Weekend Report: Farewell, Summer
Deadlines: over. Weekend: three-day. Weather: Typical; foggy, overcast, and windy. Welcome to the last hurrah of summer. How did you spend your weekend?
The West Coast apparently saw decent wind and sunny(ish) days from border to border. In the Pacific Northwest, there were reports of unusually "decent" breeze, with 10 to 20 knots in the Gulf Islands. Robert Hickey said he had a "magnificent sail across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then three days at the Classic Boat Festival" at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia.
Saturday saw the 31st annual Jazz Cup, which had ideal conditions: flooding current, warm sunshine and just-right breeze. An on-time start, clean race committee work, convivial socializing on boats, docks, lawn and deck — as well as inside the Benicia Yacht Club — contributed to an all-around great day. (We’ll have a race report in the October issue of Latitude 38.) "It was a fast, relaxed Jazz Cup on the Cal 40 Highlander," confirmed Greg Clausen.
Saturday also had ideal conditions for a little put-putting around San Rafael Bay. We caught the last of the flood to the Sisters and China Camp, where the San Rafael Rock Quarry was in full swing, with tugs and barges in constant motion loading up with pulverized rock. We’d never seen so much action there, and it was fun to sail by the hustle and bustle before a fun upwind leg back to the Marin Islands with the ebb.
Sunday and Monday showed what we’ll call identical breezes in the East Bay, where it floated in the 18- to 20-knot range at Point Isabel, before filling in and making for two days of outstanding windsurfing. There was also plenty of cruising to be had around the Bay:
But we don’t want to gloat. Indeed we tip our hat to those of you who were laboring during Labor Day weekend, and weren’t able to get out on the water. "Stuck at work ," wrote Bobby Beyer when we asked how everybody’s weekend was on our Facebook page. "Working on my boat," said Michael Bender. "Ditto," posted Greg VanDalen. "Boat and real work."
Regardless of how you spent your weekend, you probably noticed it: Summer is petering out. The days are getting shorter, the kids are back in school, football is back on TV, and the memories of another West Coast summer are slowly getting filed in the memory banks.