A Beautiful week on the Water

The week began Monday with a sail with the dogs. Hana's brother and a cousin Seqouia along with the their owners. We sailed to Clipper Cove for lunch and a visit to the beach with the dogs. This is where the platform shines. We all jumped onto the raft along with lunch, as the dogs all swam to the beach. The dogs loved the water and sand and we had a bit of sand at the bottom of the wine glass. We took off for a 5 mile sail to Angel Island. Near the point, we tacked and headed out on a reach to the city. With folks at midship and hanging on the platform with outragous views of the city. It was magical. This is the time of year the winds mellows out a bit and is more like 12-15 instead of 20-25. We finished in fine style and everyone went home with a smile. I spent a quiet night aboard and headed home in the morning. Back on Wednesday for a peaceful solo sail. Hana loved the beach and we had good winds after. Yhursdsay we had Marc, Claire, Ted and me on board. We had anoother beautiful sail in 15 knot winds and took them all the way to Quarry beach at Angel. The day was warm as was the wind. We felt like we were in the Caribbean. A nice ride home and then I rushed home to meet Dave and Lucinda. To bed early and then back at it at 11am with them. We hit the beach at Clipper for a romp in the sand with Hana. Then a nice mellow afternoon sail. More magic. We had dinner and some music at Rudy's. At 9pm, I headed up to Berekely to see a Tom Petty band. It was Tom's 73 birthday and he would have been proud. Saturday I did a long run up to Red Rock and then beach and dinner at Quarry Beach on Angel. It was a great week on the water!

Hurricane Norma Bashes La Paz

Back in June we moved a friends boat out of La Paz and up north for this very reason. Many boats have been lost as the owners got lazy and did not move their boats out of harms way. So sad.

My Hero - Webb Chiles

"Almost dying is a hard way to make a living". Dive in with world record holder, Webb Chiles, as he expounds on extraordinary memories and what it means to push the limits of human experience on a 24 foot sailboat.

Dancing with Monsters in Nazare

Celebrating 65 with a bunch of fun travel!

Today is my birthday and we are off to a very full Lake Shasta for a house boat trip with friends of 40 years. Hana will be joing along with her sister and brother (dogs). Should be great weather and not too busy. Next week, it's Eastern Europe with stops in Budapest, Vienna and Prague with my wife. We will be back in mid October. Bon voyage to us!

I will never be a charter captain!

I took my friends out for a 4 day sojourn around the bay. We hit all the top spots. Angel Island, Sausalito, out the Gate, McCovey Cove, etc. Preparing the meals, cleaning up, sailing, and having a great time. On the last night, they were staying in a hotel and I was on boat clean up. 3 hours of non stop tidying up the boat. I returned home about 4pm, had dinner and promply passed out for 4 hours. Exhausted but happy. My dreams of being a charter captain in the Caribbean have been discontinued. This is very hard work! We had a lot of laughs and good times but chartering is too much work!

Hana paddles us to the beach!!

I mentioned my new toy for the boat earlier this summer, a 7'x7' platform that fits nicely on the foredeck. We hit a fabulous cove at my friends Scott's house and Hana took us to the beach with some doggie paddle. Check this really cute vid.

Pipeline of Mexico

If you are not in the surfing world, you have most likely never heard of Puerto Escondido in southern Mexico. The wave at Zicatela Beach is one of the heaviest and hollowest waves on the planet. Reknowned for it's consistent size and power, this wave breaks boards and backs frequently. The location of this town is about 150 miles south of Acapulco and getting close to the boarder of Guatemala. The break is not very famous unless you are a surfer. However, those in the know compare it to Hawaii's famous Pipeline wave. Cowabunga indeed!

Fun Week with Friends on the SF Bay!

