Yesterday we were treated to a long sail in San Francisco Bay by Jim Stroud aboard his Wind Warrior, a Petersen 34. It was a cloudless and sunny day with the wind forecast of 15 knots.
Brenda and I arrived at the boat at 11 AM and after a tour of the boat and a chat we motored out. Wind Warrior is another IOR boat with lines similar to Pachuca. She is sloop rigged, has a flatter deck and higher stanchions than Pachuca, which Brenda and I consider very good features. She also carries a whopping 10 Lewmar winches: 4 on the cabin and 6 around the cockpit.
We took advantage of the passage from the marina to the Richmond Shipping Channel to take photographs of the Red Oak, a WWII Victory ship that slated for restoration sometime in the future.
We set sail soon after clearing the shipping channel and headed for Raccoon Strait, between Angel Island on our left and the Tiburon peninsula on our right. It was a very picturesque passage that we had not fully appreciated on our arrival from Neah Bay. We saw yachts on moorings in a small snug cove on the Eastern side of Angel Island, which is a public reserve. The wind became light and variable until we emerged on the SW side of the strait. We got good views of Richardson Bay and Sausalito on our right, with plenty of boats on the hook at Richardson Bay.
We then came close to the Golden Gate bridge then turned toward the SF shoreline. Jim pointed out the Presidio, the big TV tower, the various harbors, and other landmarks. We tried to pass north of Alcatraz Island but the wind had other ideas so we passed south of the island reasonable close to the shore, which gave us good views of the buildings on the island. On the way we passed a red buoy draped with sea lions having an easy day. Jim mentioned that he is related to the "Birdman of Alcatraz", also named Stroud.
The sail back to Richmond was a very, very good brisk beat against a 15 kt wind.
We tied up at about 4 PM after what had been a thoroughly enjoyable day.
The accompanying photographs are self explanatory. The top photo shows the Marina Bay boat harbor in the background as we motored out. I am sure that at least two photos were taken of Brenda and myself in the cockpit but we could not find them on in the camera.
4 comments:
I love looking at those sea lions having a lovely relaxing time. Oh my goodness Robert, you look so serious in those photos! Were you studying??
Jim would like to tell you both that he has seen those big ships. One he saw stuck on a reef in the Coral Sea from WW11... paintless. He has also seen 3 or 4 others still working in the 1960s.
Jim remembered those huge ships around in the 1960s and called Liberty Ships back then. He saw one stuck on a reef in the Coral Sea from WW11 - all paint vanished. In fact he recalls seeing 3 or 4 similar ships still working during the 60s.
I didn't notice the sea lions until I read Chris's comment and went back to look again...sounds like you both had a very enjoyable day...nice photos.
I wouldn't object to sailing on a calm, sunny day...too much of a coward to enjoy any bad weather.
It won't be long now until you are home again Brenda - I look forward to seeing you
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