The CyberMud Cruise to Westpoint Slough
Redwood City, May 1994
From Doug.Vaughan Mon May 9 11:23:40 1994 Date: Mon, 9 May 94 11:21:19 PDT Subject: Re: CyberMudCruise Dudley, Current plans are for Karis and I plus one other couple to spend Friday night at South Beach harbour. We would then head south Saturday at a leisurely pace and arrive in the slough between 4 and 5pm. We will have a dinghy. However, we probably won't have any musical instruments. :-( Doug From Ruth.Summers Mon May 9 11:51:11 1994 Date: Mon, 9 May 1994 11:52:43 +0800 Subject: Re: CyberMudCruisewell-I can bring the Trumpet-but you'd probably rather hear my awful voice !! I'll be there with my boat, a Cal 29, Endeavour III. Normal white hull/blue covers and stripe, etc. Well, I might be there with my boat. Damn engine quit on me, old owner is going to look at it Wed afternoon. |-{ r. From dudley: Well, another CyberCruise is in the books and, although we didn't take an official vote, I would say that everyone had a good time. Things began to roll on Friday, when I left the dock at 3:30PM to meet Leapin' Lizard who was sailing down from Sausalito. I had no sooner hailed her on the VHF when the phone rang, and I heard Liz saying, "This is Leapin' Lizard." I was a bit surprised to have my VHF hail returned by phone, but was even more amazed when she told me she was in Kansas City. The wonderment at the power of my VHF lasted only long enough to realize that it was coincidence at work. Poor Liz, had to work throughout the weekend. I decided to sail around for a while, but it was blowing about 30 knots and I was towing my inflatable, which I know from experience will flip and form a superior sea anchor, so after a short while I headed for the slough, where I was to meet Grasshoppa. I had just finished wrestling my sails to the deck and tying up to NOD when I heard a hail from Integrity. Kleeph was out for a sail and would join me later, for a while, before returning to port for the night to make preparations for his departure the next morning to re-join us. I had a pleasant two hours by myself. I popped open a Green Death, put up my folding chair, and pounded on my conga, secure in the knowledge that I was too far from anyone to be offensive. My peace was soon shattered by another hail from Kleeph, telling me that his arrival was imminent. No sooner had he arrived than we were hailed by Nakia, who had heard us on the VHF. Apparently, fewer of John and Linda's co-workers than expected had showed up for their after-work open-boat, and they had a surplus of beer and chicken wings. We tried to talk them into joining us then, rather than the next morning as planned, but being slough virgins, and because the sun was setting, prudence won out and they stayed tied up in Redwood City. Gnarlin was the next to arrive, and he had plans to beef up the other mooring. His plans included enlisting Kleeph and me, and after the typical debate and head scratching that accompanies these projects, and after having beer spilled over me, we marveled at the new marker which floated...upside down. Having had our fill of nautical engineering, Kleeph headed for home while gnarlin and I hit our respective racks for the night. I awoke with the sunrise on Saturday morning to find the water dead calm and the temperature already comfortable. After making breakfast and washing down NOD, I got into the dinghy for my morning row. We were on a flood, so I headed toward the mouth of the slough. I was about half way when I saw a sail approaching from the other side of the point. As they passed the point, I could make out a yellow hull. Figuring that it had to be Twilight Zone, I paddled toward them. Sure enough. They had left Berkeley at 11:30PM and had arrived in Redwood City before sunrise. They had waited out the sun at the Port of Redwood City and with daylight, were navigating the slough, with the aid of our instructions, for the first time. I met them just after they passed the Broughton Straights and, with the light wind, I managed to row fast enough to lead them safely to NOD. Fishmeal, Casilda, and Hoover were understandably tired from their night time sail, and were soon snoozing under the warmth of the morning sun. The next arrival was Nakia. They called on the VHF to tell us their plans, and I hopped into the dinghy again for the row out to meet them. John and Linda had quite a crew, Lee, Mark, and Lisa, who were all along for the day trip. They rafted up to Grasshoppa and it wasn't long before they produced a 10 gallon tub of ice, beer, and soft drinks. We had just finished adjusting the mooring buoy to be between Nakia and Grasshoppa when we saw Nipper coming around the bend. My eyes lit up as I realized our hopes for a CyberTaxi had been answered. Doug's timing could have been better as it was now noon time and the typical afternoon wind was beginning to blow. He made a few comments about expecting something like the tranquility of the Nile, but he settled down in the protection of his cabin and all we saw of him for a while was the bottom of his feet resting in the window as he was absorbed in a book. I was beginning to wonder where the rest of the Muddies were, but a phone call to Teresa, and I was told that it wouldn't be too long before they would leave port. I didn't want to rush them as they had the responsibility of bringing the food and I knew I couldn't last all weekend on beer. About two o'clock, I could see Pallas Athena coming down the slough. Downwind and Mer de Mer had Teresa, but Row'n and Loran were reportedly riding other boats. I guess they found it more exciting to ride with someone other than their parents. Treefort was next to arrive. I still have a sentimental attachment to Yaremud and Romudda's boat as I owned it for nine years, and I guess my sentimentality gene has been passed to Row'n, who had just turned one when we first bought it, and was now serving as foredeck crew. Three thirty arrived, and it was time to take the day trippers back to the dock. Doug fired up the CyberTaxi, and most of us hopped on for the experience of riding on a power boat. As we were leaving, Integrity arrived with Kleeph, Muddi, and Loran...and Up-Chuck, soaked from his harrowing experience trying to sail the Mudgomery 12, in tow. Casilda, Hoover, Mark, Lisa, and Lee were dropped off, and we dodged the jet- skis to return to the slough. Mudley gave his sight seeing narrative of the history of Redwood City to whomever would listen, and guided Doug safely through the submerged obstacles and mud. After safely returning to the moorings, we began to break out the abundance of food. Doug, who had been hit by a sudden stomach bug, stayed aboard Nipper, but everyone else gathered on NOD for the feast. Starshine was the next to arrive. Doug and Karis and their two friends had arrived earlier, but it took a while for them to muster the courage to enter the slough. They liked the idea of rafting to NGM better than hanging from NOD, which already had five boats attached. We were soon joined by Koala with Mike, Anna Maria, and their two dogs (about the size of a Hong Kong wharf rat but much cuter). Rick, from Redwood City, showed up in his dinghy. The last to arrive was Ken in Sanctuary, which he had trailered down from Fulsom to the North Bay, spent the night at Angel Island, and single-handed down to the slough. There was food of every variety spread out across the boats and NOD. And that was before the desserts began to appear. It isn't often that you run out of paper plates before you run out of food. After Row'n did a command performance of his shirt trick, we heard Muddi tell the story of her arrest for Grand Theft Auto. There wasn't a dry eye in the house as she combined a truly unbelievable story with her indomitable sense of humor. Meanwhile, Mary worked like a mad to keep up with the requests for margaritas. After some dogpiling on various boats, we settled onto Koala, where Kleeph and Yaremud played their guitars while we sang out-of-tune renditions of songs about life in the mud. We were glad to hear that at least one of the North Bay sailors sings as badly as the Muddies do. They were still going at it when I decided to retire at midnight. The Sunday morning sunrise awoke me to the tranquility of the sounds of nature echoing across the glassy water. I tried not to wake anyone as I put up the sails of the Mudgomery for a sunrise sail. There was almost no wind, and I was soon joined by Row'n rowing circles around me. Smells of breakfast wafted across the water as various CyberCruisers were awaking, many taking the opportunity to row around and explore the smaller sloughs. The wind was now blowing enough to push the Mudgomery along at a leisurely pace, but we were having a hard time getting Up-Chuck to give it up. I settled for a spot as his crew and we sailed off to explore the uncharted region of the slough around the bend. As the Muddies gently rowed and sailed around, the North Bay sailors, one-by-one, said their goodbyes and headed out for the trip back up the Bay in the now increasing wind. Soon it was just the Muddies left. Gnarlin managed to coax Mr. Saab to life, and the six Muddy boats sadly left the slough with plans for bigger boats and the next CyberCruise.
