I have to say that the set-up time for this trip was much shorter than for
the Tomales Bay sail (see earlier post). I got the boat hooked up and the
motor in the cockpit in about 1/2 hr. I took about 45 minutes to get to
the Marina. There were alot of trucks and trailers in the parking lot,
but the ramp wasn't very busy when we arrived at about 10:30. . I was
determined to have a smoothly executed set-up and launch, hoping to improve
on the rather shabby effort I documented with regards to the Tomales Sail.
I had made a number of improvements including a tensioner for the forestay
I jumped up into the cockpit to swing the 5 hp Nissan 4-stroke onto the
motor mount. I unhooked it from the transport board lashed to the cockpit
rail and down onto the transom mount in one smooth motion, fastened it to
the mount and secured the safety (retrieval line), then hooked up the gas
tank. I looked at my watch. Less than 5 min. had passed. Yep, things
were going great! Turned around and oops - spilled my coffee.
I looked at the brown liquid flowing down the sides of the cockpit and
settling under the gas tank. It was very depressing. The boat had been
perfectly clean. Now the ugly brown liquid seemed to be an omen of
problems to come. The crisp, clean launch and sail I had hoped for had
been "stained" by this mishap already. I decided not to clean it up
immediately, and we proceeded to rig the boat.
Despite the coffee set-back, things really did go well. I had rolled the
sail on the boom so rigging was alot quicker. We used the jib downhaul
connected to the forestay to assit with the lifting. I think I could raise
it single-handed if I had a place to cleat the rope near the cabin door.
Anyway, we were rigged and out of the marina in about an hour. The wind
was from the west at about 10-15. We sailed around outside the marina for
a little while and then headed west.
We ran with lapper and main and had a very nice sail and lunch as we passed
the old ships. By about 2:30 the wind was really blowing and we were
charging along, some small white caps began to appear as we passed the last
of the big ships. We went up into Suisun slough at about 3:30, found it
quite shallow and decided to go ashore for a reconoiter. We beached and
went ashore for about 15 minutes. During this short interval the tide went
out enough so we could not easily shove off. Both Evan and I had to wade
in ankle deep mud to get the boat going. The mud was black as midnight
and we got it all over the place. My pants and shoes were wet, so were
Evans. Luckily we were wearing wet-suit booties, but the cockpit was a
mess. As soon as we shoved off things got interesting.
I have found the aspect of Riptide that I truly hate. Surprisingly, it's
not the keel winch, which I thought I would detest, but the damned beaching
rudder!. I had to take it out to extend the blade, as the rope was not
properly rigged. While I was doing this, I must have stepped or leaned on
the fuel line, because when I went to start the engine I saw the line was
torn at the coupling. I told the boys we would repair it later and now we
were really sailors.
We got the sails up and started to head back. The wind was really up
(25+) and I could tell as we headed out of the slough we were in for it.
After about 15 minutes of playing chicken with the gusts we reefed the main
and continued with the lapper. We made it back down to the ships without
much trouble, but the wind continued to build and with the tide going out,
the waves started to get pretty big. Some were three or four feet and
breaking. The lapper was too much, and when I doused the rail and took on
some water, we heaved to and took down the jib and proceeded to sail with
only the reefed main. (I have only one set of reef points) I knew the
channel was narrow, but hoped the wind would be from due West or north-west
so we wouldn't have to tack too much. We came straight out the marked
channel and got a good heading. I thought three tacks should do it,
especially since the tide was going out. Things were O.K. till we got back
to the reserve fleet. Then I went aground on the south side of the
channel. I winched up the center board and got off, back on the port tack,
the next starboard tack was better, and we made good distance. The sun was
getting low when I tried to come about and the boat wouldn't steer! We
were aground again! Also, the rudder had come up again! While replacing
it the action of the waves bent the top gudgeon mount on the transom and it
was a real trial getting the pins back in. The sail was flapping like
mad, the boat bobbing like mad and we were being blown farther onto the mud
flat.
Each time we came off the mud I had to do a square-rigger turn to get on
the port tack, and each time we lost time and distance.
We got the rudder back in though and I again made the port tack, water was
coming over the bow and cabin and the boat was swooping up and down as I
beat upwind. The boys were down below and with the hatch open I directed
them in trimming the boat. Keeping them forward, we didn't thump much,
but I sure did get wet. We were just getting to the end of the old boats
when the wind pulled around to dead ahead. I got to the lee side of the
last row of ships and decided we had had enough. It was dark now and I
decided to fix the fuel line and motor in. I fixed the fuel line in less
than five minutes, the motor started and I headed under the bridge for the
marina. I picked up the lights and we made it in with no further mishaps.
We docked at about 8:00.
Back at the dock we did a terrific job of getting the boat on the trailer -
dead center first try. Before taking the mast down I spent about 15
minutes in the cold wind putting on the new cable covers I had purchased
from West Marine (this was a pain). We took down the mast and with the aid
of some elastic sail ties (with the little balls?) got ready to go in less
than 30 minutes.
As we were fastening the belly band I noticed that all the mud had been
washed off the boat and cockpit from the spray. Not a trace of coffee.
On inspection the following day we noted several souveneers of our journey:
1) Two of the fairleads to the jib downhaul had broken (they were
plastic), 2) A healthy chip in the gel coat on the transom where I must
have banged it with the rudder in one of our attempts to get it back on,
3) Somehow, the two long battens had fallen out of the mainsail when it
was reefed! I guess you need to take em out when reefed? and finally 4)
we had about 2 gallons of Sacramento River in the cabin.
All in all we agreed that the boat had been terrific. I really need to get
a working jib, anybody want to unload one? Also, any suggestions with
better ways to rig the rudder so it will go down when I pull the rope? I
think the problem was mostly the fact that I had not run the un-beach line
through the gudgeon pin mounts. Anyway, we came through fine. I was
pretty sore after the four or five hours I sailed up-wind, but my batteries
were really recharged. I did more on Sunday around the house than I have
in months! Boys are ready for the late April Potter Yachter sail (can't
go on April 3, will be in L.A. for Easter).
Hope this post was not too long.
Eric E. Zilbert
Agricultural & Environmental Education Program
Dept. of Agronomy and Range Science, UCD
Davis, CA 95616 (530) 752-5943
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