Jeremy Randall Sailing Archive

The return trip from Half Moon Bay actually occurred the day after the trip down. Down Saturday, back up Sunday. It’s just been a week or so since I’ve had a chance (or the motivation) to write this.

So, kids, let’s go back to the ship’s log and see what I can remember:

1055 – Depart Half Moon Bay

I think we all slept well, given the fatigue factor. I put Bruce and Judy in the v-berth, Ralph on the starboard settee, and I crawled into the quarter-berth along with my clothes and boxes and all the other stuff I keep there. I figured I’d be most used to squeezing into that space. I slept okay. It was kind of hard keeping the temperature at a level we all liked. And folks getting up to go up to the bathroom woke me up a couple times. It’s funny how people always seem to make a lot of noise when they are trying hard to be quiet.

The morning dawned cold and wet. And foggy. Which, of course, was some cause for concern, at least for me. I had decided we wouldn’t need to leave until about 1100, which would put us at the Gate around max flood. As we went to breakfast, I was hoping the weather would improve. No such luck.

A storm was on its way in, though it wasn’t supposed to arrive until that night or the next morning. As I ate my home-fries and omelete (yes, I made a rare exception to my no eggs rule), I watched the drizzle turn to raid. Ugh.

We cast off pretty quickly. I let the motor warm up for awhile while Bruce and Judy got settled below. Ralph came up, and without words it was basically decided he and I would run the boat topside, with support from the folks below. I had weather-radio on in the cabin, and Bruce was put in charge of monitoring conditions and keeping the GPS dry down below. We suspected it was going to be a rough ride for Judy. It was, but she maintained a great attitude throughout.

Just like that we were backing out of the slip and slowly puttering out of Pillar Point Harbor. The visibility was still poor, so we steered compass courses to get past the buoys and avoid the reef. I decided we would head out about three miles before turning northward. With the fog, I wanted plenty of space to work with.

1113 – G3 buoy

Amelia was getting a pretty good tossing in the swells. We rounded the first buoy and headed toward G1. The fishing boats were coming in. And I was analyzing the situation in my head. Bruce reported conditions at the Gate were still okay. And that the main storm was still far away.

1127 – G1 buoy

Set a compass course to get some space offshore, and figured we’d need to motor about 45 minutes.

1215 – Position check.

GPS showed we were right where we wanted to be. Excellent. It was still raining and the boat was still tossing around. I snapped on my tether and headed to the mast. I really should get those lines led aft, but it was good practice going up there. I managed to get the main up and set the reef while the boat bounced up and down. Oops, we didn’t record the course change in the log. But we spun her around and started heading up the coast. Which, at this point, was not visible. A big power-yacht passed us and slowly disappeared in the gloom.

At this point the weather cleared. If I had waited 10 minutes, I would have been putting the main up in clouded sunlight. Go figure.

We were out far enough that the swells weren’t bad, and now we could see the coast again. It ended up being pretty beautiful.

We put Handy in charge of steering the boat. Judy rested below. Bruce came up. Snacks came out. We motorsailed, listening to weather at the Gate. Finally the motor was turned off and we sailed in gentle winds.

The great thing about the impending weather development, was the wind direction. The storm coming in was influencing the wind, so we had a tame southerly to ride home on. We gybed up the coast on close and beam reaches. Much better than bashing up close hauled.

1320 – 0M
1425 – 312M

Our last gybe had us just outside the bar, heading to the entrance of the main shipping channel. We watched a big tanker pass us in the southern lane to our port side.

Ralph was looking through the binoculars. “Hey, there’s a red buoy in front of us.” Right where it was supposed to be. It’s a great feeling to have the navigation right on for your first coastal trip.

1530 – Abeam SF Bar Channel R2. 60M

I swear the boat was smiling. She just frolicked down the channel on a smooth beam reach. All of us sat in the cockpit chatting. I’m pretty sure Bruce threw out a couple more bad jokes, just for fun. Judy was looking mighty glad to be approaching the bay.

1550 – Abeam SF R8. 44M
1620 – Abeam Mile Rocks. 40M
1635 – Pass under the Gate

We ended up making great time back. And it’s amazing how flat the bay seems after being on the ocean all day. Amelia seemed proud of her efforts, and was now gliding gently toward Pt. Blunt. A Coast Guard boat passed us. The light on Alcatraz blinked. Could it be any better?

1705 – Abeam Pt. Blunt. Started the motor to warm it up. Continued sailing.

1728 – Saw a brand new yellow rubber ducky floating North of Southhampton Shoal. Too funny.

