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Cheers - Bryan
Drakes Bay 2019
- Thread starter Philpott
- Start date
solosailor
New member
That would be in the SIs.... which haven't been posted yet.
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Oh well. It’s worth the try, Jan. I notice that this year the anchor light reminder is at least in RED TYPE. I hope all those full crews remember to leave their lights on for Dura Mater. I’ve learned some things about singlehanded anchoring out here in the delta but my skills may not transfer to a dark bay full of unlit boats. Be afraid, unlit boats, be very afraid.
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Another example of SSS flexibility: The Skippers Meeting was held outside last night at the Encinal Yacht Club. In the dark. No food. $10 all the beer you could drink. No SSS RC representation in Drakes Bay, but WAIT! Who is that front and center? Why, it's Rob MacFarlane with his mothership, Tiger Beetle, down from the Pacific Northwest. He and Kristen will be aboard Tiger Beetle in Drakes Bay when we arrive, so everything is copacetic. Almost like Hanalei Bay again.
Jonathan Gutoff
New member
It was a very pleasant two days. A little light but thats OK. We finished before dark and in time to visit some of the boats rafted up in Drakes Bay while the sun was shining. The race committees (BYC and Inverness YC) did a great job.
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Agreed - light wind but enough, most of the time. At first it was a bit bumpy for raft-ups but it calmed down. Mulan tied alongside for the night. Fugu tried as well, but was bouncing around too much and anchored by himself. Before dusk, Beetle-pirates launched a small boat and came alongside, carrying warm beer. I took pity and gave them cold ones to drink. After Fugu departed, I hoped another french-press equipped boat would tie on. No such luck - I had to drink instant!
As expected, Tortuga was serving fresh-baked goods (scones) Sunday morning. It was tempting enough that 3-4 boats missed the check-in deadline. Fortunately I had already eaten my sugary cereal and didn't get drawn in.
It was a very pleasant weekend!
As expected, Tortuga was serving fresh-baked goods (scones) Sunday morning. It was tempting enough that 3-4 boats missed the check-in deadline. Fortunately I had already eaten my sugary cereal and didn't get drawn in.
It was a very pleasant weekend!
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
I have a lot of nice shots, but am in the middle of an audit, so can't take the time right now to post the beauty that is Drakes Bay.
However, here is Chris on FUGU (note the little critter hanging from his stern pulpit) starting up the outboard before heading over to the city front. Monday morning he headed to the Pyrennees where he is "chasing after my wife" on a bicycle.
. Randy baked scones with fresh blueberry muffins, adjusted his long solar panel to starboard and pretended to be an Italian espresso bar, lining up the muffins. Threw me one and it was mmmmm delicious. Wish you were there. Maybe next year?
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Oh! I couldn't figure that one out! This from Pressure Drop:
Below is a report on the weekend by Michael Chammout whom was racing with one hand on his Beneteau 10r Mulan:
"This past weekend I singlehanded an overnight ocean race, the Drakes Bay Regatta... a combined race joining the Singlehanded Sailing Society and the OYRA, creating a fun mixed fleet of fully crewed boats (OYRA), shorthanders, and of course, our small merry band of kooky single handers! The race starts Saturday morning in front of Golden Gate Yacht Club... out the Gate, turn right and up around Duxbury Buoy to end in Drakes Bay about 32NM north. Everyone Anchors in the bay overnight, then retraces the route back to finish Sunday.
Mulan and myself were itchin' to race, after being on the injured reserve for the past 6 weeks.. .we had a great start, but once out in the deep blue the wind died true to predictions and it was mostly an upwind snail race in 5-8 nt's of shifty breezes.
One of the many advantages of singlehanding is that you have the opportunity to fiddle and fiddle with micro-adjustments of the sail trim and controls to eake out every little tiny micro-knot of speed, especially in a float-fest... and you can sing loudly and out of tune to the radio without annoying anyone!
I actually was doing Great.. getting notes from the Admiruna and friends that my tracking was showing me quite in the lead against others with their tracking on.. but after 5 hours and upon entering Drakes Bay I encountered a huge wind hole and bobbed around for 90+ minutes with the few other leaders, allowing the rest of the fleet to catch up! Still, had a great finish all considering.
