Monday, February 11, 2008

SF Bay Bliss


Click the pic for a much larger view. Our 1981 Newport 30 "Addiction".

My boat partner Dan and I took out two friends, Dave and Dennis, for a day on the bay on Sunday. And what a gorgeous day it was. Winds were nice upon our departure at 12-14 and temps in the low 60's. After leaving the Emeryville channel, we were able to hoist the sails and had a fine run straight for Treasure Island. Spirits were high as we tacked away from TI and hit our stride with the speedo hovering in the 6.5 range. As we tacked again and approached Alcatraz, we could see the water was flat and there was very little wind on the other-side of the historic prison grounds. We tacked again and headed towards Richmond on a beautiful run. After one more tack we set our sights on Angel Island. We dropped the hook just off Quarry Beach and got comfortable on the bow as the brilliant sun warmed us. Dennis pulled out his guitar and harp and did a great rendition of the Dylan classic, "Tangled Up in Blue" as well as my favorite Dead tune, "Uncle John's Band". We talked for a while and watched the sail boat next to us almost drop an outboard in the bay. For the trip back we rigged the spinnaker for an excellent 7 knot run home. Very nice to set the spinnaker after not having it out for well over a year. It was a perfect wind to push us across the bay and into our slip. Thanks guys for a memorable sail and for sharing another day in paradise with me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Craig,

I'm so jealous! I was on my Newport 30 "Whisper" this weekend and while we had nice weather, all I did was work on the engine...Although it was nice to not be rained on here in the Pacific Northwest but we only reached the mid 50's.

Looks like a great sail! I hope to run my spinnaker up this season too. In the mean time...I'm pea green with envy and looking forward to getting out soon.