Arrived in San Francisco

After about 3 hours of being hove to making 2 kt to the east we resumed sailing on a SE course. An hour or two later the winds began to moderate as we had expected from the grib file prediction. Up to this time we figured that we had too much wind and were in danger of arriving at the entrance to the Bay in the middle of the night, so we had slowed the boat down by heaving to and shortening sail.

This proved to be a mistake because by early evening the wind speed was down to about 10 kt and decreasing and at about 11 PM we were forced to start the engine.
(I tend to forget my own dictum: take the wind while you've got it.) We motored the rest of the night except for a period of 75 minutes when enough wind spring up to allow some sailing. Total engine hours to get to Dick's dock was 11.

Fortunately the moon was full and the sky clear so that we had good vision. Also the sea had become very calm. I was not able to see the light at Farallon Island just to the west of the shipping channel that we were taking so I turned on the radar to make sure that the island and other features were where I thought they were.

Just before dawn we were in the big shipping roundabout where three shipping lanes converge. We then headed for the entrance to San Francisco Bay just to the west of the shipping channel and in 12 meters of water.

We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge taking photos then turned to port leaving Alcatraz Island to our starboard and headed for Raccoon Strait on the west side of Angel Island. Our passage into the bay had been greatly helped by the flood tide which was approaching its peak. Under the bridge we were doing 7.1 kt with the engine running at its normal 1100 rpm. By the time we got to Angel Island we had three boat fenders set on each side of the boat and our mooring lines in position. As we cleared Angel Island I telephoned Dick who gave me some final instructions on finding his dock and suggested that I blow my fog horn when I arrived at Brickyard Cove. To the north we could see the city of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge which connects it to Oakland.

We found the channel leading to the Richmond Yacht Club and were soon in Brickyard Cove. I gave one toot of the fog horn and soon three persons appeared. It was Dick, Evan, and Tom who took our lines and helped us tie up at about 9 AM. I introduced myself to Dick and gave him my thanks for his assistance and hospitality. Even and Tom helped to set up an electrical connection for us and both seemed interested in the boat. I gave Tom a quickie tour of the boat (which is a mess) and promised to give a better tour after we tidied it up.

I was pretty burned out so I spent much of the afternoon sleeping. Brenda took Dick's offer to go on a short grocery shopping expedition. Fortunately other things got done. Brenda and I had hot showers. We laid the spinnaker on Tom's verandah for drying and I was able to repack it shortly before nightfall. We set out cushions, clothing, ropes, etc out to dry. Brenda got one load of washing done.

And it was so warm and sunny! After the coolness of the Seattle area this felt like another planet. It was real shorts and tee shirt weather.

The first night in San Francisco Bay was going to be very quiet, peaceful, and secure. We needed that.

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