1740 – Richmond breakwater. Motor in gear.

1813 – Back in the slip at Marina Bay. Congrats all around. And the damn main halyard zoomed up the mast again. Oh well, at least it didn’t fall through again. A quick trip to the top will get it back down.

We said our goodbyes, I grabbed some food, and slept like a baby.

Fri, May. 31st, 2002, 05:01 am

So I finally did my first coastal sailing trip. And I am pleased to report it went great and was a lot of fun. I am trying to remember and process all of the details. It was just a very intense two days, with so much going on. To facilitate this enrty, I am going to use the log itself.

May 18th, 2002

0820 – Depart Richmond Marina Bay

It was calm this early in the morning, which is the norm. San Francisco weather is verry predictable in the summer (spring tends to count as summer). When the inland valleys heat up during the day, colder air offshore is sucked inland. Which is why it’s almost always howling at the Golden Gate in the afternoons.

The crew for this trip was Bruce, Judy, and Ralph. An interesting bunch. Bruce and Judy are about my parents’ age, and Ralph is in his late 30s. Bruce and Judy presented me with a boatswain’s whistle! What a neat and thoughtful gift!

Before long we were putting out of the harbor under power, and Bruce and Ralph were chatting about travel and politics and the middle east.

0850 – Abeam Richmond R6. Cleared the breakwater.
0905 – Abeam Southhampton R2
0909 – Bruce tells the first of many bad jokes and puns.

0947 – Golden Gate Bridge

I considered passing under the bridge to be the “real” start of the trip. We were just a few minutes past max ebb (0932) and the current was helping us fly out the Gate. The wind was picking up, and we tacked back and forth, motorsailing out toward the bar. We all had some concerns about how big the swells would be, and if any of us would get seasick. Ralph and I had taken Bonine (it’s kind of like Dramamine), Judy was wearing one of those bio-rhythm wrist band things, and Bruce figured he wasn’t prone to it, and would be fine.

As it turned out, the swells were not super huge, and the seasickness element was at bay for most of us. Judy was looking a little concerned. I took some sights and started my chart work, being careful not to stay below for too long at a time.

1050 – Abeam SF R8
1100 – Abeam SF R6
1107 – Abeam SF R4
1114 – Abeam SF R2

Passing the channel buoys was a highlight for me. We were south of the red buoys, in deep water just outside the main shipping channel as it crosses through the bar. I have read many accounts of how bad the bar can be in bad weather, and actually seeing the buoys and the channel myself was exciting. As we had expected, the swells were calmer as we got farther out. At the end of the channel, we were about eight miles out from the Golden Gate bridge.

1120 – Change course. 153M

Now was the “easy part.” Set sail on a nice reach, and head down the coast. The sun was shining, visibility was good, and Amelia was sailing along happily in NW winds. I was getting such a kick out of the view of the coast from so far away. Almost immediately I started feeling like I could really get used to working the boat offshore. There is so much water between you and the land, everything seems to settle into an easy, self-contained rythm. The four of us chatted and told stories. We had snacks, sodas and sandwiches. Life was good.

1220 – Course change off Pt San Pedro. 160M
1325 – 136M

1350 – 143M

We slowly made our way down the coast. By this time “Handy,” the self-steering windvane, had been running the boat for some time. Judy had been a little sick shortly after we left the channel, but she was doing okay now. I was lying on deck behind the mast relaxing. The lack of good sleep the night before, and rigors of beating out the Gate finally caught up with me, so I went below for a quick nap. Bruce and Ralph later told me I had been asleep for over an hour, though it had only felt like 15 minutes to me! Of course, that did explain why the time between log entries increased!

1515 – Off HMB

We spotted the HMB buoys and headed in under power. After tooling around the harbor looking for the harbormaster’s dock (they were not answering VHF or phone!) we tied up at the fuel dock and checked in. We were assigned a slip surrounded by a bunch of fishing boats. Gibbs describes Half Moon Bay as “looks like one of those harbors in a back east magazine- all fishing boats and stuff.” That pretty much sums it up.

We hung out and relaxed for awhile. We all ate snacks to hold us until dinner. Dinner ended up being at a little restaurant. It was not bad — I had fish tacos and clam chowder. I think Bruce and Ralph had blackened cod, and Judy had crab cakes.

Bruce and Judy relaxed on the boat and Ralph and I went to the Harbor Bar to sample the night life for a little while. I was so tired, I couldn’t wait to crawl into my berth.

Stay tuned for day two…

Mon, May. 20th, 2002, 10:35 am