CyberMudCruise II - April 29-30, 1995
The Great Anchor Holding Test
From: Darwin Boblet - Genius Subject: post cruise comments. Date: Mon, 1 May 95 9:31:47 PDT Member: Sea of Anarchy Yacht Club. Na, this is not a report. But for the record, it was a lot of fun. The trip down was wet, but good sailing, then it cleared and the evening was 'warm' and calm. The rain started again on the trip back up but the sailing was still fine most of the way, then it became pretty calm. BUT Seems we had some problems at the raft up. The mooring dragged when the larger boats rafted up (we had ((I think)) 12 rafted to the mooring and 2 rafted at anchor). Extra bow anchors took care of the dragging, and stern anchors were deployed to keep us from swinging. Unfortunarely, one of the stern anchors seems to have become almost hopelessly burried in the mud...or hooked somethng. It's still there, having been abandoned, and last report I had was that it didn't have enough line on the end of the chain and took the float down too. Considering the load this anchor carried, it's probably well buried in the mud. Perhaps the float will float some at low tide ?? One of the other anchors became fouled and had to be cast loose, I believe there is a float attatched ??? Perhaps it will be recoverable. I suspect the tide changed and caused this problem, otherwise it should have gone as planned. One of the bow anchors hooked an old rode, that seems to be attatched to something on the bottom. It is now attatched to a jug..very near the SAYC mooring. We had some problems with our steering quadrant on the way up the bay. It's a cable system and it started slipping, causing DL to head up a lot (a lot!!) Still, we managed to sail past the San Mateo Bridge before we had to drop the mizzen and make temporary repairs. Mary and I both have slight sunburns, despite the rain. Many pets were present, cats, a dog, and a ferret. There was at least one temporary engine failure with a resulting current driven collision (I don't 'think' there was any damage). We discovered that an inflatable with an engine makes a good tug for pushing a sailboat off of the mud and back into the channel. No one fell in, and only the anchor recovery teams seemed to get muddie. ;-) later, Darwin and Mary Dragon Lady -- ,,,, o o ____ ------------oOO _)-----OOo----) ( darwin_boblet ******------------------------------ From: Darwin Boblet - Genius Subject: NOD bridle ?? Date: Mon, 1 May 95 9:39:34 PDT While removing one of the 3 bow anchors, we pulled up an old manila line, perhaps 1/2" diam. and very very shredded on one end. As I pulled up on the line, it appeared that it was pulling through something, the line vibrated "clunk, clunk, clunk" and it slid through something on the bottom. It was too close to the SAYC mooring to be the bridle from NOD unless it was a backup line that dragged with the dock and parted later (?). Anyway, I pulled up until it seemed to not give any more then tied a plastic bottle to it so it would be recoverable. It might be interesting for a vessel with a windless to try to pull it up and see what gives..maybe it's and anchor, or an old tire or something ?? Or perhaps it should sit until someone with a dive outfit can go down and take a look. (yuck). Anyway, since I'm not down there anymore, have fun with it. Perhaps someone can make an attempt to recover the two abandoned anchors from the raft up, I'm sure the owners would like to get them back. later darwin. -- ,,,, o o ____ ------------oOO _)-----OOo----) ( darwin_boblet ******------------------------------ From shellie Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 09:25:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: I guess we're official honorary Muddies now, huh? Somehow everthing looks different going out than coming in! When the depth meter reads "--" does that mean it's got mud on it? Got another story to tell, too: When we passed under the San Mateo Bridge on the way down and were using our compass and chart for real, we got this steady reading of 120 degrees. Joe said we were to hold a course of about 100 (I assume these instructions were from Mary since he said "she"), and looking at the chart that made perfect sense but the compass only made *almost* sense. We assumed the discrepancy was from lack of experience, the Saturday Correction Factor that everybody knows about but us, or the South Bay Discrepancy, also known to everybody but us, or that big magnet they turn on to play a joke on the neophyte navigators, or something. We found the channel markers and forgot about it. On the way back, I noticed the compass still said 120. Hm. The poles have shifted on this planet, or our compass is kerbroke. As I sat there musing over it (and the next check I'd have to write to West Marine), my eye slowly focused on the new stereo speaker bolted to the cabin top. Just inboard of the compass. Then my MIND slowly focused on the stereo speaker. WHAT drives a stereo speaker? A big magnet, you say? WHO thought that was a good place for the speaker? Joe took the speaker off, the compass shook itself and recovered, and the cherished illusion of at least normal intelligence rolled over and died. The trip home would have been shorter if we hadn't screwed around under sail for an hour trying to get under the bridge in flood tide. We finally just lowered the engin for 15 minutes. It didn't start to rain in earnest until we were in the estuary. Then it made up for it. When we were putting things away at the dock, we decided that you've been pretty wet when you're drying out nicely, it's still raining, and you're still outside. Don't you feel sorry for all those people who never go outside in the weather? What a great weekend! All you *big* boats: how did you get in and out of that place? Especially Endorphin? Jeez! And to think we ran the second-smallest boat aground. Sigh. When's next time? --shellie Merit 25 "Pink Panther" From Ruth.Summers Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 10:18:53 +0800 Subject: Re: post cruise comments.Phew ! Sounds like a day for lots of 'sailor talk' !! Glad Endevour was engine-less for this trip ! Ahem. I've been towed several times by inflatable`s. They are quite dandy. Well, it was very nice seeing all of you, new faces and old ! And Rob-thanks again for being the cyber taxie this trip. Addie and I much appreciated the rides ! Ruth From rmcinnis Mon May 1 10:21:02 1995 Date: Mon, 1 May 95 09:46:40 PDT Subject: Foiled again Well, I hope all the other cybercruisers had a good time. I had really intended to make an appearance on Saturday. But the force just wasn't with me. Friday night I decided that I should check the ski boat out and make sure that everthing was OK. So I took the cover off, checked the oil, hooked the battery charger up, pumped up the trailer tires, wiped the seats down, stowed the skiis under the deck, and generally made ready for departure. Then I decided that I