We've moved from Pennsylvania to the San Francisco Bay area of California. The new cruising grounds are very different from other places we've sailed. In the summer, the winds are consistent and strong, usually from North West. Contrast that to the erratic, unpredictable weather in the Gulf of Mexico coast of Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana. Mostly light breeze in Colorado. Steady prairie winds in Nebraska. Flukey flat or storm in the Chesapeake Bay. Crazy North Carolina outer banks.
Our first outing was to Tomales Bay, just north of San Francisco in Marin County. This is a 20 mile crack in the coast of California formed where the San Andreas Fault meets the Pacific Ocean. Each year the Sacramento River chapter of the Traditional Sail Craft Association meets for a weekend in Tomales Bay. We met some great people, ate some good food and got to sample Pacific weather under the very controlled conditions of the sheltered bay.
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| Wren on the beach |
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| A beautiful Egret replica |
On Sunday afternoon after the gathering had broken up, we decided on an upwind sail to the mouth of the bay and possibly into the Pacific. The mouth has a reputation for nasty swells during an ebb tide and I decided pretty early on that we wouldn't attempt the bar crossing. We made it all the way to the edge where we were met with a stationary wall of fog. It was an eery thing to sail in and out of the wall.
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| The wall of fog |
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