Its been awhile since I last posted and a lot has happened since then.  Fortunately, Brenda has been doing a much better job of keeping up.  We are currently anchored in the Napa river.  So far, the majority of our experience in San Francisco has been in and around the Napa river.  Here is a synopsis of our trip up to Napa.

After our ping-pong drive around southern California last month, we were very happy to be once again aboard Mahdee.  The next morning, we planned to throw off the dock lines and head north to anchor in San Pablo bay.  Every sail and journey on the bay is dominated by considerations of the tides, currents and lastly the wind.   We needed high tide to safely exit the narrow marina channel and we wanted low winds so we wouldn’t be blown out of the channel.  Those criteria meant a morning departure.  We timed our departure to the tide charts, but the wind is rarely cooperative.  That left us departing with a stiff cross wind and since our arrival in the Brisbane Marina, a large power boat had tied up next to Mahdee leaving little maneuvering room.  We lined out Mahdee as far as possible to minimize the time she needed to be broadside to the wind while backing out of the slip.  Further, there was a cement seawall just behind Mahdee in the narrow fairway.  It wasn’t clear which way Mahdee would want to turn once in the fairway.  Brenda and I briefed both ways.  Either way would require Brenda, who manned the helm, to turn Mahdee 180 degrees in short order to be pointed out of the little harbor before we came up against another cement seawall.  We left the fenders deployed.  They were not needed because Brenda efficiently spun Mahdee around and powered her out into the tight, narrow channel.

Once clear of the cement seawalls, I lowered Mahdee’s bowsprit and set the running bobstay in preparation for setting sail.  This being San Francisco, and without a third crew member, Brenda and I had decided to set a double reef in the mainsail and not set the jib but rather sail with staysail, foresail, and mainsail.  We briefly considered setting the reef in the foresail, but decided not to.  It wasn’t long after hoisting the sails when we wished we had reefed the fore.  It was still morning and the wind was blowing strong.  Instead, we eased the peak halyard on the gaff rigged fore when the winds were strongest.

At first all we saw was one other sailboat motoring north.  The AIS indicated that one of the anchored super tankers was moving faster than an anchored boat should be and before too long, we were able to pick out the tanker that had weighed anchor.  A collision was possible, so we luffed up to see what the tanker would do.  It kept turning towards us so we backed the staysail and fell off on a port tack broad reach that took us behind the big ship.  Once well clear, we came up into the wind and passed under the bay bridge.  Looking back, the tanker went in a complete circle and seemed to be dropping anchor again.  Either it was training day, or their anchor was dragging in the stiffening breeze.

In the main bay we could see a big schooner sailing in the distance, and another couple of smaller sail boats with no sails up.  Then there were the ferries.  These things fly.  At over 30 knots, you have to keep a sharp eye out because they can appear out of nowhere.  Once north of Angel island, we saw some more sailing vessels, some sailing like Mahdee, and most heading for Raccoon Strait while the currents were low.  The winds had died down and we wondered whether they would pick up again.  In any event, we left the mainsail with its double reef and sailed comfortably towards San Pablo Bay with gradually increasing head currents from the tides.  We made good time and buzzed the “sisters,” a couple of rocks near to our planned anchorage.  It would have been very frustrating to try to get any closer to our destination in Napa with the tides ebbing and currents running fast in the opposite direction.  Instead, we had a relaxing afternoon with our only concern having to do with the winds and our southerly exposure and the possibility that at low tide we would hit bottom.  We had read of one person in this anchorage sticking in the bottom and spending several days working his boat free.  One thing for sure, Mahdee swung around her anchor according to the tides and the wind blew fairly hard on her beam with no effect–On the ebb it blew on her port and on the flood, it blew on her starboard.

The next day’s journey required us to weigh anchor at first light so that we would have moderate flood tides as we approached the Carquinez strait, and would be navigating the Napa river in the morning when winds are typically lowest.  Given the restricted navigation of the area and the dynamics of river travel we decided not to set any sails and just motor.  This was our first river adventure aboard Mahdee and we were happy to have a big NOAA paper chart of the Napa river along with descriptions of many hazards.  Despite those preparations we knew that we were going to need all of our navigation skills.  We had some excitement avoiding a 35 knot ferry right at the Napa river entrance.

