What Happened – Part 2
So what did happen? Well, on December 11th we, Leo, Connie and I, left San Francisco loaded up with all our trading goods for Hawaii. The first few days were normal coastal northern California sailing days i.e. foggy, moderate to strong north westerlies pushing us south along the longitude of 125 W. Although we were holding on tight to manage all our duties we were at least going in the right direction with the requisite amount of wind.
So this is what sailing to Hawaii is supposed to be like?
As we made our way south, slowly leaving the coastline as it veers eastward we headed south looking and hoping for the north or north east winds to start that were to take us to Hawaii. To cut a very long, 11 days, story short we continued south until the latitude of 24N. Winds were from the southwest and west southwest and our land based weatherman from Port Angeles was telling us that there were ‘some’ tradewinds at about 19N. We pounded on in our innocence but after 5 days of heading south and never seeing the odometer indicate we were getting any closer to Hawaii we decided to tack and head northwest.
At least psychologically we were going close to the right path. However, with the wind increasing, the rig crashing and no promises of trade winds in the weather predictions we called in quits and turned to follow the wind to Ensenada. After 3 days heading inshore the wind turned to the north/northeast making Ensenada impossible to reach. So telling ourselves that there’s nothing wrong in a few months in Mexico we turned and headed to Magdalena Bay.
Finally a day of sunshine but Leo still has his poly prop on and we’re at 22 degrees North!
Finally anchorage and then on to Cabo San Lucas arriving on New Years Eve. As we rounded ‘the arches’ we were greeted by 3 cruise ships, pangas, 2 ex Americas Cup boats, pangas, windsurfers, jet skis and to top it all off a whale cruising through the anchorage – what a zoo. The last time we had been in Cabo was in 1983 and there was no marina and everyone anchored off the beach. We thought we would treat ourselves to 2 nights at the marina at $140/night! Yes, that’s right but…..
Inner harbour Cabo San Lucas
What a night to spend New Years Eve – 2 crew members who were two worn out by the attempted sail to Hawaii and went to bed at 9! Ah well, I wandered around for a while and then lay in bed listening to the cacophony of sounds coming from the 12 odd bars that surround the inner harbour marina. Nothing like karaoke mixed with mariachi overlayed by Mariah Carey. Inner harbour Cabo San Lucas.
Food of San Francisco
Okay we’re about to set sail for Hawaii but I wanted to do one more blog as a tribute to San Francisco. And all of you know how much I love my food so here is San Francisco from a food perspective.
Happy Hanukkah
Food, food, food wonderful food! Yes, San Francisco is a real delight for food lovers. Top of the list right now is a bakery in the Mission district called Tartine . Not only did this recommendation come from my nephew, Daniel whose wife is a baker extraordinaire (or so I’m told) but also from another friend Sierd. Sierd sent an urgent message on skype saying:
“Check out this bakery in San Francisco. The new cookbook from Chad Robertson comes from a man many consider to be the best bread maker in the United States. Chad Robertson, co-owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, a city that knows its bread. To Chad, bread is the foundation of a meal, the center of daily life, and each loaf tells the story of the baker who shaped it. He developed his unique bread over two decades of apprenticeship with the finest artisan bakers in France and the United States, as well as experimentation in his own ovens. Readers of his new book, Tartine Bread, will be astonished at how elemental it is. A hundred photographs from years of testing, teaching, and recipe development provide step-by-step inspiration, while additional recipes provide inspiration for using up every delicious morsel.”
Tartine Bakery – 600 Guerrero Street and 18th
Well, it lived up to its well deserved reputation. Located in an eclectic area of San Francisco it caters to all from the area with a lively cafe culture resulting in a wonderful place to sit and watch the world go by and the characters that inhabit it.
Jumping across the bay to Berkeley takes us to Masse Pastries in Berkeley’s gourmet alley (1462 Shattuck Avenue). Masse Pastries make the most incredible pain au chocolat and croissants not to mention the incredibly decorated cakes. A small shop that provides friendly service attracts people from miles away to their delectable selection of pastries and some of the best croissants I’ve had in North America. Druel as you gaze at these delights:
Of course I can’t resist. This is one of only two very special bakeries I’ve visited in San Francisco. We can’t put this kind of food on the boat for a trip to Hawaii other than the odd item that will only be good for the first two days. Of course, the first two days are the days one doesn’t eat much as one is trying to adjust to the motion and the watch keeping. However, a few of these delectables hidden away in the Captain’s cabin never hurt!