It was quite a sight that evening with all the boats anchored in the bay... very beautiful and remote feeling. Accomplished single hander, Robert Johnston graciously allowed me to raft up with him, and we shared dinner and stories, and visited with folks going around by dinghy. The morning was misty and gorgeous in the bay.. I see why people love this race, and why Sir Francis Drake decided to stick around after landing here in 1576! Bob and I got the anchor line unwrapped from under my keel and we're off to the start! The terrific crew of Tortuga Westsail tossed me a yummy blueberry scone, and after and hour postponement we were off.. in a whopping 3 kt's of breeze, barely enough to ripple the water.
And so it went for the entire return.. over 7 hours! Having no spinnaker, I was surrendered to just enjoying the amazing warm, calm day on the ocean. Having been ocean sail racing just a few times, each in extreme conditions.. or fishing with buddies on their power boats, I've never experienced the abundance of sea life, activity, and drama in our coastal waters! I decided to just relax, witness and observe all the life and action around me most of the way back, as I realized that being alone on a sailboat quietly and gently slipping along, the animals aren't threatened and go about their normal activities allowing you to be closely present... tolerated. And boy, on such a calm warm day, were they active!
It was entertaining to watch large bait balls of sardines suddenly boiling the surface, being chased by predators below.. only to be picked off by all sorts of birds and diving pelicans from above. Several times salmon came flying straight out of the water in hungry pursuit! There were whales everywhere, probably saw 20 or so... and it was fascinating to watch them hunting in pairs, circling and herding the bait into big dense balls then methodically mowing through the ball with the poor little fish jumping madly out the water just in front of their path. Several times a whale would surface right next to Mulan and give me a curious eyeball before taking a big breath and gracefully descending. Magical, but whales have bad breath!!
Approaching the bay entrance and inside Pt. Bonita its porpoise playlandia! Dozens of them, chasing fish and seeming to be having a blast and enjoying the beautiful late afternoon. Incredibly athletic and fast.. so fun to watch! The wind picked up on approach and a couple surfed Mulan's wake for a bit..sprinting and leaping through the water taking quick breaths maybe just 10 feet behind, seeming to say faster, go faster!
Got through the Gate, met the South Tower Demon of 28 nt's of wind, but was ready this time and had a screaming finish! 1st place in my division, but I was the only one haha.. But had a great and satisfying race, placing very well overall...and an amazing experience for sure! I will practice and get my courage up to flying the spinnaker myself in the ocean next year...maybe!
Here is an awesome video by Jim Goldberg and his champion crew on Psycho Tiller, which captures the spirit of this event much better than my words!
"
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Nice job, Jan! Even without "decent southerly wind"! And with that pretty spinnaker of yours!
Tru dat! Bob gave me some good tips for singlehanding my quite-large, assym. Its been daunting to try on my own, (challenging enuf with full crew) as it's mast-head and the tack goes out on a 6 ft pole.. getting it up and trimming not so bad, but the thought of dousing gives me the heepy-jeebies.. especially in any kind of breeze or unexpected drama! I will get the nerve up and practice in the bay... there just may be a big blue kite (hopefully not all wrapped around my forestay!) chasing the fleet in the Half Moon Bay race!
m/Users/michaelchammout/Desktop/Mulan Pics/FullSizeRender-9.jpg
m/Users/michaelchammout/Desktop/Mulan Pics/FullSizeRender-9.jpg
Thanks Jackie- and first of all thanks to the RC for organizing!
DB was two beautiful days on the ocean, and I was happy that I could finish both races.I am not really that satisfied with my times, maybe I should have headed further off shore both times. Or maybe it was just that it took me longer and I got stuck in a low pressure area going up like several others. Tried the same as Psycho Tiller in the video, minus the code 0 that I do not have. Heading further downwind with the spinnaker up was not really faster to get me to Drake's Bay.
While hoisting the spinnaker I heard a blowing sound and had to jibe VERY quickly for a surfacing whale. Apart from that it was a really uneventful, sometimes slow, but very nice race up.
On the way back I put the spinnaker up right away and hugged the coast again. I have worked as as a cab driver for a couple of years so shortest distance has some appeal to me, and it allowed me to bring up the chute right away. I made ok progress, but maybe heading out would have been better.
I decided to carry my chute through the bridge. Punishment came quick: I probably lost 10 min recovering my spinnaker. Everything went well until the spinnaker sheet slipped out of the cleat, and the resulting flapping somehow triggered the snap shackle for the sheet to open (Note: upgrade snap shackles). Tried to bring the sail in to windward without success, so I had to blow the halyard and drag it in with the guy. It did get wet.
Cheers
Jan