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West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
List hosted by www.tscnet.com
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Webgang,
Here are some of the highlights of our sail last Sunday. I sailed with Chris
Beatty, in his brand new Potter, as crew, to help out in higher winds than
he was used to. 20-30 knots were predicted but never arrived. the wind
started out at about 15 and died to 3-5 knots.
It was a very instructive sail. We got to experience SF Bay's nefarious
currents "up close and personal", without the benefit of the typically
strong winds that can get a Potter 19 doing over 5.5+ knots without effort.
- Expecting winds from 20-30 knots, we stayed out of the slot, and sailed
in the more friendly South Bay,just south of the Bay Bridge and Treasue
Island
-We were grossly under-canvassed, since I suggested rigging the storm sail
on the CDI instead of the lapper. That's what happens when you listen to
NOAA. We should have dropped the storm sail and raised the genoa, but we
were too lazy.
- As it turned out, we were lucky we didn't go anywhere near the slot, since
there was barely enough wind to stir the sails. We'd have been motoring
against the current the whole time.
-Nobody in their right mind was daysailing anywhere near the Gate Sunday
afternoon in a sailboat, unless they were heading out for a long passage. It
was a new moon, and it has been raining for two months around here. The
predicted max ebb at the gate was 4.6 knots, but it was probably over 5
knots yesterday afternoon at the Gate, given the runoff coming down the
Sacramento River. Around some of the islands in the slot, it was predicted
to be 4.3 knots (and was probably a half knot higher than predicted.)
- We got too close (under 1/2 mile) to the southeast corner of Yerba Buena
Island, and got caught in a (predicted) 4.3+ knot current sucking us toward
the Bay Bridge and possilby onto the rocks or bridge towers at the SW corner
of the island. We tried to sail against the current, and in the light winds
of the windshadow of YB Island, we were going BACKWARDS! Good thing we had
a GOOD outboard.
- Even south of the Slot, in the more friendly South Bay, things can got
tricky. In order to make our intended course back to the Estuary, we had to
take a compass heading varying from 30 to 40 degrees offset, to compensate
for the 1.5-3.0 knot cross current at max ebb. (The current varies in
differenct locations crossing the South bay.) If you try to sail by holding
a mark on the shore, and you don't you don't keep a close eye on the current
strengths and compass, you end up sailing sideways in a big circle around
your intended destination. The bow is always pointed at the destination, but
the boat is slipping sideways in a big arc. In ten minutes, you can be a
1/2 mile off course. Then you might get caught in an even stronger current
going somewhere you don't wanna go....
-We watched with amazement at a huge CG cutter heading under the Bay Bridge
at a 45 degree angle to it's intended course, seemingly stuck in one place
for about 2-3 minutes as it battled to get under one of the spans without
slipping sideways into one of the towers. (it wasn't yet at full speed
because he had just left the estuary.)
- Chris was out in the same area Saturday in 10 knots of wind, and he told
me a sailboat got caugth in the current near Treasure Island, hit a bridge
tower and cracked his hull pretty good and had to be rescued in the same
spot.
- In the space of 4 hours, we heard calls for assistance from 3 boats that
were being sucked out the gate, (1 powerboat and 2 sailboats.) We could see
one of them, a 37 foot sloop, from where we were, passing under the Bay
Bridge between Treasure Island and City Front, struggling to stay off the
brige tower. The water is very deep and very swift in the middle of the
span, and an anchor has trouble holding. (Local skippers know enough to the
City front to get thru there, and stay away from the Treasure Island side of
the span)
The moral of the story -- sailing on SF Bay, anywhere near the slot, is not
just a question of being able to handle a boat. You have to constantly check
your charts, tide/current logs, and wind conditions.
You'll hear people say it's not that bad, you don't have to be so careful,
"they've been doing it for years and haven't had a problem yet." IN my
opinion, they've been lucky to get away with it so far.
The ones that have been doing it for *decades* check their charts and
tide/current logs, and know *ahead* of time where they're going to have to
"navigate" rather than just sail by holding a visual mark on land.
Fair winds, Judy
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Mar 31 2000 - 03:27:10 PST