Soon after the ferry landing is a highway bridge that must open for Mahdee.  We had been told that the bridge operator is there at 9AM but we were arriving a little early.  We didn’t expect an answer on the phone, but the friendly operator was there and told us to expect a 9AM opening.  The winds were much stronger than expected and almost 90 degrees to the Mare Island Strait, so we crabbed along almost sideways as slow as we could go.  We took note as we passed a 100 foot plus sail boat that was surprisingly anchored there.  The bridge opened on schedule and we passed under our first draw bridge.

The winding Napa river is beautiful with reeds along the banks.  The difficulty is that much of the river is less than a foot deep and the muddy waters make it impossible to see where the main channel lies.  Brenda and I have spent many years canoeing in rivers so we were able to use those skills to help us read the river.  Still it was nice to have a gps position plotted on my little Nokia N810.  The NOAA chart was a little blurry at the scale we were interested in, but the details were visible.  Channel marker 7 is the dangerous one.  In the wide water, Brenda who was navigating, called out 5 and 10 degree course changes and the water under our keel didn’t go less than 20 feet until well around the big sweeping left-hand turn when it dropped to 9 feet approaching marker 9.  At marker 11 we turned back to the right and the banks of the river closed in until the channel center was obvious.  I handed the helm over to Brenda so that I could ship the bowsprit so that the boat would be easier to handle in the close confines of the Napa Valley Marina.  No sooner than I had gone forward when a boat stopped right under the upcoming railroad bridge and started to pull something out of the water.  The channel was blocked by them and the wind was again blowing 90 degrees to the channel so we were running out of options.  It turned out to be a fishing net and they zipped out of the way just in time.  Then they stood by and stared as I winched up the bowsprit which stands about 17 feet above the deck when fully shipped.

The narrow Napa Valley Marina entrance was right around the corner and we were careful to make a sharp 90 degree turn in the channel and cross their bar dead center.  We had been told to tie up near the haulout ramp in the far back of the marina and as we approached the end of the basin, neither Brenda nor I though there was room back there for anything, let alone a haulout ramp.  There was a small gap between a dock with a sea plane and an endtied trimaran at the end of a covered dock that block all view around the corner.  I leaned over the bow to try and catch a glimpse that we were going to the right place.  The wind was way too high for comfort, but Brenda kept a nice easy pace and I was able to see that there was a small dock at the end of a very, very narrow fairway.  Brenda decided that since we were probably going to hit things, she would point towards the muddy bank ahead and keep close to the trimaran since it would be cheaper than hitting the sea plane.  I came aft with a big fender as she swept the bow inches from the mud bank around the turn.  My fender wasn’t needed since we had several inches to spare from the trimaran.

We crabbed up the narrow fairway with the wind blowing on our beam and off of the dock that we needed to get onto.  The stern of Mahdee was only feet away from the boats in the covered docks to her lee.  There was only one chance to get onto the dock–anything else was going to be ugly and costly.  The shore was lined with boats on stands where their owners were working away.  The work stopped and the eyes all turned towards that big schooner in that tight fairway with a crosswind blowing off the dock.  Brenda tweaked her crab with a few big thrusts of power from the Cummins engine.  I climbed over the forward starboard rail and onto the rubrail while holding onto the fore-shrouds.  Mahdee’s starboard bow cleared the dock by inches and I stepped off the rail and onto the dock.  I took a wrap on a cleat and Brenda swung Mahdee’s rudder around and gave the Cummins a quick pulse of power that swung her stern towards the dock as the bowline came tight.  Meanwhile I walked aft and casually took Mahdee’s stern line and bent over and cleated it down as Mahdee came to a perfect stop up against the dock with two lines set.  The audience was no doubt disappointed in the show, but never have Brenda and I been so happy with Mahdee.  She arrived in style.  And, Mahdee was ready to be hauled out so that her bottom paint could be touched up, a black boot-stripe added and her topside paint could be redone so that on relaunch she looked as good as she performs.

We have some friends who live on their boat and during their preparations for cruising, they had the goals of always being within 1 hour of setting sail and of taking at least one sail a week.  Those are great goals!  For those not living on a boat, they might even seem like easy goals.  I can assure you that they are not easy.  We would really like to achieve the same goals and although we get closer every day, we still have a way to go.  When our dear cat Beamer passed away, we determined that he deserved a burial at sea.  That required an off-shore passage that would get us at least 12 nautical miles from land; any closer and the law would require us to grind up poor Beamers body before the burial–and than was not acceptable.