would go ahead and start it on the trailer, just so that I wouldn't emabarras myself at the launch ramp. So I hooked up the hose and gave it a shot (even remembered to close the garage door this time). Good thing I did. Damn thing wouldn't start. After a few minutes of cranking without so much as a pop, I removed the spark arrester so that I could check for gas in the carberator. It seemed dry, which confused me because when I operated the throttle from the engine, the accelerator pumps gave a good spray. I hit hte starter switch again and it started tight up, but wouldn't rev up. Hmmmm.... That's when I noticed that moving the throttle lever was not having any reaction back at the engine. Strange, but the throttle cable managed to break while sitting on the trailer. It was now after 8:00 PM, so there wasn't much I was going to do about it then. So first thing the next morning I called West Marine, and yes they have a replacment cable. So Milpitas to Palo Alto to get the cable, then back home just in time to get the kids to their school "Book Fair" that they were presenting at. Back home at 1:00, when Ruth called wondering if I was still comming. It was pouring down rain. I still had to install the throttle cable, which I was guessing would take an hour (in a downpour). It would take another hour to get the boat to Redwood City and be ready to launch. My wife already thought I was nuts. So in a moment of weakenss, I told Ruth I wasn't going to make it. Bad decision. An hour later the rain stopped. An hour after that the sun was actually poking through. Meanwhile, I had started projects with the kids, and hadn't fixed the boat. Well Ruth, sorry I didn't make it, and hope that you found another ride out. Rod McInnis Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 10:35:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Joe Chew Subject: Re: I guess we're official honorary Muddies now, huh? BLACK PANTHER is probably more like it now, although I still don't think I grounded the bottom very hard, just the keel and, well, maybe the end of the rudder. My track record remains perfect at getting every class of vehicle I've ever driven bogged down in something, which probably means I should just skip the flying lessons. Memo to self: bear toward the wrecked white tugboat AFTER taking the wide, i.e., high current, ergo, deep track around the bend. The depth sounder went from a safe 8 feet to gagging on muck in about the time it takes to throw the tiller against the coaming, which is Nature's way of saying, "use your head as well as the instruments, birdbrain." I do get a consolation prize for noticing, and insisting, that we seemed to be equipped with the "Constant Compass" from page 43 of the boat edition of the Archie McPhee catalog, right between the rubber winch handles and the whoopee cockpit cushion. We needn't dwell on the fact that I was an accomplice after the fact to the placement of the stereo speakers, nor the fact that I minored in physics in college, nor the fact that I used to be an electronics tech, nor the fact that I've even taken apart junk speakers JUST TO GET THE BIG MAGNET. Facts are so much less fun than illusions. --Joe, who will never again wonder why people put such big outboards on little inflatables. Date: Mon, 01 May 95 10:39:06 PST From: "Rob MacFarlane" Subject: Thanks for the Slough Guiding That was a pleasant weekend, and thanks for the southbay types for putting it together. I hadn't been back in the sloughs before, and that was the most interesting part for me. I was looking at one of the NASA photos of San Francisco last night (the kind done up as a poster), and I could trace the slough until it meandered off into a red area (false colour photo). I was surprised at how homogenous the plant life was, and how thick and slippery the mud is. Also ran aground 3 times in the dinghy, which is unusual because it draws all of 10" with the outboard down. I'm glad there were local knowlege types available, as getting in and out was not trivial - especially considering the two metal wrecks that appeared at low tide. Are any other cybertypes going to be in the Vallejo Season Opener (HDA 1) race this weekend? Tiger Beetle will be there, along with Pink Panther, and Paul Kamen should be there. Anyone else? - Rob From: Ken Schwarz Subject: Re: Time warp... Date: Mon, 1 May 95 11:46:26 PDT > Saw a really > strange sight too - just South the San Mateo Bridge, we past a > Mac Gregor 20-something trailable sloop, bare poled and planing > along at probably 20+ knots. Must of had quite an OB on that one... > Was this a CyberCruiser in Hyperdrive? That would have been me (MAC 19) Proof that my motor works (sometime) Since you weren't there, left the raft up Sunday morning to drop Teresa @ Pete's for her dance video, start motor, cast off, motor dies won't restart- you guessed it current grabs boat, head directly for second raftup, while skipper of penguin (with heart in throat) and rest of raft up watch 3 human fenders frantically push off impending bonk (BIG SIGH :( ). I guess am now a partial muddy( at least my name is synonomous with mud in Penguin's eyes) Of course motor functioned fine on the way back. However, good weather Saturday afternoon, BBQ worked ok, at least London broil disappeared. Watched plane landing lights in the clouds sat night, quite a sight. Also boat races in the morning. Rained like mad past Bay Bridge, pulled out @ richmond and rained even more, stayed that way all the way to Sacto- thx for the good weather on Sat kens Sanctuary From Dudley Mon May 1 14:45:37 1995 Date: Mon, 1 May 95 14:45:37 PDT From: Dudley To: cybercruise Subject: The Good, The Bad, and the Muddy Content-Length: 550 X-Lines: 28 Status: RO New CyberCruise Records: 1) Total tonnage on a dragging anchor. 2) Number of species of mammals (don't forget the curious seal). 3) The Attack of the Mac (size difference between attacker and attackee). 4) Anchor burial depth (tie). 5) The Great Across the Raft Race. 7) Number of people getting muddy. 8) Fewest Paul Kamen songs sung. 9) Most strawbewrries. 10) Best clouds. Great weekend! But otherwise, we should try to get those anchors out. I'd be glad to lend my support. How should we coordinate this? Dudley . Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 16:04:51 -0700 (PDT) From: "Shellie T. Taylor" Subject: Is that thing licensed? Pink Panther owes a cup of mud remover to Rob and Darwin and Mary for getting us out of the glue -- Rob for masterful boat-persuasion with the bow line, and Darwin and Mary for getting straight to the point and just ramming us a couple of times with their Assault Dinghy. Are those legal in California? The dinghies look just way too fun. Someday we'll have a big enough boat to rationalize one... --shellie Merit 25 "Pink Panther" Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 22:18:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Sam LaVanaway Subject: I am now a born again muddie I did get baptized in the slough and since I want this correct I will tell my own story. I decided to take Paul's advice and run my stern ancor rode to the bow and use the windlass to raise the anchor. (It is similar to a Fortress ?? anchor. Large and light) The anchor was tied off to my stern on the port side and under tension at maybe 45 degrees across the stern to the starboard side. I figured, the stern was trying to swing port so I ran the extra rode up the starboard, put it in the chock and took a couple of turns around the windlass. After everyone was clear, I had Barbi cast off the rode from the cleat, assuming the boat would continue to swing clockwise and it went counter-clockwise instead. The rode took up residence between my rudder and the hull, un-beknownst to me. After being patient for maybe five minutes, I decided to put a few turns on the screw and try to get the boat turned bow into the current. Well she started to turn and *sproing* she snapped back. Put it in nuetral, look at the stiuation try once more and then I heard a noise that I made me think someone was knocking on the bottom to get in. Yes, I had the rode wrapped round my prop. Chantuese (sp) stayed on station, which made me feel warm and fuzzy, and I want to give them a public thank you and ask what are they charging for the prints, negatives and video they took of my slough lesson. I dropped my front hook to keep me somewhat stationary and then I got on my trunks, mask and snorkel and went in for a look. Did you know that the slough water is cold and dark? The current was still flooding and I could not get the line untangled. Eventually I tied a spare line to the anchor side of the rode (as opposed to the part going from the prop to the bow) and attached it to a winch. I got the rode up on the boat and cut the rode to the prop short. I then went diving again to cut the remaining rode off the prop. I got most of it but one wrap seemed to be caught between the prop and the cutlass bearing and I could not cut it off or unwrap it. I had gotten out of the water two or three times during this whole swimming thing. The last time when I finally had the rode cut away Sheri and Barbi said I was turning blue. Since I have tha extra layer of insulation, I guess that means I was cold. (The women told me I had been in the water for 30 to 45 minutes, is that right Chantuese) Barbi and I tried to hoist the anchor on one of my jib winches and we got to where the chain was visible but that was all we could get. I put a small fender, on the rode near the chain (about 10 or 12 foot of chain) and cut the line. The fender has Tera Nova on it. (by the way Proce club has small fender 2 for 10 dollars) We turned on the motor on and hoisted the plow, at least I still have one. As we set off following Chantuese (sp) Barbi and Sheri suggested I get some clothes on and get warm. I said I was warmer and just wanted to get out of the get out of the slough. Barbi looks at me and says "You know your being incredibly stubborn don't you, ask Sheri." Sheri shakes her head yes, so I turn over the wheel to Barbi and go get dressed. When I came up, I asked if I had really been blue. They said yes so I asked if they knew how to treat hypothermia. Being a captain, its good to be sure your crew knows basic firstaid. They both said no, so I told them that you should take the persons wet clothes off, wrap them in blankets and then take your clothes off and use your body to warm the victim. They laughed, and I thought the water was cold! I really enjoyed this, my second cyber raftup. I hope to make the next one and I can probably get away Thursday afternoon to help with anchors. I do not dive but I can row, hold, lift, carry, and be of general assistance. I took some shots of DL under Main, mizzen and jib. Darwin had the manual for my autopilot, I had the pleasure of bringing Barbi, who will be at the next raftup, and Sheri, who probably won't, to meet some of the best people on the bay. I enjoyed meeting cybercruisers. It is alway nice to put faces to sigs. Next time I am going to make sure the crew knows in advance how to treat hypothermia, and I will use bluer dye. Fair Winds, Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 02 May 1995 00:13:08 PST From: "Craig Haggart" Subject: Re: The Good, The Bad, and the Muddy Mudley posted "New CyberCruise Records," but I think he left out one that I should probably claim: 11) Shortest visit to a CyberCruise John & Linda graciously taxied me to and from "Nakia" in the rain on Saturday, just so I could spend a few minutes relaxing aboard with them after my 12-hour overnight shift. I Hope to bring "Roxanne" to the next one. Any plans in the works yet? I suppose it will be Angel Island or Clipper Cove, both close destinations for me. My schedule calls for weekends off from mid-July until at least October; until then, I work half of the weekends. Unless, of course, I end up in Syracuse before then... Thanks again, John and Linda! -Craig Date: Tue, 2 May 1995 07:51:17 -0700 (PDT) From: lynneoj Subject: Re: They told me I had a good time Is there gonna be an anchor memorial service? Gives new meaning to the tune "Anchors Away." Takes more then rain, groundings, and thumping to stop cyber-yachties from having fun. What I remember, was a lot of laughing and great people. Even renaming a few, Wa-Ha-Ka the mighty Mayan God and his lovely bride the delightful Dilemma ... good sports to say he least. Lotsa rain, esp. on the homeward leg. Can hardly wait to the next cruise! I'll try & remember to behave. Lynne OJ From: Darwin Boblet - Genius Subject: assult dinghy Date: Tue, 2 May 95 10:18:26 PDT Hey, anyone can have an assult dinghy, but how many have a dinghy-tug We bounced once off of the bow and then settled in gently with a seat cusion forward as an anti scratch-maring pad and powered up. The bump got them mooving and the push kept it up until the bow swung around and they were off. Too bad there wasn't enough time to get co-rdinated for the collision avoidance manuver. I got down there but kept having visions of being squished between boats, then the painter got wrapped in the prop and I became a floating air matress until I got the line unwrapped, by then John and Linda were there in thier dinghy and things seemed well in hand. For the mud detail, the dighy still has copius amounts due to 3 anchors and chain being hoisted aboard to remove the bow anchors (one of them mine). For a while I was afraid I wouldn't get my anchor out of the mud with the dinghy alone. It was a danforth (13 lb ??...unknown) and 20 feet of 3/8 chain, and I had to work it out with the dinghy by keeping tension on it and backing the dinghy over it in reverse many times. I was soaking wet and coverd with mud as a reslult. Ahhh, It was good to be 'home'. Please keep us posted about the anchor removal detail. And if you have a chance, take a look...er...feel