On top of having to endure these bakeries we also have to do the provisioning for the trip. This is made easy by such shops as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Andronico’s, and last but our favourite for provisioning because the price is right is Berkeley Bowl – see photos below. Just an amazing assortment of vegetables and all the other items one badly needs to make eating at sea a pleasure two weeks down the road. Here are a few pictures – the selection is amazing.
Connie calling Marilyn for advice – just too many types of apples
Yes, it may look like all we did was food shopping in San Francisco. But it’s true – one of travelling great delights is to discover the local foods and try different types of cuisine. The pacific islands are not a gourmet delight but we are looking forward to Asia and a whole new adventure. For the time being we’ll suffer in the pacific islands eating mangoes, pineapples, papayas and the odd roast pig.
So to all a happy holiday season (we’ll be celebrating Christmas at sea or even better yet in Hawaii with friends). And of course a Happy New Year.
What’s new
Jack London Square – Oakland, CA
OK – this isn’t about sailing, you’re right. It’s really a tirade on urban planners and designers of our cities.
Jack London Square in Oakland, CA is a short kayak trip away from where Sage is moored. I can put the kayak in the water, paddle for about 10 minutes and be in the centre of what is an incredibly beautiful re-designed industrial area. Back in the mid 1990’s Oakland wanted to re-develop part of its waterfront which sits on an estuary where large cargo ships come in to load and unload. OK, yes there is a sailing picture here of me at the helm of Sage sailing in the Oakland Estuary.
Coming to my point. Jack London Square is this incredible public space. No cars, lots of open public space, dockage, the eye-catching Potomac (not the river, but FDR’s yacht ), hotels, restaurants, a few shops, lots of empty storefronts and here’s the catch NO residential area close by. It appears that there was no thought given to what makes a place vibrant i.e. housing. People who will come and shop in the stores, buy fruits and vegetables, magazines, books, clothing and all those things that people need and want.
So, the place is almost deserted. The restaurants are still there as well as the hotel but the gigantic Barnes and Noble store closed in January 2010. It still remains a beautiful area and the most vibrant store is the kayak shop which sells ‘Current Design’ kayaks built in Victoria!
Ah well that’s my tirade for the day. Below a few more pictures of the area…..
Explanation of statue
Jack London himself
Jack London fountain
Oakland Estuary
Tombstone?
Still in San Francisco
It’s truly an amazing place with much to see and much to do and all with a climate which so far has proven to be exceptional by Pacific North West standards. Yes, there’s rain but within a day or two it’s sunny again and in the low 20s — perfect for working on small boat projects and for getting out and exploring.
Of Course, there’s the whole of San Francisco to see. Just a few of the sites I’ve managed to take in include:
Alcatraz – see only from the water but that’s about as close as I want to get. Creepy looking place and am sure not a place one would feel very comfortable tying up to the dock at. Certainly stands out in the harbour and can’t be ignored and totally understandable as to why few, if any escaped incarceration. Current runs strong, temperature of the water is not tropical and am sure a person in an orange jumpsuit floating in the water would stand out as a hazard to navigation!
Photo here was taken just to the east and on my way to Sausalito.
Relaxing at the Sausalito Yacht Club
Escaped mooring buoy – Sausalito Yacht Club – San Francisco
Taking a close look at the chain you can see the difference in size between one link and the next. Due to corrosion and a lack of maintenance a link broke almost resulting in the destruction of someone’s dream. And this one wasn’t the link that broke!
Cannery Row with Richard and Lee
Back to other places I’ve seen in San Francisco and environs. Made a trip to Monterey and the site of Cannery Row with a couple of friends, Richard and Lee.
Of course, all being sailors we can’t resist a visit to the Pt. Pinos lighthouse which just happens to be very close to the most exclusive golf club in America i.e. Pebble Beach
Point Pinos Lighthouse – Monterey
Next – a visit with Char to Sacramento to experience the monthly (first Wednesday of each month) open art gallery event.
Char and Rhonda at the gallery – Sacramento
It’s a great event that happens monthly and all the art galleries remain open until about 9p.m. serving light appetizers and welcoming people into their respective galleries. It’s become very popular and makes downtown Sacramento hum every second Wednesday evening of the month. A great idea that perhaps other communities can learn from.
