Another Beautiful Sailing Weekend on San Francisco Bay
Could this weekend be as good as last weekend? We may be lamenting the poor snowpack in the Sierra and the lack of rain to fill reservoirs, but there’s no doubt it’s been a beautiful winter and spring for sailing. We missed most of it due to rotator cuff surgery but finally finished PT a few weeks ago and were released to go sailing again. The timing was right.
After spending Saturday night on the boat, we awoke for an early Sunday morning walk, cleaned up the boat, and waited a bit for some breeze to fill in. Our regular crew gathered to help get the boat ready for a sail under clear, sunny skies. Damn, we realized how much we’d been missing being out on the Bay.
As so often happens, we were also reminded of how many times the Bay’s reputation for severe conditions is far overshadowed by the many days and hours of very benign sailing. There are plenty of very breezy days in the “Slot,” but change the hours, location on the Bay, or the season you choose to sail and you’ll find there are many more hours of mellower sailing than most people believe. Last Sunday was another one of those many days.
We followed the classic course we’ve called “The Perfect Daysail” that takes us upwind toward the Gate while the day’s breeze is still building. Last Sunday had a solid ebb around noon, so with a light breeze, we didn’t want to get too far out the Gate, knowing we’d have a slow time fighting the current to get back into the Bay. We turned downwind along the Marin shoreline, where both the breeze and current were light, making it ideal to pull out the sandwiches for the reach toward Crissy Field.
We weren’t alone out there. There were loads of sailboats savoring sailing on the Bay. One of the great positives about the Bay’s reliable breeze is that you can go boating almost anytime, all day long, without worrying about the price of fuel. Boats like The Hard Way, pictured above, rarely need to put that outboard into the water. Wind power has been quietly powering sailboats for almost 4,000 years, and there’s no place better than the Bay to take advantage of it.
It looks like another amazing weekend ahead, with temperatures predicted to be in the 80s. Now that we’re sailing again, we’re going to start this weekend with tonight’s Corinthian Yacht Club Friday Night Beer Can races, then probably spend some more time with some small boat projects to get her ready for the rest of the season. The following weekend we’ll be doing the Friday night race again and then sailing for a good cause by participating in the Sailing4Parkinson’s Race on April 12.
Christine Weaver’s Wednesday ‘Lectronic Latitude offers some more events and beer can races that might inspire you to spend more time on your boat on the Bay. But don’t forget you can also spend these warm spring nights anchored in Clipper Cove, Paradise Cove, Belvedere Cove, Richardson Bay, Horseshoe Cove or Aquatic Park before heading out for another perfect daysail. The forecast looks good; we hope to see you out there racing, cruising or daysailing.