at the end of the other line (in maybe 20 feet of water at mean low). If it looks like it could make a good mooring, maybe it's worth the investment of a new line so we can make use of it later ?? Considering the load on those stern anchors...I'm pretty sure they are just burried in the mud/clay bottom. That stuff is really nasty. With Athena, I had to winch her anchor onto the jib winch, making her heel over for a while. After a bit (say, half a can of soda later while soaking up some sunlight) the boat would straighten out and start to drift, meaning I was now free and could resume departure proceedures. Thanks to Paul Kamen for being our deck ape. He seems to know what he's doing ;^) Darwin. -- ,,,, o o ____ ------------oOO _)-----OOo----) ( darwin_boblet ******------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 May 95 11:33:36 PDT Subject: Anchor recon I took Penguin out for a little inspection tour for the raft-up sight last night. All this talk about abandoned anchors made me think that my anchor windlass might make me a hero of sorts... No such luck. The tide was about half way up - the white (well it used to be white) wreck on its side on the beach was just dipping it's lower rail in the water. I found the fender with "Terra Nova" written on it. As described in a fine "muddy" story. We hauled the line aboard and started to pull. I got the chain up in the roller and about six turns of the 3/8" line around my windlass. The chain was vertical and bar tight. As Kathy walked from one end of the boat to the other, I could see the line stretch maybe half an inch and then shrink again as she came forward. (effective line length was about two feet between windlass and chain, and the entire rhode was always bar tight). We sat like that for maybe 10 minutes in the current of the outgoing tide and a 10 kt breeze with all seven tons of Penguin hanging on this 1/4" (maybe 3/16") chain that was vertical and pulling our bow down. Nothing moved. Since the gear isn't mine, and I'm not really sure what it is, how old it is, etc, I did not want to put more strain on it and risk breaking something, so I gave up. There was a Jasco (Kerosene?) jug tied to a line right next to the SAYC bouy, so I went to look at that. Kathy managed to partly untie the knot with the boat hook before we got the line and jug aboard. The line is about 5/8" diameter and may have been gold when it was new. It is quite stiff and doesn't hold small knots well. I got this line around my windlass and pulled as before. I was expecting this to be attached to an anchor that had fouled with another rhode or cable on the bottom, so when I felt the rope sliding across something down there, I wasn't really concerned. We kept pulling bit by bit, and pretty soon there was a knot visible, then some chain, wait a minute.... The rope that I was pulling on ended in a big loop, maybe two feet in diameter. The bitter end of the line was ratty looking and I couldn't really identify the knot with all of the loose strands of muddy string wraped around everything. Passed through the loop was the chain that led to the SAYC float!?? I followed the chain all the way to the float just to make sure. (Any one know why there are bolts with nuts and washers passed through the SAYC mooring chain?) The tide was going out, and since I was now both defeated and confused, I retied the jug to the line and put it back the way I found it. Penguin draws five feet, the water depth at the Terra Nova fender/bouy and at the SAYC mooring was about 17 feet when I was there, but there is a shallow spot near the mouth of Westpoint slough that always scares me (it was 7 feet when we left). I never did see the anchor that might be exposed at low tide, but I didn't really expect to, as the tide wasn't low, and I can't get Penguin in there when it is. I hope this is helpful to anyone who makes further tries at recovery. From: Ken Schwarz Subject: more anchor stuff Date: Tue, 2 May 95 13:46:07 PDT With all these anchor stories, might as well toss in mine. It's a tragic tale of loss. Stopped to fuel up @ Coyote point. After fueling, motored to "guest dock" for lunch. Prepared to get underway (back to Richmond), decided to try and straighten anchor mount. Just got it about right when it came loose from the plastic under mount, pivoted up and neatly let the the anchor slip unimpeded into the water. Didn't feel like fishing around as it was high tide, didn't really have the time or equipment to anyway. So -It might make a nice lunch hook for somebody, its a ~8 lb Danforth style (W.M.) ,has a new shackle, and a plastic covered shank to prevent banging the deck,etc. retrival might be possible @ low tide here's the layout. fuel boat ramp launch area XXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX b i XXX G (freefloating) k XXX U e XXX E XXX S t XXX T r XXX a it be here > OXXX D i (sort of) XXX O l XXX C XXX K XXX XXX XXX XXX so ,if you are bored, or really into underwater salvage here's your big chance! ps total value of all parts < $14.00 kens May 16-18, 1997: Redwood City Harbor
From Captain Mudley's Log:
Well, we set a few more records: 1) hottest CyberCruise (did it hit 100?) 2) youngest CyberCruiser (2.5 weeks) 3) most liquids consumed (and we aren't even counting the beer) 4) youngest skipper for an night (Chris) 5) best bar-b-que (abalone) 6) first water-skiing demonstration by a CyberCruiser (Rod and the Admiral should have seen that!) 7) first Redwood City CyberCruise without an anchor incident 8) the Tanaka failed for the 6th straight time 9) best anchor lights 10) first CyberCruise visited by the police (they wanted to know if we were having fun and whether anyone was bothering us with their wakes - nice touch!) Another successful CyberCruise. Ice and water were at a premium, biminis were the order of the day, and nobody had much energy. But the water was flat and the anchors held (and all were successfully retreived). This was our third CyberCruise anchorage in Redwood City and it proved quite successful. Pincoya was there, showing of a new paint job and an incredible electrical panel. StuBalu made its first CyberCruise appearance (twice). Narwhal was single-handed in. Wildflower was there, perhaps for the last time with that name which is now almost unreadable on the transom. California Girl was the first non- Redwood City boat to arrive at 7PM Friday and showing that Karlita has nothing on them, 3/4 of the crew left for a wedding on Saturday evening. Consort was there with their short-person dinghy. Dragon Lady's average crew age is now around 22. And Invictus is getting used to being the smallest boat. It seems as if word of the CyberCruise had spread around the Redwood City docks before we arrived. Several boats, some we didn't know, cruised by to say "Hi", and when I got back to the dock, there were a couple of other people who asked how it went. Another great time. What's next? mudley .
