What a Difference a Day Makes to the Bay

Finally, it rains. With it comes some relief from heat, drought and fire, though on the Bay, it can make life challenging. Our normally sunny September weekend was disrupted by a rainstorm, giving us a sunny Saturday, stormy Sunday, and a brilliant Monday morning. We’ve been staying on the Sausalito waterfront the last few days and caught some of the action.

After a sunny Saturday enjoyed by racers in the Rolex Big Boat Series and sailors all over the Bay, an unusually strong, wet storm for September started rolling in on Saturday night. By Sunday morning the rain was falling, and classic strong southerlies started terrorizing Richardson Bay, while challenging the RBBS race committee to find courses suitable for sailors on a Bay that lives around westerlies. The storm dropped about an inch and half of rain in Marin, and racers reported seeing 35-knot gusts and 20+ knots on knotmeters.

Life on the water’s edge or on the Bay is about as close to nature as you can get in a densely populated urban area. Apps give you an approximation of what’s coming, but it’s not until you pop your head out of the hatch, don the foulies, or hoist an anchor and reefed sail that you feel the reality of what digital screens attempt to convey. Not everyone would have enjoyed being on the Bay all weekend, but the grins on Rolex Big Boat Series racers’ faces on Sunday afternoon affirmed that many loved it. Others find the right sailing condition for them at other times.

We’ve been praying for rain; we got it. We hope everyone fared well as the storm passed.

This might have been the early-warning storm to remind us all that winter is coming and we should all remember to check dock lines, chafing gear and fenders before the winter season sets in. Before that happens there are many more sunny sailing days ahead.