Thursday, August 14, 2008

Night Sail


One of my favorite sails on the bay is a night sail. I was in the channel as the sun went over the mountains. The wind was in the 20's and I wanted a mellow sail so I partially unfurled the jib and took off at 5 knots. Took a few tacks to get out to the central bay but soon I was beyond the Berkeley Pier and cruising. The bay was very quiet and only a boat or two in the area. With clear skies and fog near the Gate, the half moon light was shimmering down along the water. What a beautiful night to be on the bay and celebrate this summer night. I continued on for about 3 hours and then headed in to the slip. I slept onboard that night. In the past, I have had trouble sleeping on the boat because the cushions are all from 1981 and they don't do it for me. My wife gave me an old feather bed to put over the top and now I sleep like a dream. I was to meet a friend at 10am for a sail so I had a few hours to myself in the morning. That gave me a chance to get the boat ready for a month long trip to the delta. We will head up this weekend to a slip up at Bruno's Island until mid September. We plan to head up when we can and sail, swim and relax in the warm, fresh water of the San Joaquin. I downloaded all the charts I need to my iPhone and with the new navigation program I downloaded from the App Store, I should be in fine shape as far as knowing where I am in the 1500 miles of waterway up there. I am sure I will have some great stories to tell!

No comments: