Out the Gate

On Saturday, I headed up to Sausalito and joined John for a sail on his boat.  He owns a Ranger 33 along with some partners.  John and I were crew mates on the 2010 Baja Haha and have done some cool sails over the last 1.5 years.  The winds were light as we headed out towards the Golden Gate Bridge.  We checked the tides and they looked OK for an adventure out to the Pacific.  You have to be careful here if the ebb current is 4-5 knots, It can be difficult to get back in.  Today the current was at 2 knots.  Let's go.  Around 2pm there was a sudden wind shift.  Now it was a bit more north westerly and picking up fast.  It quickly went from 5 to 15!  We dodged a few tankers and flew out the Gate.  I took over the helm and off she went on a starboard tack down the middle of Golden Gate Strait.  How beautiful was this!  The swells were small and it was unusually flat.  We made it out far enough so we could look north and see Bolinas and Pacifica to the south.  We tacked a few times and enjoyed this amazing view of the coast.  Time to head back.  We did a few long tacks and the wind was a bit less and the ebb was pushing against us.  It was slow going.  Finally near the north tower it picked up and we made back under the bridge and headed towards the slip.  As we headed in it was time to furl the jib.  Stuck!  John heads up to the bow to take a look and he finds that the furling line has wrapped itself around the base of the drum and is stuck tight.  We will have to enter the harbor with the jib luffing in the wind.  We get to the slip and take a look.  It is really jammed in there and we are going to have to work at this.  John is not happy but he gets it fixed and an hour later we are on the road to a nice dinner in town.  That was one of the sweetest sails on that part of the bay I have ever had.  Thanks John and here is a toast to your cool boat!