Guests on a Sunday Sail

Well it seems as if our October is lingering into November this year.  We took full advantage of this beautiful sailing weather and invited some crew and guests out for a day sail on Sunday.  Brett has been promising to bring his parents out sometime, ever since we met him.  This time we got them as far as the dock, but ended up with a waive as we did a lap inside the gap then headed off into the Bay.  Maybe next time...

We did however, lure some other unsuspecting souls out with us today.  Brittney's friend Krystal came along and brought her parents David and Christi.  We also had another of Brittney's classmates along, Ryan seen here at my right providing moral support.

 

Bruce put me behind the wheel for much of the early part of the sail.  This gave him the opportunity to set things like he wanted them.  I entertained the guests by explaining what was going on and what to expect.  They had many questions and I had many answers.  Amazing how one picks these things up.  I think I know enough to be dangerous and little enough to explain it in layman's terms. 

Today wasn't just an ordinary sail... It was a trial of the new (to us) jib that Bruce took delivery of this past Monday.  Our crew paid proper homage to the sail... Bruce was happy.  I think he's creating quite a lot of interest in the used sail market among our sailing friends here in CC.  Every time he finds a good sail for a fraction of the cost, he turns another sailor into a bargain shopper.

We did our usual "Hostess with the Mostest" impression today.  But this time, I had Brittney down in the galley rustling up grub.  Fitting since the guests were hers... 

Bruce completed the inspection of the new sail and got things trimmed as he liked them, then he settled down and gave the wheel to David.  He didn't even hesitate.  Took right to it and with very little instruction, did very well.  David stayed at the wheel through tacks and sail configuration changes without batting an eye.  OK, well he may have batted a little bit.  But what can you expect for a guy who is first time on the water and first time on the wheel...?

We had a completely uneventful day on the Bay, which is exactly the way we like it when we invite people out.  Our crew did a marvelous job and gained some valuable experience.  Bruce affirmed that the purchase of a used sail is a good thing.  Brittney and I  got some relaxation time away from school and work.  And I think our guests were well pleased with the experience.  All in all, a good day to have guests on a Sunday sail.

All of My October In One Weekend

Enjoy first, the conglomeration of video clips I got while we approached the Flato Cut...

Now to the story...

I've been so snowed under with work this last 4 months, I've hardly noticed that its October... the best month of the year!  The weather has been great, the temperatures comfortable, and I've been doing nothing but working and sleeping.  This weekend, the forecast was for "Sublime"... so we opted to ditch the BYC Halloween Party and go off by ourselves on the boat.

We left the slip with almost no wind... the bay was flat and nearly devoid of the merest wrinkle.  I settled in on the deck to catch up on my Lats & Atts magazines that had been stacking up on my bedside.

Our destination was Flato Cut.  We have never been there and it moved to the front of the list out of the many wonderful places there are to anchor out in our area.  The reason was, I wanted to be away from people... all people!  Just Bruce and I, and the occasional bird.

We motored all the way across the Bay.  It was my time to relax and get into "Cruiser Mode".  I forgot all of the things I need to do at work and just cleared my mind of all but enjoying the moment and the beautiful day.  As we neared our destination, we were joined by a pod of Dolphin.  You saw video of some of the best clips I was able to get.  Let me assure you, the video footage is only a pale representation of the show we got.

We did a loop to prolong our entertainment with the Dolphin, then finally motored through the cut and into the open anchorage that is Flato.  We settled in for an afternoon of decadent relaxation.  The most strenuous thing I did all afternoon was to buy a CD on i-Tunes.  There's no place I can't SHOP!  We waited for sundown with the sounds of the abundant wildlife all around as the birds settled in for the night.

Bruce fired up the grill off the stern and made some scrumptious pork loin chops while I heated up some purple hulled peas and garlic bread to go with a very nice Zinfandel.  This was our sunset.

After dinner, we snuggled down in the cockpit to enjoy nature's song as the birds prepared for the night.  We could see our City far off in the distance through the cut.  The lights began to sparkle as stars do, like intermittent sprinkling of fairy dust.  It was marvelously quiet and still. 

I was abed early, as usual.  I think I made it to 8pm, then off to the V-berth for a restful night.  The windows were partly open, the air was fresh, the night was quiet.  My sleep was punctuated only by the occasional honk of a blue heron as his sleep was disturbed by some unseen villain.

Morning came and we were up just before sunrise.  I prepared to read in bed but Bruce made me come to the cockpit if I was to get my coffee with Baileys.  Mean mean man that he is...  So I took up my red riding hood and my Kindle and received my reward. 

We lazed around until well after the sun was up.  I cooked breakfast with a bit of drama... before the eggs were done, we ran out of propane in the big bottle.  We had to search around for the adapter to connect one of the spare bottles.  But we found it and finished off our breakfast late in the morning.  By the time we had cleaned up and done a minor boat project, it was noon and time to head for reality.

 We motored back out of Flato Cut the way we had come in, hoping for a repeat performance by the Dolphin pod, but it was not to be.  We were waved off by the proprietary group of White Pelicans and other birds that we had passed coming in with little notice after the excitement from the Dolphins.  These beauties received our full attention this time. 

We began our trek back to the slip with very little wind, which turned to nearly no wind.  Bruce was on the verge of starting the engine when I asked him "why?"... to which he replied, "you're right!".  We were moving in the right direction, although very slowly... but we were in paradise.  So, we inched along for a while.  Very gradually, the winds came up and our speed increased.  It wasn't until we neared the Gap back on our home side of the Bay that there was enough going on to warrant the need for manning the wheel.  Then it was a fun romp for home.  We docked and tidied up, loaded our gear for home and the weekend was over.  I had packed my whole October into one weekend, for tomorrow... it's November!

My Harvest Moon Experience...

By now, anyone paying attention to what's going on in my life, knows that work has been my primary focus for months... So there's no need to remind the reader here that I was unable to join my husband and friends on this year's Harvest Moon Regatta.  This is something that I was quite unhappy about and spent the week pining and yearning to be off playing instead of stuck at my desk.  When Friday came 'round, I left work at 3pm and loaded the car with the necessary gear, and headed to Port A to check into our rented home for weekend. By bedtime, I had finished laying in groceries and  had collected Bruce and friend, Chuck from the CC Marina and brought them both back to the Condo to fall into bed.  These were two very tired boys.  I had committed to be at the Port A Marina to serve as volunteer for the first (Annual?) BYC breakfast for the Harvest Mooners.  It was still dark when we started serving at 7 am.

We had plenty of volunteers and we all had a great time.  Business was kind of slow at first, but who is up early after sailing in the conditions we had this year for the race.  It was high winds and high seas and I doubt many of the sailors had much, if any sleep along the way.  So we manned our posts and waited until our customers woke up with taquitos ready!

Brittney volunteered with me, which had Matt grumbling about being up so early on a Saturday!  Bruce and Chuck came along for moral support, but they were still very tired and pretty much just hung out.  We had plenty of help anyway.  It was really good to see Chuck.  I love that guy!

Well, Bruce took Chuck to the airport leaving me at the marina to begin the lunch shift, but we had more volunteers show up for that, so I was just a spectator.  Bruce picked me up and we went back to the Condo for lunch and a nap.  We all reconvened at the Marina in the late afternoon when the official Harvest Moon Party kicked off!

It was fun listening to the stories from the racers.  We had several Club Members who participated.  There was some worry about Starfish, who had turned back to put in at Freeport in the night after experiencing some mechanical difficulties.  But all is well so no worries.  Nothing a little money can't fix. 

We all enjoyed the bottomless drinks supplied by Bacardi.  We met some of the racers from other Clubs and generally had a great time. There was a BBQ Dinner, which was OK, but then BBQ isn't really my thing anyway... Bruce liked it. 

Then on to the awards.  There were over 200 boats in this race.  There were countless "classes", which all had 3 awards.  We milled around for EVER before things got interesting and they began announcing the winners for the classes we had friends in. 

The BYC bunch and other local CC boats were well represented in the awards.  It was fun hearing the names called out for boats we know.  Everyone was excited for the winners and even more so knowing what a harrowing time they all had out there.  I was somewhat melancholy about the whole thing.  I would have loved to have gone, but in hindsight, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the sail... but then here I am, left out of the afterglow... the camaraderie, the having-made-it-through-it'edness that my friends and husband were now enjoying.  Oh well, I'm very happy for all of them.  SeaFlight got 3rd place in their class.  Brenda was ecstatic!  I watched and took pictures of it all and hoped that my employer has some little appreciation of the sacrifice I made in not going on the race.  Next year, I'll be out there!  Congratulations to all of my friends who did so well and made CC Bay area sailors proud!