We also took advantage of our time in Sacramento to visit Sutter’s fort which is close to downtown Sacramento and was an intriguing glimpse into life in the early 1800’s in Sacramento.
Sutter’s bell – dinner time?
A dinner cruise?
Okay – this is it for now – getting close to american thanksgiving and am sure there are will be lots of turkey tales (tails) to tell about a Canadian’s experience of an American thanksgiving. Till then – have a great week.
Sailing and baseball?
You may well ask “Do sailing and baseball go together?” Fair enough question. Well, if you happen to be in San Francisco the answer would be ‘Yes’.
AT&T Park – Home of the Giants
Yes, it’s the world series for those of you not aware that it’s the big baseball season in the US. As Connie said ‘what’s going on down there? Have you turned into born again baseball fan?” I guess the only answer to that question is yes, The fever is catching and since tonight the Giants won the world series the town is going wild.
Last Thursday saw Sage tied up at the Marina outside the AT&T stadium which is on the Embarcadero and is the home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.
Main gate – AT&T Park
The crowd was wild. Not only did we get soaked when Uribe hit a home run (they have large water guns at the back of the stadium that shoot several 100 feet in the air on a home run) we got jostled and nudged in a friendly way by exuberant crowds of people. The waterway outside the stadium was covered in boats (perhaps for those of you watching on TV you saw the boats outside the stadium) and low and behold we saw Victoria’s twin lift bridge.
Yes, another Johnson Street bridge. Perhaps Victoria council could approach San Francisco and offer to buy this bridge to replace Victoria’s as the one down here looks to be in excellent shape!
Johnson street bridge #2
What else has Sage done? We’ve been busy. The crew disbursed the week of October 24th with David heading back on the Thursday. Pam came down to visit on the Sunday and we left on the Monday for a tour of the bay. First stop was Sausalito for a couple of days of exploring the north shore then on to Angel Island. We climbed Mt. Livermore (http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/MtLivermoreAngelIsland_7362.asp) for a spectacular view of the harbour.
Mt. Livermore – Angel Island
Wendolyn – Vancouver 27
We also ran into another Canadian sailboat at Angel Island – Wendolyn, a Vancouver 27. The Vancouver 27 was our previous boat and it was great to talk to someone just heading out for an extended offshore passage on a boat like our last one. Could at least give them a lot of tips and share our experience. Wendolyn has now gone south on their way to Mexico.
Our next anchorage was the marina outside of AT&T park for the Thursday game and the beginning of our love affair with the 2010 World Series. What a series considering the Giants were considered the underdogs. We’re caught up in the enthusiasm and positive feeling the city has. It has to be the friendliest city I’ve ever visited. Everywhere I’ve been people have been incredibly helpful and everyone just seems to be happy. Pam and I spent many hours wandering back streets,
Ferry terminal market
riding public transportation, seeing incredible art galleries and museums, sticking our noses into nooks and crannies and becoming totally exhausted. A great exhaustion though…..
Downtown San Francisco
The Ferry Terminal
North Beach district
Heading back to Alameda
Am now back in Alameda which is on the east side of the bay and finally on my own other than Richard and Lee onboard Before moored in front of me. I think I’ll be in and out of here over the next month while I wait for Connie to join me. So, till I have more stories to tell will let you go….
What’s up in San Francisco
How did we feel when we arrived?
Yes, I think David expressed it perfectly. It’s taken us all a bit of time to recover from the trip and feel like we can cope with being on land. David and Edward have now gone and now I am going to explore the San Francisco Bay area. On Sunday Sage will be moving over to the San Francisco Yacht Club close to downtown for a few days and then moving off to Sausalito. Here’s my chance to explore so am going to try to hit numerous anchorages in the Bay before Connie arrives at the end of November to sail to Hawaii. If anyone wants to come down and visit give send an e-mail and will see how to accommodate.
In the meantime, I’m going to watch the San Francisco Giants get to the World Series and if you’re watching on TV take a look for Sage anchored in the bay outside the stadium to catch the home run ball to push the Giants into the lead! Yes, there is an anchorage right at the stadium so I can sit in the cockpit and watch the game – eat your heart out!!
Stay tuned for Sage’s further adventures on San Francisco Bay.
San Francisco
Golden Gate
We’re here and have been since last Sunday. Great trip – lots of trials and tribulations but in the end we acheived the goal i.e. getting to San Francisco.
