Down to the S.F. Bay

[Zen]

Ahoy,

Things have been quiet on the s/v Zen front, with our move and all. Not much sailing time in as of late. ( I may have said this before) Anyway, we moved down to Alameda island and left the boat in Martinez. That is about to change. Tues. I do a reverse of what I did some 5 years ago and take a Train out to Martinez to pick the old girl up and take her back down to the S.F. Bay on Weds. ...prime sailing grounds baby!

I figure to cast off about 5:00 a.m. and ride the ebb down to San Pablo Bay. Hopefully there will be wind by the time I get there, some 1 - 2 hours later. From there it is a another 4 hours sail time more or less to the Richmond bridge where I will cross into the S.F Bay area proper.

From there another 4 hours appox down to the Estuary to a temp. slip for 2 weeks until the rest of the month is up and take up residence in Alameda Marina. That is the plan...

I have two concerns, 1. The motor will just stop. It has been known to happen. So weird electrical thing ( I have changed the coil) Then restart a couple of hours later.
2. Not enough wind.  #2 is more of a concern because if the motor stops and I have wind, to heck with the motor anyway  :-*

The forecast calls for 10-20 knots so I got a fair chance it will be correct. With the temp inland in the 60-70 sucking that air through the Gate I have a pretty good chance it will be all good after I get through the headwinds coming out of the Carquinez Straits into the San Pablo frontier. Anyway you locals and past local know what I'm saying.

We'll see how this all turns out...to be continued   ~~~_/)~~

[Frank]

Good luck on your move....hope the 'wind Gods' are nice to you.I'm sure you'll enjoy sailing on the bay.

[Tim]

Have Fun, I just checked my Windfinder site and looks like once you get on SP Bay you should have a nice reach 10 to 17 all the way down.

[Zen]

Thanks Tim that is what I am hoping for, which would be a pleasant change from being on a beat! Maybe the Wind spirits will be with me this trip  ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

Fair winds my friend... :)

[Zen]

Yatta!

I'm back,

dry

and safe!  ;D

[Amgine]

And where's the play-by-play report of the sail?  ;D Enquiring minds wanna know if there was good wind, sun bathing, and/or decent food!

[CapnK]

And where's the play-by-play report of the sail?  ;D Enquiring minds wanna know if there was good wind, sun bathing, and/or decent food!

Seconded, Zen! :)

[AdriftAtSea]

third the motion,  motion passes... Where are the photos Zen???

[Zen]

Jheeze you guys want me to work...ok hold

[Zen]

Car, train, bike and boat...return to Martinez
http://zensekai2.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/car-train-bike-and-boat-return-to-martinez/



I did some packing during the afternoon while at home and waiting for LZ to return from work. She was giving me a ride to Amtrax. which is only about 15 min. away.

Ready for the trip

It was an easy trip to the Amtrax station, I made it with about a 15 min wait, which was perfect after showing LZ the way to get home.

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I had just settled in my seat when I could here my train a coming...

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Once I boarded the train it was a pleasant ride. The sunset over the water was delightful. With the easy motion of the train I could feel sleep knocking on my door, I was tempted to nod, but did not.

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It was only about a 1 hour trip to my station. Once I got off the train I was surprised to feel the strength of the wind that was howling.

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I thought will if it is like this I will not having any problem if the motor quits on me. I will have to fight my way out to the San Pablo bay against this headwind, but at least I will have the tide pushing me so that will help.With that thought I set off to the marina to prepare for the evening and the morning.

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Once on board s/v Zen I started preparing for cast off at o-dark thirty. I was not looking forward to it, but it was the way to take advantage of the tide flow. I had fought the flow the last trip and it was not pleasant. This time, less sleep, less work. I had planned on getting being able to access the Internet from the boat but, no good. I do not know if the PC I brought along instead of my Mac was not strong enough or they had cancelled the service at the marina. No matter I was off line. So here I am making my first entry off line and I'll complete it once I get home.

I can not help but think about the other times I have made this run out of Martinez down to the bay. The first time in Kuan Yin. Not much wind I had to motor a good deal of the way with a two stroke that made my ex at the time sick. Once we hit the Bay it was way too much wind and I knew nothing about reefing.

The second time in Kuan Yin there was way too much wind, I got a late start fought the tide and aborted the trip once in San Pablo Bay.

The third time on Zen I had a smooth trip down to Loc Lomond, it was perfect, well other than going aground which I got out of, I was so pleased.

Fourth time LZ and I headed out left in good time and had a smooth trip down to Ballena Bay Marina to hang out with the Island 36 group.

Fifth trip, was pretty smooth, other than the motor quiting around Emeryville, but there was plenty of wind to get us down into the estuary. Once there we took a dinner break and it fired up again and we made it to the club gathering. So here I am on number six almost the reverse of when I first brought Zen here.  Only a couple of weeks and several years difference almost an anniversary. I am a much better sailor now and can deal with high winds and know how to lessen the effects on my nerves and the boat :-). I may not like it, but I can cope. I'm hoping the wind will settle down some in the morning so I can have an easy run out of the Straits, I really do not want to work to hard. I recall there was a small craft advisory for the Bay area tonight. With only 2-5 knots predicted for the morning. We'll see. Better a bit to much than not enough. If it is too crazy in the morning I'll just wait until Thursday no biggie. It is 10:45 now. I'll read a bit then crash for the night and see what the Force has planned in the a.m....yosh!