This is winter and surprisingly San Diego has been having some pretty impressive storms, so we started looking at the forecasts.  Without refrigeration or embalming, time is of the essence for a burial, so Tuesday looked like our best bet.  The interior and stowage of gear was not, however, ready for the kind of weather we could experience this time of year.  We have been making steady progress on gear stowage, but there was still a significant amount of loose stuff.  I spent Sunday putting in fiddle-rails and restraint bars that Brenda had designed for holding much of the remaining gear. That gave us some hope of securing our remaining unsecured belongings.  I had an external commitment Monday, but Brenda worked tirelessly the whole day cleaning the boat and securing stuff using the new bars and lots of cargo netting.

After an early start Tuesday, we worked most of the morning securing stuff outside including getting the deck as clear as possible.  We got underway around 10 am.  Morning winds are generally light in San Diego, so we planned to motor-sail to the bay entrance.  This was especially useful since we had head-winds most of the way and motor sailing really helped us make progress on the 15nm track to bay entrance/exit.  As soon as we were out of the bay and in the Pacific ocean, we shut off the motor and had a nice sail in moderate winds.  Since Mahdee had never been as ready for a potentially rough ocean passage, we remarked on the irony that the seas were incredibly calm–calmer than any previous time we had taken Mahdee out of the bay. We had a nice ceremony and then proceeded to Mission Bay, north of San Diego Bay, where we planned to stay for three nights.

Our projects in Mission Bay demonstrate the challenge of staying within an hour’s preparation of setting sail.  Our current rigging goal is getting the gaff foresail ready.  I count the need for 18 properly positioned blocks with associated lines before that sail will go up.  We have been building new blocks as well as refurbishing old blocks and we collected the shells of about a dozen for final sanding so that Brenda could varnish them.  She strung them up on a life line on the port bow.  The gaff spar needed a crack glued and some sanding so that it could be varnished too.  It was strung up on the starboard bow lifeline.  Another rail for securing stuff below needed varnishing.  It ran along the centerline of the foredeck from stem to almost the foremast.  All the varnish stuff was as far forward as possible so that the wind blowing off our bow would blow any saw dust aft.  I worked on mounting the fore boom outhaul track and winch.  That required drilling long holes in the boom amidships–creating the saw dust that needed to blow aft to stay away from the wet varnish.  Most of the long bolts that used to secure this equipment were destroyed to remove the hardware while in the boat yard.  So, in the cockpit, I had a vice set up with propane torch and hammer to forge 1/4 inch diameter bronze rod into flathead screws of the appropriate length.  That process also required my band saw and belt sander and threading dies.   Then back amidships, bedding compound, clamps, bit and brace, wrenches, and hammers where used on the newly forged bolts to install the winch and outhaul track.

At the end of every day, we try to secure most of the tools and supplies.  Friday was our planned departure from Mission Bay.  We planned to work most of the day and then leave late and get back to San Diego bay long after dark.  The forecast was calling for some weather on Saturday but we would beat it.  Some time after midnight Thursday night, Brenda rechecked the weather and it now called for a small craft advisory with wind gusts to 30 knots starting 1000 Friday morning with southerly winds that would be right on our nose–we had had northerly winds on our nose during the Tuesday sail to Mission Bay, so it was only appropriate that we would have head winds during our return too.  Technically, we could probably have stayed in Mission Bay, but we decided to get underway first thing in the morning at low slack tide.  It was amazing how soon we were ready to go.  In no time, the boat was secured below and on deck and we had sails up before heading out of the channel.  We left the motor on–just in case–until we cleared the channel entrance.  It was by far our best sail ever on Mahdee.  The winds were very strong and on the nose, but we made the San Diego channel on two tacks–port tack out of Mission Bay, and starboard tack to the bay entrance channel.  With three of Mahdee’s four lower sails, we were making as high as 9 knots on the gps.