Westpoint Slough, Jan 22-24, 1999
From dudley Mon Jan 25 08:58:50 1999 Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 08:58:43 -0800 From: dudley (dudley) To: fender@invictus.eng.sun.com Subject: CybeCruise Report Cc: dudley CyberCruisers, The *Official* January CyberCruise was wonderful! But it didn't start that way. Teresa couldn't spend the night on Friday, Darwin had to spend the night tied to the dock with Marshall, and Shellie couldn't get her motor running. But I still had a jones for the slough left over from the previous Friday and decided that I was going to spend the night in Westpoint regardless. Friday evening was beautiful. I spent several hours by myself, listening to Nicky Scopolitus and watching the beauty of the building storm clouds. I'm not sure exactly when it was, but the pitter-patter of the rain on the cabin top soon had me in dreamland. Saturday morning was grey and wet. I wondered if anyone would show up. I shouldn't have. By about 10AM, it was beginning to clear. I got a call from Teresa who was on her way to hitch a ride with Dragon Lady. They arrived at about noon and we added DL's weight to the mystery mooring. A few minutes later, StuBaLu arrived and we dropped a second hook. "Hey, look! There is a boat with a yellow mast heading this way." It was Kathy and Tycho, back from their adventures in the Pacific Northwest. Incessant Wonder raised us, from its slip in Alameda. "We're on our way." About an hour later, we saw her buzz down Redwood Creek to pick up the Admiral and Chad who had driven down following Chad's hockey game. They were soon tied alongside (and a couple more anchors were dropped). We were just settling into raft mode when Killer Duck raised us on the radio. "Two more boats coming in," they warned. September Song made a pass under sail, KD under power, and they were soon tied to the Mother Ship. We had had several no-shows: Pincoya (with an approved excuse), Goose II (also with an excuse - no lights), and Pelican (no excuse), but seven boats is about the limit beyond which more boats creates too much strain against the currents in the slough. Had more boats arrived, we'd probably have had to make another raft. Saturday afternoon was gorgeous. We did some boat hopping. Chad, Teresa, and I took 2 dinks and explored the little sloughs. And there was food, grog, and music everywhere. We were treated to a spectacular sunset, after which most of us hopped onto the Mother Ship to glow in the warmth of Rod's blast furnace. I could have spent the night there, but Teresa somehow coaxed me back into Invictus for a very peaceful night's sleep. Sunday morning was cold...very, cold. It was one of those mornings when you hate to crawl out of the warmth of the sleeping bag. The sky was deep blue, with barely a cloud in sight. We were soon feeling the warmth of the morning rays as they quickly heated up the air. As we got past noon, the boats began to collect their anchors and head back home. Seven boats, seven anchors...we're getting pretty good as breaking these rafts up without problems. Everything went smoothly and we were soon heading out of Westpoint Slough in single file. Oh, to avoid any voting irregularities in the future, and to allow plenty of lead time for planning, we decided that the voting for the following CyberCruise will be done at the CyberCruises. You'll all be glad to know that the vote was unanimous: Next CyberCruise is in Westpoint Slough, March 20-21. Hope to see most of you there, Dudley . It was a gamble, but it paid off in spades! The Admiral was not happy about the prospect of spending the weekend in the rain. Forecasts of rain, wind and dropping temperatures had her repeating "Are you really going to do this?" It was raining fairly hard in Milpitas on Saturday morning when I left to head up to the boat. One bright side was that I didn't need to wash the boat. The down side was that I had two soaking wet dogs just from the walk from the parking lot down to the boat. I had a few tasks to perform before I could get underway, so it was 1 PM before I was ready to untie and head out. It had stopped raining, and there was only a slight breeze. By the time I reached the end of the estuary, there was actually some patches of blue sky! There were a few minutes of sunshine as I turned and headed south. The bay was pretty flat, and I was able to make good speed to Redwood City, where I picked up Anna and Chad at the boat ramp (nice ramp, by the way). Backtracked to Westpoint slough, churned mud a couple of places, and found the raftup without incident. Marlee (my daughter) was thrilled to find another girl her age there (on the ride down, Marlee asked me why cybercruisers don't have any girls....) By now, the weather was getting really nice. Cold, but the sky was clearing, and no signs of the predicted winds. Standard cybercruise party followed. I have anchored a lot where there were tidal currents to contend with. I have rafted up with multiple boats many times. But this was the first time I was part of a large raftup where there were tidal flows. It was just a bit unnerving when the current reversed in the middle of the night, and all the boats jostled around a bit as the load transferred from the stern anchors to the bow. A bump here, a groan there, a few line squeaks, and then everything was OK. A quick look out the windows (it was COLD outside!) to assure that everything was as it should be, and back to bed. Sunday was incredible! We all hung around until about noon, and then we all broke apart (hey, didn't that look like we actually knew what we were doing?) and headed off. Dropped Anna and Marlee back at the boat ramp, and then cruised back to Alameda. That was a lot of fun, and I am sure glad that I went. Looking forward to the next one. Rod McInnis (and Anna and Chad and Marlee and Rosie and VeeVee).
The CyberMud Cruise to Westpoint Slough
Redwood City, May 1-2, 1999
The Winter-in-May CyberCruise, Call it El Nina, El Nino, or Bad Kharma, but the weather on Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening...even now...was pretty crappy for May, but that failed to dampen the mood. Friday evening held the promise of beautiful weekend weather. The blow-dried weather guessers were saying that it might be a bit cooler, but otherwise nice weather. I got out onto the Bay by 4:30PM, found some nice wind, successfully tried my new jiffy reefing (30 seconds to reef, single handed!), and got off a few Yee-Haas, before heading back to pick Teresa up at 7PM. Teresa had the cake, so we gingerly sailed toward NOD under main. When we arrived, Nakia had already set a hook. We grabbed the Mystery Mooring, pulled the boats together, and began the raft. We had been listening to California Girl and La Adriana on the radio as they were coming down the Bay. As we saw them get near marker #13, Linda and John's friend, Paul, zipped me up to the channel entrance in his Zod. There we found CG and LA already sampling the mud with their keels. We soon got them headed in the right direction and, after a lesson in slough currents, safely rafted up. Friday evening was very pleasant. Saturday morning was spectacular. The water was glassy, the tide was low, and I got up at 6:30AM for a row in the dink. There were lots of herring (or something similar) and I witnessed, at a range of about a couple of feet at times, birds fishing. They were almost as successful as Capt'n Mahi, grabbing a fish on almost every dive. There were also several species of birds feeding on the exposed mud. I counted about 10 different species of birds, including Egrets, Ducks, and Geese. Sometime after noon, I left aboard California Girl for Pete's Harbor to pick up Steve's Wife. As we were leaving, a newcomer, Bud on Goose II, was arriving. He was soon followed by Pelican, Dragon Lady, Tasherana, StuBaLu, and Wildflower. We picked up Steve's Wife and Son and headed back out to the Slough, where we could clearly see that Tasherana had much more waterline showing that normal. Fortunately, Rod and Ana were once again on hand, this time with a ski boat, to assist the hapless sailors. Rod took a halyard from Tahserana's main mast, gently applied power and, with Tasherana heeled to about 40 degrees, Dragon Lady pulled her free. Whew! We had decided that about 6 boats was the safe maximum for a raft in the slough currents, and so made 2 rafts, 7 boats in one and 3 in the other. The wind had picked up after noon on Saturday. It made for some fast rides down the Bay, but it didn't die at sunset as usual. We managed to cook dinner in