Dave Barto, Dream Time
 

We plan to rendezvous between Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday morning at 0800. This means you could leave your home marina at about 0500 on Friday, or if schedules permit, anchor in Richardson Bay[chrt] Thursday night for a more leisurely start. A good anchorage is between channel #4 and Cone Rock. Richardson Bay is a two-three hour sail or motor trip from most of our berths. Sunset is at 2021 hr.

As always, if conditions are unsafe the cruise will be cancelled. Please remember, even if some of the Fleet feels conditions are OK for them, but you don’t, or if you’re uncomfortable about going on, you will be missed but admired for your decision to turn back. All our cruises are for enjoyment and personal satisfaction. Links to NOAA weather forecasts at the bottom of this page.

Our first stop is Drakes Bay. It's about 27 miles from the Gate, and it is usually directly upwind, so we may want to sail part way to the Farallons and then to Drakes Bay. That Bay is almost always a windward shore, which is good. There should be no large waves but it can be windy, so bring a good anchor with 35 to 50 feet (50 is better) of chain plus rope, or an all chain rode. We will spend the night there and plan to have dinner on one of the boats. Please bring something to share.

Saturday morning we sail to Bodega Bay (www.bodegabay.com). That’s about 28 miles further. If we have the usual northwest winds this can be a nice close hauled sail. We should get there by early afternoon. Be on the lookout for Bodega Rock near the beginning of the marina entrance. It’s on charts and obvious, and about a half mile south of the entrance. Just keep it well to port and the water will be deep. There is a long well marked and dredged entrance channel (channel chart, channel picture) leading to the marina. We are staying at the Spud Point Marina; here's a   marina diagram and a marina picture. Dinner Saturday evening will be in town. We have all day Sunday to explore the area or just to relax. Meal plans will be developed as we go along.

We return home on Monday. This should be a nice downwind sail. The distance is about 50 miles to the Gate. If we can maintain at least 5 knots we should be back in the Bay by late afternoon. 

Safety: You should have all the Coast Guard mandated safety equipment on board, wear life jackets with harnesses (or use a separate harness) when at sea, have jack lines rigged, and have tethers available. If you do not know what any of these are, or are not sure how to rig or use them, most chandleries can help you or you can find the information in many sailing books.

You should have at least one chart on board—number 18640, which covers the Gate to Point Arena. Chart number 18643 shows Bodega Bay and the adjacent coast in more detail.

Dave and Marietta Barto are the cruise organizers, and they have done extensive planning. To organize everything in time for the cruise they will need to know who will be going by Monday, May 19. Their phone number is 408-748-9032. Email is dbarto6107@aol.com. 

NOAA marine weather forecasts. Click on San Francisco.

Note—if you only have time to sail to Drakes Bay, please join us for that part of the cruise.

Please remember, if you’re uncomfortable about conditions anywhere on a cruise, you should stay in port even if the rest of the Fleet continues on. All cruises are for enjoyment and personal satisfaction, not danger.

Safety: You should have all the Coast Guard mandated safety equipment on board, wear life jackets with harnesses (or use a separate harness) when at sea have jack lines rigged, and have tethers available. If you do not know what any of these are, or are not sure how to rig or use them, you can find that information in most sailing books.

You should also have the appropriate charts on board and a working GPS. As usual, boat to boat communication will be on channel 72. (also Monitor Channel 16) Be sure to fly your Fleet 9 burgee.