Richmond, March 1997 By: Larry Costa From the April issue of 'The Potter Yachter' What a great couple of days most of you missed. The weekend on the bay was very interesting, with weather from clear, sunny, and warm to overcast, blowing like crazy, and cold. The winter ebb tides were running much higher and longer than was printed in the tide book, and made Raccoon Straits boil. And to top it off, a couple of squalls blew through the `Gate' on Sunday, adding to the challenge. I had motor-sailed down from Petaluma, and arrived at Richmond Friday afternoon. After a relaxing evening playing marina rat, I was ready for a great club sail on Saturday. Around 0930 Jerry and Carol Berrilleaux, and Terry Gotcher arrived and started to set up their boats. We also had an unexpected boat and crew show up. Greg Hampton and a friend arrived with ëAileení, Gregís McGregor 26X. My wife, Peggy, and our son, Jesse, drove down from Petaluma to spend the day with us. By 1030 we realized that no one else was going to attend, so held a brief skippers meeting and decided to take off, and head across the bay to Angel Island. The wind blew a bit at the start of the trip but died by the time we reached Angel Island. Another problem we ran into was the winter ebb tide. In our crossing we hadn't aimed high enough against it, so found ourselves off of the north garrison and having to motor up stream to clear the point. I cut across the channel and motored close to the island while Jerry took the outside. We both made it but if I had to do it over, I would, for safety reasons, have stayed outside of the rip with Jerry . Clearing the point, and the rips, we powered into Hospital cove. Even in the cove the current was quite strong. Poor old Happy Camper got a new hash mark from the dock. Tied to the dock, in the sun and out of the wind, we started to thaw out. Actually it was downright hot! So hot that Jesse and I rigged up a small tarp to make some shade. After lunch, some of us took short walks while others stayed on the dock, talked Potters, and boat watched. After the hikers returned to the boats we set up for the trip back. The ride back to Richmond was under motor as the wind wasn't strong enough to get us back before sunset. We tied up in our slips, and then celebrated the start of a new year of Pottering with a couple of bottles of champagne. After cleaning up we headed over to 'Salute' for dinner. I should have known that this wouldn't be one of my favorite places by the look of the patrons. The guys were wearing ties! Not to say, that I don't appreciate good food but; Snooty waiters, stuff shirt patrons, and pizzas without cheese, don't make for an enjoyable time for me. Give me a cheese burger, and a cold beer with my fellow Potterers on the upper deck at Windmill cove and I'm in paradise. On Sunday we had a switch in Potters as Terry had gone home on Saturday and Paul Foster showed up Sunday morning. Once again we took off into calm conditions. I should have listened to Jerry as he wanted to head around the east side of Angel Island, but I had seen wind down by Sausalito on Saturday so pressed for us to go that way. The motor across the bay was uneventful until we reached Raccoon straits. As we entered the Straits the wind hit us. It was calm one minute, and blowing 15 to 20 the next. We ducked into the cove by Tiberon long enough to make a headsail change, and then threaded our way through a couple of races to get back out into the straits. In the strong current and wind, we soon cleared into Richardson Bay and were heading towards Sausalito. Richardson's was up and running with a confused chop, and gusty winds. After slogging around a bit Jerry suggested that we head around AI and back to Richmond. As you will see in my article 'Caught in a Squallí I didn't make it. Looking back I can see that one of my biggest problems was that I wasn't mentally ready to make the crossing. When I found myself in trouble (no jib), and in conditions above my abilities I turned around and headed back to what I perceived as safety. If I had continued on around AI, I probably would have had a drier, less eventful trip. Even with all of the motoring, confused chop, and strong currents we still had a great time. The only thing I regret was that more of you didn't attend. The next overnighter is at Lake Sonoma on March 15 / 16. It should prove to be fun. Besides being a time of the year when the skiboaters should still be at home, we might be lucky enough to spot the comet.