Best Sail of the Year.

Saturday was probably the best day of sailing the Epic has seen. I checked the SF Sailing website for conditions -Winds 10-20mph and tides high during daylight hours.

On our way to pick up the boat, Erik and I stopped in at West Marine Oakland to buy some new bungee cords. Upon entering, we were greeted by WM employees having a party. It was that store's 30th anniversary so they had snacks, drinks, and cake. We were then coerced into entering into a drawing for prizes. Both of us won a West Marine Logo tote bag - perfect for an old lady on a cruise ship. We also scored a couple bottle openers and a small West Marine Logo inflatable beach ball. One would think we could win something one could actually use on a boat but oh well, we can't complain.

We launched at the dock-less Encinal Ramp about 230pm. The tides were high and we had no trouble launching - except when Midshipman Erik accidently let go of the bow while I was starting the engine. Epic drifted over and hit the rocks. There was no damage so I just reminded Erik to NOT EVER LET GO OF THE BOAT WHEN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HOLDING IT! We'll skip the court martial this time.

We headed out onto the bay. We had ample wind until about 4pm when it died except for intermittent gusts. We had hoped to go under the Bay Bridge but it didn't look likely to happen given the time of day and our rate of speed.

We saw very few other craft out and were quite content sailing by ourselves in what I think is the quietest place in the whole bay area. We drank a couple beers and and entertained ourselves by quoting "The Life Aquatic" and "Hunt For Red October." We then got the genius idea to inflate our new West Marine Logo beach ball and hoist it aloft - in honor our good fortune at the West Marine Store earlier that day. This idea was abandoned however, as I did not want the hoisting of the ball aloft to be interpreted as some sort of distress signal. Instead we floated the ball aft of us on a dock line like a sea drogue. We thought it was really funny at the time. Future note: get portable speakers for an ipod so that we may have other entertainment besides Sean Connery impersonations.

We returned to the ramp about 5pm and there was still ample water. Retrieval of the boat went well. I think that maybe the trailer was a little too submerged as the boat floated around much and wouldn't center on the trailer. No matter, we just muscled it on and we were good to go. I would have preferred to not get my feet wet in the absolutely frigid water but oh well.

We warmed up in the car for a few minutes and headed for the boat yard. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised to see a parade of boats in the estuary all decorated with Christmas lights. It was so amazing and cool. I really wish we had known about this event as I would have jumped at the opportunity to participate in the parade. Maybe next year.

Midshipman Erik and I stopped for Mexican Food on the way home.

I'm am so glad the Potter 15 is my current boat. I have never had this much fun in my MacGregor 24 Just too much size and hassle sometimes.