My college roommate and his wife are headed out for a 4 day sail on the bay aboard Aquarius. Bob was musically influental in my life and turned me on to progessive rock at it's height in the late 70's. Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Genesis, ELP, and Yes to name but a few. He lives in Montana now and we see each other rarely. We take off Thursday for a sail to Angel Island and a bike ride around the 6 mile perimeter. Some of the most beautiful vistas anywhere. In the evening, we head to see a Dave Matthews cover band. Friday we sail to Sam's for lunch and then on to Sausalito for music at the Cruising Club and dinner at Le Garage. The tides look good for a sail out the Gate on Saturday and a slip at South Beach in SF. In the evening we are headed to see a tribute band play music of the Bee Gees at Bimbo's. That should be a gas! Sunday we will relax on the beach at Clipper and a sail in the afternoon. Monday they head back and I get to clean up the boat! Gonna be too much fun!!

Son of a son of a sailor!

All sailors love the themes and songs from Mr. Jimmy. I have really enjoyed his music and books. My favorite was A Pirate Looks at 50. He flies around the world on his amphibious plane with wife and friends talking about his adventures. He sure lived a full, fun life and ended becoming a billionaire with all his holdings. RIP and I hope you find that lost salt shaker of salt!

It's Always Windy in SF!

I have been sailing a bunch this summer averaging about 3.5 sails a week. The bay waters have been a bit cooler than usual due to upwelling on the ocean outside the bay. The winds in the bay blow from March to October in the 25 knot range. We do see some 30's but not often. We have a geological element that doubles our wind speed every day. We have a very hot valley east of San Francisco that is usually in the 90's to 100 degrees or more all summer (Sacramento). The air rises with the heat and sucks the cold air (50's) off the ocean to the east. As it comes thru the valley of the Golden Gate Strait, it compresses the wind and the speed increases by double. The area east of the Golden Gate Bridge is called the Slot and it is the windiest part of the bay. However, if you get behind Angel Island it is sunny and warm. Swimming weather if you will. I do feel like the bay is a sailors paradise. It kind of a blessing that in the winter we get 10 knots of wind most days. It's nice to relax and enjoy the slower pace.

Wipeout of the Weekend

Pics of the Month

New Addition to Aquarius

Hope you are having a great summer! I sure am. The boat show came around in May. I stopped by a booth with a bunch of inflatables. I had been looking at these floating platforms online but at a grand I did not like the price. The guy at the boat show sold me a very nice one at half the price. This is the 7' x 7' version and it fits perfectly between the mast and traveler. What I really like about it is that now instead of my crew sitting on the boat while I kayak into the beach with Hana, they can jump on the platform and join me on the beach. 3-4 folks can fit along with all the beach gear. If I am out alone, its nice to anchor and take it out around the anchorage and say hellow to my fellow boaters. They have a bunch of cool stuff including an inflatable catamaran. Check them out here: https://furthercustoms.com/

Awesome footage from the Fastnet

Sunny Day

Check out this very cool playlist on Spotify!

The Weather is here, wish you were beautiful!

WOW! What a weekend we had attending the last three Dead shows by boat in SF. We had a slip right next to the venue and walked the 150 yards each night for the show. In the meantime, we had 3 great sails, 3 amazing tailgates in McCovey Cove and 25 friends visiting. After 58 years, the Dead have decided to stop touring and these were the final shows. On the last night we had an amazing drone show above Oracle Park. The band played all their hits and more. They did a group hug at the end and we headed to the boat and got some rain to finish the night. I was exhausted but very happy in the aftermath. I have a busy weekend this weekend with 3 sails coming up. The first is a fishing sail, HOS next and then a trip to the ballpark to see the Red Sox play the Giants. Batten down the hatches!

A little bit of summer

Just returning from a family trip to Sausalito. We stayed at a resort near the Golden Gate Bridge. While the rest of the bay was in the 80's and above, we were in winter with big wind and temps in the low 60's. It cleared enough for the fireworks show and that was great. Got home to Fremont area with a 20 degree difference in temps. The fog was intense and beautiful as it came over the hilside. I plan to sail the next few days and then next week we move the boat to SF and the marina next to the ball park. The Dead are playing their very last shows after an almost 60 year career. The bus stops here. Lots of friends stopping by and sailing and tailgating as we are going to all three shows. Should be a blast!

Ocean Race Bonehead Move of the Year (so far)

A Detailed Look Back at the Finals of Sail GP (Grand Prix) in SF