Sailing Education Adventures

Date: Saturday, November 26
Time: 10:00-16:00
Meet at: Angel Island 12:30
Picnic Lunch - Bring your leftovers!

AY AY MATIES!

Gather your Thanksgiving leftovers and get them onboard to.... SEA'S ANNUAL "DE-STRESS" HOLIDAY SAIL ON ANGEL ISLAND.   Please register now to reserve a spot on an SEA or member boat.

We will sail to Ayala Cove on Angel Island and meet there at 12:30 for a Picnic lunch, BBQ and optional hike (for those of us that still need to walk off Thanksgiving dinner).

Quite the day, despite a little morning confusion at the dock.

By the time everyone gathered we had 14 people at the docks.  The winds were also much higher than predicted (a nice 8-12 kts vs. < 5). In combination with the strong afternoon ebb, I made the decision to  put everyone on the two Santanas (with motors). Heatwave had 6 crew: Reann, Richard, Alex R, Kathryn M, my son Nick and his girlfriend Whitney K.  Dustin took Shockwave with 5 crew: Jay and Cheryl B (visiting from Chicago and experienced Lake sailors),  Adam Hand his friend Devin S. Adam had his heart set on the Catalinas, so he took his leave.

We had a great sail over to Ayala Cove, with nice gusty winds from the NE and not much current ... I believe Shockwave made it all the way down the Richardson Bay channel, through Raccoon Strait, and into Ayala without ever tacking!  Ayala was almost empty when we arrived, though it did start to fill up into the afternoon. We took all our leftovers, picnic food, and a little extra shopping at the island cafe, over to the picnic lawn for a wonderful feast.  Some folks went for a hike afterwards, some just hung out on the lawn ... I went down to the dock and took a nap in the sun.

Both boats pushed off before 2:00 and ran W back into the Bay.  We had time for some good sailing down toward the City and back, though with the big ebb we both stayed close to Angel Is.  We met up near the Pt. Stuart buoy (R#4) for a final race home, which was won hands down by Dustin and the Shockwave crew.

We got back into Clipper Harbor before 4:00, when the local tide was predicted to go negative, but even so both boats grounded in the mud a couple of feet shy of the dock.  We had to get everyone off each boat and then haul them in the last few feet by main force!