The Rock

I am back in town for the long weekend after several days working in the San Francisco Bay area. I finally made good on a promise to take two of my good friends out sailing. I've always heard that the San Fran Bay was a difficult place to sail with high winds and very strong currents. We rented a Hunter 31 and ventured out in winds that were sustained 25 - 30 knots and gusting higher. Once we rolled up the jib and proceeded under full main sail alone we were perfectly powered for the conditions.

The wind was out of the NW which made it really hard to beat up the bay from Alameda, CA where we started. We did make it under the Bay Bridge and got about a mile off Alcatraz before we turned around and headed back for the relatively sheltered waters of the lower bay. It was a beautiful day and I can't wait to do it again. I want to sail around Alcatraz and Angel Island.

On another note the boat work continues. I am shooting for finishing up the windlass rebuild and getting it mounted, splicing the radar cable back together and cleaning up the harness, and installing my new Garmin 545 GPS chart plotter. I've got three full uninterrupted days to work on the boat. Let's see what I can make of them.