the wind, had some libation, ate birthday cake, told sea stories, and ferried back and forth from raft to raft. Things started to quiet around 11PM...everything, that is, except the wind. The wind howled all night. Fortunately, we're all getting pretty good at anchoring and everyone stayed where they were supposed to stay (I sure hope that John and Linda got their anchors up - Let me know if not or if you need some help). Sunday morning, it was still windy, but now it was raining, too! Things cleared up a bit in the South Bay and, for a while, the sky looked beautiful, but it was getting pretty nasty up North by the time the last of the boats headed out. But it was a very nice weekend despite the weather. I hope everyone made it home safely. Let's see some pictures. Dudley From: Teresa Date: Mon, 03 May 1999 09:45:19 Subject: May Cybercruise I too had a very nice row on Saturday morning when it was glassy smooth and warm. I witnessed a most incredible mating ritual between two of the many different kinds of birds. One of the birds held a 4-inch long silver fish in its beak as it danced around flashing the fish in the other bird's face. The bird carried the fish around for quite a while as it flew from spot to spot trying to entice the other bird. The other bird did get interested and flew to the fishy bird. I never got to see what eventually happened because for some reason all the birds decided to fly right over my head and check out the other side of the slough. As I rowed back to the raftup, however, they all flew back, but I never saw the fishy couple again... There is nothing cozier than to be down inside a warm, dry boat when it's howling and raining outside, but, hey, how about a little sun once in a while! Pretty soon I'll probably be saying, hey, how about some rain once in a while!! Summers are long, hot, and dry around here, so maybe we shouldn't push it. The only part I can do without is the 40 knot winds. How about some nice breezes, sun, and 75 degree weather. I can go for that! Things to watch out for: Chris D.'s candid shots, Terri's hot breath, Sam's digital photos, Lane's head, Elise's mouth, John's crafts, Linda's muffins, Charles' horns, Bud's layers on top of layers, Dudley kissing Teresa, Teresa kissing Dudley, Lisa's new pajamas, Chris's fascination with radar, Steve's fashion statement, Virginia's shiny hair, Alan's piece of cake, Don's red nose, Darwin's bald face, Mary's hospitality, Julie's big smile, Colin's gymnastics, Tristan's curiosity, Steuart's single hand, Doug's brandy, & Jenn's pretty eyes. Loved seeing all of you again. Looking forward to checking out the photos too. See you next time! Teresa From: Sam Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 09:59:30 Importance: Normal Ah, it was a glorius sail down. CG and LA heading out the estuary about 6pm. Just after sunset we reached the San Mateo. We had motored, sailed, motored, sailed, motor-sailed, etc till we were at Redwood City. The moon was full, the wind was brisk and cool, what more could we ask.... Well, when Dud said he touched bottom going into the slough, I was asking for two more feet or tide.... We got to the raft about 10 and I personally started to relax.... People we sneaking aboard and going below while I performed spaghetti patrol and general cleanup... a thearaputic chore... When I went below there was a bunch of people there for some festive ocassion. After a few moment I saw a sizable fire in the galley and went for the extinguisher that the saftey office had me put next to the galley when I realized it was my life, no my birthday cake, going up in smoke. Lisa had made me my favorite. Devils food (I don't get it) and white frosting. The rich, sugary kind that goes so well with your favorite libation. We retired after midnight and spending a bit of time watching the moon relecting of the now calm water. The next day we had the fun of seeing Dragon Lady, Tasherana, and Stu Balu, do a wonderful aquatic show as they rafted together. The mystery mooring is certainly stout, but a single 7/16 dacron line is not one to be trusted. I volunteer to be the man in water some Saturday and put a 3/4 inch piece of nylon, some chain, and appropriate fittings and stuff on the myster anchor so we can have 8 or 9 boats together next time. Saturday was a lot of fun as the second party for Colin (like Colin Archre not Colin Powell) was there to share his birthday with us. Of course as I recall Lisa had her birthday this month, and who else? Sunday was a lazy morning, full of good food, mimosas, a ride in the dink, a look at the rudder-in-the-mud and a slow weighing of anchors and casting off. I chose to be steer and control the iron jib while Lisa, Chris, Lane and Elise brought the anchor on deck. It was pretty much a non event, I had my stern hook on my bow so I did not have to free my prop from extra line. We motored out to the bay, saw the funometer read 30 and decided to double reef. After getting that all done and the sail up, we turned the motor off and were off to the races.... Ok, we did not go fast, but the helm was light, the boat was stable and we were sailing.... As we got close to the bridge the winds died to 18 to 22, so I shook a reef out and put out a bit more jib. We short tacked under the big section of the riser part of the bridge and found ourselves on a lay line for Alameda. We checked the charts for depth and decided we were on final approach. We were going 7 to 8.6 and having a great time. We overstood the Bayfarm and had to back track 10 minutes. We got to the bridge and they opened it at 1655, five minutes to spare. We left about 1 and were tied up by 6. Not bad, considering we had current against us most of the way. We cleaned up the anchor and rode and I wanted to check out the splice and see how it had held up. Elise had done lthe splice under my tutelage, both of which are suspect. It was looking good and so I declare the stern ancho good. Thanks to all for a wonderful weekend, especially Lisa. Sam From Downwind Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 12:56:45 -0700 (PDT) Greetings, Well, after a wonderful trip to Disney land with the boys, wrecking our rental car on Harbor Blvd just blocks from Disneyland, and spending an extra day there just because, we untied our dock lines Saturday about 2:30pm and headed out under motor towards the raftup in some rather gusty wind. The direction and force had us a bit concerned as we cast off the lines, but in typical style, we did a 3 point pivot turn and were on our way... As we approached the Pete's harbor turn at the edge of Smith slough we passed Tasherana headed towards Pete's, and a hasty radio call confirmed that they were taking a more scenic rout to the cybercruise, but were willing to turn around and breath our exhaust fumes for the short motor to Westpoint slough. Once there, we were told we were not welcome at the main raft, some silly thing about dragging the raft or some such, as if.... Anyway, judging by all the bow and stern lines laying around like a spider's trap wating to ensnare our prop, we decided to move a but further up the channel and drop our own hook, a 45# plow on all chain rode. We scouted out the edges of the channel in true muddies style and dropped our mud collector at the windward edge, letting the wind blow us back to the other side of the channel as we deployed 100 feet of chain into the goo and slime, making sure it set properly. Then, sitting in 7 feet of water at high tide, voted unanimously to pull in about 25 feet which put us in 11 feet of water and off of the mud flat. Meanwhile, Tasharana was motering around and getting ready to drop thier formidable danforth and collect some south bay mud samples of their own when the wind and lee shore decided to co-operate and grab their keel, causeing them to heal some 5-10 degrees and expose ample portions of the hull for easy cleaning. Not what they had in mind, Charles launced his dinghy while I readied mine. Plans and conterplans came and went and with the tide going out, it was rather a good idea to get them off right away with the best plan possible and not try the neat things like kedging off first. We supplied a long stout line and Charles, along with our nobel crewmember, Julie Sauer, motored it back to the big T boat while DL secrued it to a winch and cleat on our end. Just then Rod and Ana showed up in their race boat and voulentered to tie their stern to the main mast halyard on Tasherana in a vain attempt at yanking thier own boat out of the water. Unfortunately all