Hideaway from a distance

I finally got a distance photo from a friend as we motored by. I really am looking forward to having a friend with a drone capture us sailing in the Bay, but that's quite a bit to ask so for now, this one will do.

Bilge worries

I realized that I'm doing more posting about where we went and who was on board, and part of the reason I wanted to blog about Hideaway was to document my learning process. 

Last week, when we went aboard, the bilge was full of water. Definitely salty so couldn't have been from the modest rain we had earlier in the week. It definitely has me a little worried. I'm going to go check on her tomorrow and no plans to take the boat out this weekend. 

I think it's just that the fuses had flipped on the boat. That may be because of dirty shore power or an overload of some type. I really don't know. 

But I left the boat getting power working again and tested the bilge to ensure it was in working order when I closed up for the week. So fingers crossed all is well. 

Even more practice

I like this every Sunday cadence for more sailing practice. I am learning by doing, although I definitely still want the structured classes at Tradewinds I have on credit but not yet scheduled.  

Great day and decent winds. I kept the diesel on in case and that may sound wimpy but until I'm confident in my sailing skills, it actually proves useful. Like when the Oakland ferry or a barge has right of way in a narrow part of the channel. I could heave to and wait but putting it in gear and pulling forward gets us out of the estuary faster. 

Once we made it out into Bay, we were heeling significantly and my kid was not at all comfortable. But she stuck it out by digging fingernails into her auntie. Better her than me. 

Overall a good day and good company. Our nephew joined us for the first time, too, and proved to be good crew. 

A little more practice on a sunny day

Last Sunday, my daughter and I were joined by our friends, and my salty dog sailing mentor, my wife's uncle. A beautiful day. We motored out the estuary and it always takes an hour to get to a sail worthy location where it widens by Coast Guard Island. Then I worked the port winch and Uncle Salty the starboard one, while my buddy took the wheel. The wind was modest at best. We only sailed for a half hour or so, but we navigated around a container ship being tugged in a circle to turn around. I took the wheel as we squeezed by, and I learned one important lesson. That tug boat prop wash will slide a 35' sailboat sideways 10' in a heartbeat. We were pretty close to a NOAA ship in dry dock, but bough room to maneuver around. 

Then we returned, sealed up the boat, and went to Quinn's Lighthouse restaurant and bar. A bit of a wind (ironically) meant it was chilly on the upstairs balcony. But the food and company was good. A fun day.