Labor Day Fun

By the sheer number of boats we saw on the water as we made our way to China Camp on Friday afternoon, it was clear that hundreds of Bay Area sailors took full advantage of the beautiful weather we enjoyed over the long Labor Day weekend. There were 25 boats at any given time anchored off China Camp alone.

The Borg family of the Alameda-based Jeanneau SO 45.2 Solace, was one of those boats. Austin, 13, was one of the cover models — along with sister Brianna, 10 — for the September issue of Latitude 38 and he took great pleasure in showing off his photogenic tendencies by leaping off Solace over and over again. Dad Spence couldn’t let the kid have all the fun, so he donned his own wetsuit and joined in. In fact, the crews of several boats were seen jumping overboard all weekend. Austin insisted the water was just as warm as in the Delta but we think he was either fooled by his wetsuit or he was trying to trick us!

Gary and Nancy Ryan of the Sausalito-based Hanse 341 ‘iliohale moved around a little more than we did. A potluck at Angel Island on Friday night, the Art Festival in Sausalito on Saturday, a Giants game at South Beach on Sunday, and a beautiful sail home on Monday. "It was a wonderful weekend," said Gary.

In San Diego, David and Rosey Eberhard, who live aboard their Roberts Offshore 44 Valkyrie, joined Chula Vista YC’s Race Your Home Regatta. As the name implies, you must be a full-time liveaboard to enter. "It is a not-too-serious race where you get handicap adjustments for things like house plants, the last time the bottom was cleaned, crew who don’t know how to sail (we had two of those), bow thrusters, and most importantly how good of a job you do bribing the race committee," explained David.

"It was a beautiful day with the wind in the 8-12 knot range, running and reaching from one end of San Diego Bay to the other. We were even able to get all three of our headsails trimmed in and pulling like mules. The knotmeter even gave us a couple of 8.2’s. Not too bad for a 25-ton steel boat that has a complete workshop on board, including a welder. The Chula Vista YC provided guest docking for the weekend, as well as a great dinner and awards ceremony. We had a great time, even though we just missed first place by six seconds!"

We hope your Labor Day weekend was full of on-the-water fun with the whole family, but if it wasn’t you can still get out there. This weekend’s forecast looks pretty enticing also!