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.

Lets do the Encinal Mudslide!

Ensign Erik and I decided to take the Epic out for an afternoon float this Saturday. It was additionally decided that we were totally bored with the Oakland Estuary and that it was time to investigate the Encinal Boat Ramp on the opposite side of Alameda Island. This would allow us to bypass the Estuary Channel and be directly on the bay with less traffic.

Having not yet towed the boat legally on the road it took us some time to demast and rig for highway duty. During this process I somehow cut my right thumb. I think the souls of sailors lost were trying to tell me something, a warning perhaps. We drove across the island by way of major thoroughfares and arrived at the Encinal Boat Ramp around 330pm. The Encinal ramp really is an ideal place to launch except for a couple of minor issues we were unprepared for. Number one, there is no dock whatsoever; only three derelict pylons remain were there was once a dock. And two, the tide was very low.

Along the rocks near the ramp was a rather good sized Leopard Shark which had landed there and died. Another sign perhaps? Who was it who said, "Never launch a boat from a ramp with a dead Leopard Shark next to it." I can't remember.

Unsure as to whether or not this was our day to sail, we decided to crack open a couple of beers and think it over. We exchanged strategies over the best way to perform a dockless launch etc and came to the agreement that we should proceed. It would be a good learning experience and we like beer.

I drove the boat down the ramp as Ensign Erik walked her into the water. At the appropriate stopping point and much to our dismay, the trailer was still almost completely above the water. There was only about a foot of water or less to work with. Nonetheless we were determined to sail. Erik unhooked the boat and gave her a few good heaves until she slid off the trailer and into the water. The P15 has a nice shallow draft so the low tide wasn't a problem... yet.

Erik stood in the water holding the boat while I parked the car. When done, I climbed aboard and fired up the engine. Erik climbed aboard and off we went in full reverse. I somehow lost control of the motor while in reverse and unintentionally pulled the most bad-ass 360 degree whip around I have ever seen a small sailboat do. As were were now pointing towards the bay - off we went. We motored out a ways, raised the sails and basically nothing happened. No wind to speak of so we just sat there floating. We drank a couple more beers and talked as we watched the sunset over the SF Bay. It actually was a beautiful and peaceful experience.

Just before dark we motored back to the ramp. In anticipation of low tides we raised the keel and discussed our retrieval maneuvers. Then about 50 feet from the ramp we came to a halt in the mud. There was almost zero water to float us back to the ramp. This prompted some interesting discussion complete with many colorful metaphors. Erik proposed that we motor around the island to the Grand Street ramp then somehow retrieve the car. I vetoed this option as it was terribly unsafe to navigate in the dark. Then Erik suggested that we tie the boat up overnight and camp on it. I decided this was a last option as I don't fancy sleeping here in this smelly muck. And so, we disembarked and tried pushing the boat through the mud. It was nearly impossible. I then went to get the car and devised a new plan. I backed the trailer as far as I could without getting the car stuck. We then rigged a dockline to the trailer winch and let the winch strap all the way out. we proceeded to slowly winch the boat across the mud. It took about four or five total winch strap lengths to get the boat to the trailer. From there we employed the Dilly tilting trailer feature and winched to boat on with not too much hassle. We did it. I drove the rig off the ramp and we celebrated our genius.

Then we found a new problem. None of our trailer lights worked. The brakes and turn signals were fine but no running lights. It was after dark and there was no way I was going to risk getting pulled over. In my experience no matter what the cause, a run-in with Johnny Law is always very expensive and inconvenient. Fortunately Ensign Erik proved himself worthy and discovered a loose wire. Using duct tape, he fixed the problem and we were once again saved.

We towed the boat back to the yard at the Alameda Marina. We washed and scrubbed the mud off of Epic and finished the remainder of our beer. We drove home to the City where enroute I decided that Erik deserved a promotion for his genius with the electrical problem. He is now Midshipman Erik. Once home Midshipman Erik made us spaghetti.