they managed to do was flop (and I do mean flop) Tasherana from her port beam to her starboard beam while Charles was winching in the afore mentioned stout line and Mary on D.L. blasted her engine at full throttle ... and what do you know.... She (Tasherana)started to move... and swivel... and turn... and pull free of the gooey gloppy gunk going gloriously. Soon all that was left in the mud was a neat track visible at low tide for all to see. Anyway, we accomplished a raft up with Charles and Stu, swinging on our two anchors in the tide and wind unlike the main raft spiderweb of anchors. All through this, Mary even had the presence of mind to snap a couple pictures of the 'rescue' effort. The rest of the raft up was typical with good food, beer, rum, and such... and great conversation and comradery with good friends... Sunday we cast off and had no problem retrieving our anchor and unlike some previous trips down here, I gahter no-one left their anchor in the mud for later retrieval. We did have one interesting encounter on the way back. We had to do a u-turn at the shallow and narrow entrance to Peninsula Marina when the large and gigantic motor vessel ahead of us got caught in the wind, or something... and bounced off of several boats just a few boat lenghts in front of us, causing damage to a couple boats on end ties on oppisite sides of the fairway. So we motored up to Pete's and back, giving them time to sort it all out so we could get by and tie up, which we did in experienced style (whew!!). Hey, these tides and currents and winds are nothing to sneeze at, but wouldn't be any the worse at at some other ahcnorages that have been left off the list for just this reason... maybe we should considere some other options and try some more daring things. I can think of some places where we might try a mass invasion on single hooks, all swinging in the tide and current like a real cruising anchorage... Or am I day dreaming?? Gotta go, I'll download the few pics we took and upload them somewhere where y'all can see them later.. later, Dragon Lady 'n Crew. From Nakia El Commodore covered the best, I'll just fill in the events of FILO (First-In-Last-Out), also known as NAKIA. We took off early from work on Friday and loaded the cooler full of beer and ice. Headed out to the slough and dropped anchor. The first words out of Linda's mouth - "We're coming out here every week end!" After a while we heard 'Ahoy NAKIA' off in the distance. A little creative rafting later and we're ready to share a cool one with the crew of INVICTUS. You know the rest until after NAKIA saw the last of the Cruisers off... I started off earlier by spending a few minutes making some shackle pulls for PELICAN and INVICTUS. They thought I was just being nice, but in reality it was to get enough twine tar on my hands so that I could get a grip on the anchor rode. The #45 plow came up easily enough, but I knew that wasn't going to be the hard part. Then we started to work on the Fortress FX-23. This anchor holds _very_ well in mud, especially after having LA pulling on it through a couple ebb tides. We managed to get the rode up and down, and cleated off. Then I figured I'd let the wind and tide do the rest. Five minutes later, the anchor came free. Or so it seemed. I pulled in another ten feet of rode when it stopped again. Another bout of grunt and pull and the anchor came free, with a big rust stain on the rode. Guess I found the wreck. We had such a fun time at the CC, I cant believe we missed so many! John From: Sam Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 Subject: Cybercruising die hards Well, for those of you who are more intelligent than I and did not sail, er motor down, the weekend was fun and memorable. This was the first real sail of FA since we moved aboard and it was a learning experience. We did some chores during the week to prepare. My brother and his wife, Chuck and Sue, came along and were real good sports considering all that we eventually went through. We shoved of about 9am. The sky had been clearing but was turning ugly. We motored out the estuary and put up the main. We put in the second reef to begin with as the wind was obviously over 20 knots. We got that done tuned it a bit and rolled out a little of the 155. We had about a 60 to 70 percent jib I figured and we were flying. Then the first drill struck. A loud bang and a flogging main... hmm, doesn't seem to have quite enough luff tension, matter of fact the halyard seems to be missing... oops... Lisa takes the helm and tacks us back and forth across the bay with the little bit of jib. Chuck and I wrestle with the sail. Lisa taught me a trick to use the sail like a hammock and fold the rest of the sail into itself then roll it up. Try that with 400 pounds of wet sail.... After 30 to 40 minutes we have the sail secured. Chuck and I are hot and sweaty and everyone else is cold and wet. Well, it is also pretty rough as the wind blows up from the south bay making for lump 3 ffoot chop, so some people are feeling queasy too. We can't go south with just the jib. No problem, let's turn on the motor. Most people retire to get warm. I start the motor, put it to 1150 rpm and the engine temprature goes to 210 and rising.... slow the engine to 1000 rmp, it stays at 200.... hmmm..... Second drill....Is the universe trying to tell me something.... should I turn back.... Somewhere in all this, Elise tells me Rod wants to know if we are going to the raft up.... I said yes, so now am I committed or should I be committed... Elise get to take the helm with her friend Lexi watching the temp like a hawl. I go below and start with the strainer.... not much flow... I ask Elise to find a place where we can turn the engine off for five minutes. When she turns the motor off, I get the top of the strainer off and look inside. Leaves and slime everywhere. Clean it out, put it back in.... Start the engine.... at 1100 rpm it settles in at 195 degrees. We head for the south bay. Rain, wind, current, low flying jets.... We get passed the bridge and hear Invictus is just leaving the creek. Good enough we mmeet them just as we turn passed buoy 2... make a note for later. We discuss what to do, decide to tie up at the not-a-fuel-dock and make it in by 3ish. Everyone comes over, we have tons of snacks then settle down for dinner.... Then the happy birthday(s) start. Chris and his 200 cupcakes... take a note Teresa likes the icing, then two ice cream cakes for Tobreth and Teresa.... More wine, beer, food, and people start to drift away. Steve and Virginia, Terri and Don, and we are just the two boats now. I go to bed to get up at 6am to take a walk... Rain starts and lasts the whole night long. Forget the walk, lets do coffee and breakfast. Great food, good company... oops its 9:30, better get stowed to sail home. Check the fuel... oh look the tank is not flat on the bottom... what do you think 5 maybe 6 gallons... hmm three gallans an hour, 7 knots per hour, 24 to 26 nautical miles to go... ooops.... drill 3.... We motor out and pull out the jib. Moderate wind, 10 kts, we are getting some pull, there is Red 2, turn toward the high part of the bridge...Chuck says we are sailing backwards... look back... red 2 turned into red 4.... good soft, sticky mud.... drill 4 Blow the sheet, start the engine, full reverse... heeling.... heeling.... heeling... straight up, we are off and we turn back to the channel. We make the real 2 and turn toward the bridge. Engine off. Going with the wind, we start sneaking the main up. Lisa takes the helm... runs deep and we get the sail half way up. Lisa heads into the wind and after 3 times, get the main up. Point right at the big span. I go below and get the GPS ground reattached and we are doing 10 knots plus over the ground. We are at the bridge, the fog lays drizzle all over our and obscures the land. Where would Coyote or Oyster Point be.... We decide to stay near the channel and sail all the way home. No wind, the fog lifts, rain starts, we get to Yerba Buena by 1:15. The current is changing and we turn and head to the estuary. We are pointing close hauled up the estuary. By Encinal we finally have to tack as the wind is now coming right down the estuary. Roll the genoa, turn on the motor, drop the main and had for Grand Marina fuel dock. We tie up ab out 3:30 and put FA away. We said we would do it, we did it, we had a great time and I don't have to go into hiding... well, I can probably show my face if I get a really good gift... Donations gladly accepted.... Great cybercruise.