We did stop in Drake’s Bay which is about 25 nautical miles north of San Francisco. Thinking we would have a chance to clean the boat and ourselves we anchored in good holding for the afternoon and evening. Had a great meal and settled in for our first full nights rest. At 0200hrs the wind was up to 20 knots and quickly rising. Within 30 minutes the wind was gusting at 35 knots and the few other boats in the anchorage were dragging their anchors past our boat but we held firm. So much for a peaceful night. I was up for the remainder of the night keeping watch just like at sea.
Morning came and it was pouring with rain. Our first rain of the trip but certainly not the first water over the bows. It was perfect timing as the salt got washed off the boat and by the time we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge we were salt fee – at least deck wise but not clothes wise!
What was the trip like? Difficult, frustrating and uncomfortable. We could have made it under the bridge non stop in 7 days which considering the conditions is excellent. We only motored for a total of 24 hours so there was definitely wind out there. The wind came from every which direction and it varying strengths from 2 knots to 45 knots. The heaviest winds having been experienced off Cape Mendicino – all night blowing 35 and gusting to 45. Hard and wet steering but our speed record for the trip was set that night at 15.3 knots surfing down the front of a wave with rooster tails off the beam of the boat. Exciting but nerve racking.
Perfect sailing 2
Edward and David
Sleepless in Neah Bay
What does it take to make a turks head?
Study the book – Step 1
Lay out the supplies – Step 2
Study the book again – Step 3
In desperation turn to google – Step 4
Try, try and try again – Step 5
Breakfast in Neah Bay
Having been chased out of Victoria by a pod of killer whales…..
Chased out of Victoria by killer whales
We have become somewhat enamoured with Neah Bay and decided to bring a little Mexican flavour to Neah Bay with a great mexican breakfast:
Breakfast mexican style
All prepared by our imported mexican chef to keep us happy while onboard to wait out the weather:
Is this the mexican or Dubai chef
The wind has now increased and expecting a good southeaster well into late Saturday. Our hope is that the wind turns to the western quadrant early Sunday and we’ll start our sojourn south so stay tuned for other news on wild Neah Bay stories tomorrow.
What’s happening
We’re finally on our way once again. A new crew has been found and the destination is now San Francisco. Currently we’re sitting in Neah Bay waiting for favourable weather to head south. Yesterday we had a lovely sail over to Port Angeles with the intention of clearing customs and obtaining a cruising permit for the U.S. I was then discovered that we were officially sailing a 1.4 metre yacht according to the Canadian registration papers. I’m proud to say that we’re going to be the smallest sailing vessel to sail south to San Francisco. Despite the small size of our officially registered vessel they did issue us a cruising permit which will take us through to February. We hope to have sailed to San Francisco, then on to Hawaii for Christmas and leave Hawaii for points west by the beginning of the New Year.
So, who’s the new crew. First off is David from Clearwater BC. David runs a back country cross-country ski lodge – see following link for more information on an awesome winter BC experience. David would love to host your winter vacation! http://www.solmountain.com/ David has sailed to San Francisco and Hawaii in the past and offers great skills both on deck and in the galley. Welcome aboard David but I question why anyone would want the pain of sailing to San Francisco twice!
The second crew member to join Sage to San Francisco is Edward. Edward is a landscape architect and has had a variety of sailing experiences including racing from Hong Kong to Subic Bay in the Philippines as well as completing the 360 Round Vancouver Island Race. Edward keeps us on our toes making sure we’re getting the most out of sailing Sage efficiently and keeps up the questions on how to make things work better. Welcome aboard Edward.
Onboard in Neah Bay
Where are we? Currently sitting in Neah Bay waiting for the right weather before jumping off to San Francisco. It’s overcast, little wind but ominous. Reports call for a gale later in the day with rain so we’re sitting still taking in the various sights in Neah Bay.
Welcome to the docks – Neah Bay
If you’re in Neah Bay in future holidays make sure you stop to see the Makah Museum. It’s truly amazing. Great building, wonderful exhibits, friendly staff and all in all a worthwhile experience.
Makah Museum
Apart from the museum it’s a place to fish, hike, relax and hike out to the lighthouse which looks like what we’re going to do tomorrow. Till then will either sail away or write more on the blog about the lighthouse and our exciting night life…..
Sage on sail 