blue eyes looking rather stunned that it went so well anyway. Ya gotta be quick... Gee, I love this boat. Gotta go. Happy sailing! Teresa --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beetle had a good overnight up at Drakes, next time I go for longer! Got a late start (8am) owing to minor incompleted projects, a pleasant motor out the Gate onto a flat ocean where the fishing fleet was out in force. The high overcast was thick but had good visibility beneath (6-10 miles). Met up with the eastward-marching filling wind about 1pm a bit south of double point. Up went the no. 4 and main and enjoyed a quick sail across Drake's Bay in 16-20 knots of breeze, flat water, delightful if chilly. I stopped by Kia Orana but being benthically challenged elected not to get too close. Beetle draws 8' and upon approach the depth sounder descended below 10; at 9.3' I turned around. The dinghy was there, the wash boards were in place, and it looked like everyone was below keeping warm or resting. Spent the evening at anchor in 20' water two cliffs west of the Limantour car park, had some good puffs for a while (26-30 knots) which died off in the early morning. Lots of birds about, seals, a pair of small black dolphins. Sunday was an early start back (left at 10), easy motor in no wind, and then hit a 4x4 stick of wood in the Alameda estuary which did in the speedo paddle wheel with a resounding clunk! I have now discovered the B&G part number for the speedo repair kit, ordered up two such kits and will install the new paddlewheel on Friday; Saturday the start of the SSS Vallejo 1-2 and it would be fun to know how fast (or not, as the case may be) Beetle is traveling! - rob