Once in the San Diego bay entrance channel, we found ourselves on a pure run for the first time.  The narrow channel made any other point of sail impossible.  The new main sheets where the perfect length.  We had to gibe twice to follow the channel all the way to our anchorage in La Playa cove.  These were our first gibes and Brenda was at the helm and nervous.  There was lots of hauling in of sheets to bring the six-to-one sheeted boom to centerline.  The gibe was very positive in those winds, but other than a very strong tendency to round up until the sheets let the boom out, it was uneventful.  The scream of the all the main sheet blocks as the boom swung out after the gibe was great!  We hit the starter button on the Cummins engine as we entered La Playa and headed up into the wind to drop the sails.  The anchor was set in a back corner of the cove and we had the deck secured just as the first significant rain started to fall.  What a great day!  A wonderful sail and we demonstrated progress on our goal of being ready to sail away from Southern California.
Spray off Mahdee’s bow:

A nice winter day’s sail:

After our week of trials, we had the opportunity to hank on the jib and take Mahdee out for some sailing.  We anchored just outside of our marina where we could take our time and figure out how we wanted to rig the jib and all the associated lines–uphaul, downhaul, tack, sheets…  By the time we had the jib fully rigged and the main and stay sail ready to raise, the wind was starting to blow.  Moments earlier, we had the idealistic notion that we would sail off of anchor, but then the wind shifted around 180 degrees and was now blowing in a direction that would take us right into the marina mooring field if anything went wrong.  So, we fired up the Cummins and I started up the windlass.  To keep mud out of the chain locker, we have a weighted brush which scrubs the chain as it comes up and I spray the chain clean with the salt water wash-down–normally cleaning the chain just as fast as the windlass can pull it up.  By now, however, the wind was blowing so hard that the salt water sprayer would only get five feet before the spray was turned around and blasted right back into my face.  Because the chain was coming up as a mud snake, despite the underwater scrubber, I could only bring up about five feet at a time.  I would blast the mud off the five feet of chain nearest the bow where it went through a hawse pipe.  Once that was clean, I would bring up five more feet and repeat.  My glasses were covered in salt spray so that I could hardly see and the fore deck was slick with mud and salt water.  Brenda patiently waited at the helm until the anchor broke out, which we knew to have happened when we started blowing towards the marina.  She powered up to keep us in position until at last, I had the the chain clean and stowed.

It was now time to start hoisting sails.  With Mahdee pointed into the wind, we could have first raised the main, but we decided to start with the jib since this was the first time for that sail.  That way, if anything went wrong, we could just deal with that one sail.  It went up great, but the luff was not straight.  As expected, the bowsprit bobstay needed some more tension.  We eased the jib halyard and sheets and I ran the running bobstay line around the windlass and cranked it tighter than we have ever had it.  We re-tightened the halyards and the luff was now straight.  With the jib working great, we put up the main sail and then the staysail and shut off the engine.  We were sailing for the first time with three sails!

Below, hoisting the jib for the first time!

One of the great reasons to start our work ups in San Diego is that the winds are generally very consistent and the harbor protects from large ocean swells.  This day was perfect for getting to know Mahdee’s sailing qualities.  After each of our previous sails, we learned what works and what needed improvement.  This was also our first sail with the full six-to-one mainsheet purchase.  In addition to testing the configuration of the mainsheet, we were also looking for the best route for the jib sheets.  We tried a couple of places for snatch blocks to lead the jib sheets back to the jib winches.  Just inside the fore-most main shroud worked well.  The lead was a little too far aft in general, but we could fix that with a lizard line attached to the mooring cleat just aft of the break-deck.

A big part of our excitement about this day’s sail was that we expected that the jib and staysail should balance the main sail and provide a balanced sail plan.  Previously, without the jib, the main grossly overpowered the staysail moving the center of sail effort too far aft, and sailing with only the staysail put the center of sail effort too far forward.  As it turns out, we could use a bigger jib.  I am sure we have one, but this jib did a fine job.  We could trim up the sails and go in a straight line with the rudder centered.  Fantastic!

Jib and staysail both up!

Tacking was a little tricky.  Before coming through the wind, the main boom needed to be raised to clear the boom gallows.  I don’t remember if we mentioned this before, but Mahdee has a “drooper.”  We have been told that in the 1960’s the racing rules allowed a sail to be over large in such a way that the boom dropped lower without any penalty to the boat’s handicap.  The family that owned Mahdee in the 1960’s were into racing, and to make Mahdee a competitive racer, she needed every crutch available–and then some.  For some reason, Mahdee’s subsequent owners kept that “racing” sail geometry.  Raising the boom can be done by either hauling on the topping lift, or on the reefing line.  The former scandalizes the entire sail, destroying its aerodynamic shape and thereby moves the sail center of effort forward.  This causes the boat to want to fall off, just when you want to come up through the wind to tack.  Hauling on the first reef line keeps the sail shape good above the reef point, but puts more stress on the sail.

