Sail to the Farallones

On Sunday our Baja Haha crew boarded Rainbow for my first ever trip to the Gulf of the Farallones. The islands sit over 20 miles outside the Gate. One of our crew stated that the islands sits on a plate that over the last billion or so years, has crept all the way from Baja. That is amazing! We practiced our man overboard drills along the way. The skipper Cliff, told us about a rescue he made during a race. A freak wave threw two sailors into the water as they headed back from the the islands. Cliff saw what happened and was able to rescue them without mishap. The boat kept sailing and was lost. Cliff received a medal of honor and lots of recognition. Anyway, we made to the islands and it was very cool to be out there. Not much to see but lo an behold, as we tacked to head back, a huge gray whale surfaced just in front of the boat. What a sight! He surfaced a few more time before disappearing behind us. We put up the spinnaker for the ride home and as we approached the Gate, the winds peaked at 23 knots and we were flying aboard our 36 Crowther cat. Speeds in the double digits were the norm for a good part of the ride home. The sun came out and it was beautiful inside the bay. It was a 12 hour sail and a great one at that. Our next adventure on Rainbow is a overnight training sail outside the Gate again over Labor Day weekend. More fun on the high seas!!