[Zen]

The final leg...almost
http://zensekai2.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/the-final-leg-almost/

O dark thirty comes early...More so when you can not get right to sleep the night before. I had planned on going to sleep early because I needed to get up at 4:30 to cast off at 5:30 am. However I could not sleep. The wind was really blowing, seriously, the boat was rocking n rolling in the slip. I was thinking... to go or not to go, that is the question.  It is not a big deal if I postpone the trip by a day, however the experience of the serious wind would be good. Of course having taught now over at the big O in Berkeley I was more use to big winds now. These are the thought that keep up from falling peacefully off to sleep whilst rocking in the bosom of s/v Zen.

I was up with the alarm @ 4:30 I had felt the winds calm during the night, and my fear of no wind , too much wind was resolved. The wind was just enough even that early. I felt relief. I did my misc get ready stuff

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    Even the camera was not awake enough to focus this early

including some meditation...a breakfast bagel and off I went.

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My plan was to motor to the Carqinez bridge then raise the sail. Unlike the past travels, this went smoothly to the bridge.

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Going with the tide really made a difference in ease and speed. The motor ran perfect and I yelled, YATTA as I passed under the bridge into the frontier of San Pablo Bay, the neutral zone. It was kind of silly but fun, glad no one could hear me... I think.

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I raised the sail after passing the bridge and immediately I was off under the wind as I zipped past the Vallejo entrance. I dodged a few ferries and I was making amazing time. Being one with the flow was happening big time. Things went a long smoothly or should I say flowingly and before I knew it I was coming up on the Richmond bridge. the end of the neutral zone.

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Here I really got a taste of how the current was pushing me, and made use of it as I slipped under the Richmond bridge with a loud Yatta!! Awwww yeah, I was into it now!

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On the other side of the bridge things were a bit of a mess with the currents however I was able to sort it out and continue onward , through the Richmond Riviera and down into the Berkeley slot.

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I took some videos there of the cruising grounds of the Ocean crossing, SF examiner writer, super blogger's, Team Polka Dot Captain EVK4. and also of the T-man's pick for #1 commenter, O-Docker the blogless.

Sailing the Bay

Next I had to make my way through the minefield/obstical course This was tricky, before getting to the Last bridge, the Oakland Bay Bridge there is an area of the falling down Berkeley pier, floating barges, balls, and bridge construction mess.

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I slip my way through this under reducing wind power. Just as I came through the last of it and was heading for the bridge, the wind vanished!

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Ok, no biggie, I had no used the motor since entering the Frontier so I fired it up and took off. Passed under the bridge again with a extra loud YATTA!

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Generally once on the other side of the Bridge winds picks up, but not today, even as I entered the estuary it was windless. So I motored , paranoid and planning what to do if things stopped. Just to make things even more interesting there was a dredging barge working right in the middle of the estuary channel. However the Force was with me even though the wind was not, I slipped right on by with no incident. I motored down just past jack London square and there was a hint of winds, a  light kiss on the flags around the area. I cut the motor and drifted slowly. I had no need to rush I had made amazing time. It was only a little before 1:00 pm. Once down around Coast Guard island the wind picked up more as did my speed.

I had an easy approach to the slip so I just sailed into my spot. Not because I had to but because I could It was very cool and a good end to the trip.

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Once I tied in and down, one of the locals from the marina came by introduced himself and said welcome to the neighbourhood.

The reason this is called almost the final leg, because I am just there at this marina for two weeks, then I move just across the estuary to final destination, Alameda island Marina. Anyway this was a good trip and I'm glad it is done.

Now once settled I have some internal work to do on the old girl. Like the stuffing box leak, upgrade to a electronic distributor, Re-wire the cabin, replace the impiler, etc. But also enjoy sailing the bay without a day in travel to get here. nice! Yatta!

[Zen]

Sailing the Bay, the film


Not sure how to embed this so this is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1gvVnuJG60

full photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024802&id=1318695816&l=7174cd5022

[Zen]

And where's the play-by-play report of the sail?  ;D Enquiring minds wanna know if there was good wind, sun bathing, and/or decent food!

Yes,

no, &

Yes

:)

[Tim]

Great shots of the islands and bridges, thanks Zen

[AdriftAtSea]

Nicely done Zen, we were beginning to think you were slacking off.. .;)

[Zen]

 ;D

[Amgine]

Great report! Thanks!

I should write up a report of dismasting myself (on purpose), but I hate even thinking about the job I'm going to have getting it back up.

[CapnK]

Enjoyed the story, and then watched *all* of the YouTube vids... :)

Domo arigato, Zen! ;D