We were taking advantage of the large south bay to experiment with sail trim and maneuvering.  Early on in our experiments, we were on a reach heading towards the bay bridge.  A 25 foot Catalina coming the other way down the channel turns to a collision course with us.  We see this and note that he is on a starboard tack which means that we are obliged to avoid him.  Our first thought is to fall off and go behind him, but the helm doesn’t let us turn–the main sail won’t allow it.  We could let out the main and probably fall off successfully, but we decide that we need to tack.  About that time, the skipper of the little boat starts yelling that HE is on the starboard tack and by implication will not turn.  I run forward to the main mast with the winch handle and start cranking on the topping lift.  Brenda starts turning us.  The other skipper keeps yelling that he has right of way.  I run back to the cockpit to start handling lines there.  Fortunately, the running backs are both pulled forward, so we don’t need to handle them during the tack.  Mahdee came through the wind just fine.

A friend of ours has a nice little gaff rigged Atkins cutter.  He won’t sail in the San Diego bay except maybe in the middle of the week when nobody else is out.  Since the bay is a very nice place to sail, we didn’t understand him until now.  His boat has a hard time coming about.  Mahdee seems to come about OK, but it is a lot of work.  The skipper of that 25 foot Catalina could have twitched his tiller arm and avoided a collision, but for some reason he wanted to assert his right of way with us.  We will probably try to time our future sails for week days.

Other than that little event, the sail was fabulous.  Some Navy Yacht Club San Diego friends sailed by in Sorcery and shouted encouragement.  Mahdee handled much as expected.  The biggest thing that we learned was the critical role the main sail plays in steering.  If you really needed to turn, someone needed to be working the main sail sheets in addition to the rudder.  The opposite could also happen.  Once, while tracking nicely with centered rudder on a reach, some little wave or gust started Mahdee turning up into the wind.  No amount of rudder would stop her and we stalled in irons.  I ran forward and pushed the stay sail boom out to port so that it would back wind.  That slowly brought Mahdee’s bow out of irons.  In hind sight, I think the main was slightly over sheeted and when she turned up into the wind, the main drew more and more, bringing the center of effort further and further aft.  A great learning experience to have in the wide open bay.

The only point of sail we didn’t try was that of a full run.  The main sheet was a little too short which prevented us from letting the boom all the way out.  That coupled with the preventer padeye not having all of its bolts yet meant that the boom would have been at risk for a gibe and since the boom wouldn’t clear the boom gallows without the topping lift action mentioned above, there would be a big risk of damage.  The brisk wind had us crisscrossing the south bay faster than we had ever experienced.  Of course our previous sailing experiences in the south bay were all on smaller boats.  Never-the-less, the speed was exciting and kept us tacking.  In these winds, Mahdee had no trouble tacking, but I was kept very busy running forward to crank up the boom and back to tack the jib sheets and then forward to drop the boom back down.  Then, since we were often tacking to a different point of sail than a reach, re-trimming everything for beam reaches or broad reaches.

Soon, the sun was dropping and it was time to head to our place for the night–the Glorietta bay anchorage.  That involved some short-tacking up the main channel to avoid a shoal.  We weren’t quite confident enough to do that so close to the Naval security zone without the Cummins engine on.  The engine is like having an extra boost in the main sail.  When we got to the Glorietta bay channel, we fell off to a reach.  This bay itself is rather small.  We witnessed an exciting moment that another schooner had after sailing into the bay last forth of July.  They ran out of room and had sail problems.  We doused the jib early and by coordinating the drop of the halyard with Brenda at the sheets, we kept the sail in the bowsprit netting.  A big relief.  Next was the big main.  It came down just after we turned the corner into the bay and were pointed up wind.  I was able to get the main strapped to the boom so that it didn’t cover the entire cockpit and block all visibility forward.  The stay sail came down easily and we were ready to anchor in the tight little anchorage.  We dropped the anchor and just had time to tidy up the boat and get the sail cover on the main before it was dark.

A perfect day.  From anchor in the morning, sailing all day to anchor in the evening.  It was just the kind of day that I thought we would have while learning how to handle Mahdee.  Over the next days, we would make several changes based on our experiences this day.  We modified the staysail boom bail block, changed the staysail and mainsail sheets, repositioned the mainsail outboard sheet blocks, and jib sheet turning block attachment points.  Our next big rig objective is to get the gaff fore sail rigged.  But since the last sail was so much fun,  maybe we will take Mahdee out for another sail first.