Return: 5:00pm
Weather conditions: Overcast, windy with gusts and a little rain
Tide: High (11.?) to Low (8.?)
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 4 (Woody, Dave, Paul & Carol)
Monday was a true sailor's day. Why? Because it was the kind of day on which only someone truly hooked on sailing would be out. The previous day, and even that morning, we had had high winds with even higher gusts, and it had been raining. I expected to be the only person to show up besides Dave, and was surprised to meet Paul and Carol already there.
It really was a great afternoon for sailing. It was a bit cold, but we were all bundled up and ready for the worst. We headed toward the bridge initially. The tide was high and beginning to turn, and the wind was southerly. Even had we not wanted to reach the bridge, it would have been the direction of choice. It's best to spend the first half of any round trip fighting the elements (ie against the currents and wind). A captain is less likely to misjudge the return time that way and end up in trouble.Photo 1: Crewmates (left to right) Paul, Carol and Dave our trusty leader.
Not far outside the mouth of the harbor we saw violent splashing in the water. A seal was killing a large
fish (probably a salmon) by tossing it through the air. The water was red with blood and gulls were dancing about trying to get piece of the action. I'd never seen anything like it.It was quite gusty at the beginning of our sail, and it wasn't long before we were reefing our main (reducing the sail by shortening it). The waves were white capped and probably about 2.5'-3' from trough to crest.
Photo 2: Ominous weather. The dark grey skies cast an angry light on the water.
When it's that windy, there is plenty of heeling (tipping of the boat), and that was no different this time. Most of us enjoy the heeling to some point. It's a thrill that makes up for the lack of speed (as compared with a powerboat).
As the afternoon wore on, things calmed down, but it still looked gloomy. I think the pictures can say more about it than I can. I think this is what's called an angry sea. It looks full of malice: as though it would like nothing better than crush our boat and swallow us up. It can look this way even when the winds aren't terrible, and there is no immediate danger.
Photo 3: I was trying to capture the size of the waves in this photo. I wasn't successful.
Scientifically, I know it happens because the color of the sky has changed and the water is reflecting the gray instead of the blue. But emotionally, it can be a little unsettling, or exhilarating depending on the mood.
Anyway, it was an interesting day. We saw a large bald eagle glide slowly by looking for fish. I think it knew I could not get my digital camera ready in ti
me to take a picture because it lingered long enough for us to enjoy the site but not long enough to bother with the camera. We hove-to in order to unreef (dereef? debrief?) the sails; it had calmed down that much. I tried to perform a man-overboard rescue, but it took two tries - not good! Carol practiced some docking maneuvers and then we went in.Photo 4: Bow spray. I was trying to capture the spray coming over the bow. Again, not very successful. You can see some flecks of spray if you look very closely.
I have to mention that the best part of sailing on a day like today is that we had the water completely to ourselves. I didn't see any other boats while we were out: inside or out of the harbor.
Woody
