I took a half day on Friday and we packed up and headed down to the Petaluma marina, which is a nice facility. Six bucks to launch, no parking fee, no overhead wires. We rigged and packed the boat which takes longer than I expect each time because I'm still not back up to speed with my techniques and the rhythm of rigging. Anyway, we were in the water eventually and motored slowly down the river.
There was no wind to speak of and we had a slight current against us so motoring it was, and that was fine as it left us free to enjoy the bucolic settings around us.
I remembered I hadn't refueled the tank we used at the lake a couple weekends before so I checked it and it was fairly low. I decided to pull off into a little side slough to switch tanks. Flipped the captain's seat up, pulled the line off and sprayed fuel all over myself, including in my mouth. For the life of me I couldn't get the lines reconnected. There are two different fittings on each tank which is bothersome but eventually I got it figured out and the new tank was hooked up and flowing. [I will be receiving a three-way valve in the next day or so so I don't have to pull the lines to switch tanks anymore.] After cleaning as much of the gas off of myself as possible we continued on but time was burning and my GF was getting bored of my 5-6 knot pace so she took over and opened her up to get us down to San Pablo Bay a little quicker.
We reached the bay and headed down the channel (didn't really need to since all the boards were up but I am also teaching my GF about sailing and navigation so it was a good time to pass on the "Red, Right, Returning" rule.) Once we got onto the bay proper there was still no wind (and the sun was dropping) so we continued on to China Camp, which was our intended anchorage. As we approached, I could see there was a gaggle of boats at McNear's Beach but only one boat at China Camp, score!
We anchored about 50 yards off the pier in 3.5' with about 50 feet of rode (boat came with 30' of chain + 120' of nylon line and another 120' nylon line below). I dropped the generic danforth that came with the boat and it stuck like it was nailed to the bottom. I started up the Anchor Lite app, which I had wanted to try out. We made some coffee and hot chocolate and watched people flying kites on shore and then the sun set.
I had planned some meals for dinner but we weren't hungry either night so ended up just snacking on cheese and crackers and a couple beers. I headed up on deck to plug in the anchor light, which I had installed the previous weekend and turned it on and...nada. Dangit! Oh well, strung up a portable anchor light and settled in for the night.
In the morning I made pancakes for breakfast (insert plug for Bisquick Shake and Pour). I pulled out my multi-meter to check the deck plug and got no voltage. Checked the inline fuse to the switch panel and the ONE AMP fuse that was in it was blown. Did I have extra fuses? Of course not (I do now!) I ended up pulling out the fuse for the masthead/anchor light and stuck that in there so we would at least be able to use the interior lights and VHF that day/night then we pulled up the hook and set off. Once we rounded the corner into San Francisco Bay the wind finally showed up so I got the sails up and started teaching my GF the basics about sail trimming, tacking, etc. We saw a seal pull a massive fish out of the water and thrash it around so fish parts flew everywhere and the seagulls were going insane pulling bits out of the water!
As we approached the Tiburon headlands I could see Racoon Strait was a cluster and we still had to head over to Sausalito to get fuel so I dropped the sails and we headed towards Clipper Yacht Harbor. The wind was howling in between the Golden Gate Bridge and Angel Island as we headed into Richardson Bay, with extremely confused seas but my GF steered like a pro as I navigated. I was glad we had dropped sails already although I thought about pulling out just a bit of jib to help us ride easier.
Once we got fuel we headed back to Angel Island to pick up a mooring at Ayala Cove. Having done this a number of times before it went smoothly. I like to run a line from the bow outside all the rigging to the cockpit to make it easier to reach, snag the mooring ball, slip the line through and walk it back around and tie off again at the other bow cleat. Then you can back up to the second buoy (you moor bow and stern in Ayala Cove) and slip your line through and then pull in the slack from the bow. Depending on wind/current, this order may be reversed. Anyway, we were secure and it was time for a sandwich and a beer. And then another beer. And maybe some scotch. Have you ever had scotch with hot chocolate? It's amazing. Anyway, I digress. I would have liked to have inflated the kayak and taken a walk on Angel Island but we were pooped by then.
In the morning I made coffee and then slipped off our moorings while my GF got a few more Zs. I wanted to ride the tide back up through the bays and river. One problem with that was that it meant we had following seas on the aft quarter for about half the trip. I had forgotten about those! I finally dialed it in so I was surfing for a minute or so with each wave and only had a couple small broaches, whereupon my GF brought me my life vest (that I was just about to grab!)
It was a bit chilly so we put ALL the clothes on to stay warm but the trip back up was uneventful besides an unplanned MOB exercise when my GF dropped her hairbrush in the river. We waved at the people with young children walking in the park by the river and the kids really got a kick out of it.
I thought we had enough fuel to get all the way back but the engine stopped and, this time, I had the lines switched out in about 30 seconds. I'm still putting in that 3-way valve though. Why bother with that nonsense? Pulled out at Petaluma marina and de-rigged with only a slight delay as the Boomkicker fitting got stuck between the mast and deck, so I couldn't pull the deck pin. Do people not use Boomkickers anymore? Back when I had my first Mac tons of people were using them but I don't think I've seen a single one on anyone's pictures. Highly recommended piece of equipment. I think it was the first thing I ordered for my new-to-me boat. Anyway, it was a fun trip and had a number of learning experiences. Hopefully I can get that masthead light issue figured out. Even though we only got a couple hours' worth of sailing it felt amazing. I'm really looking forward to more sailing.
Hot here in the Beaufort SC area the past week or two.
