The Atomic saves the day(light)

[Greg]

Yesterday my Son & I decided to spend the day on the Bay watching the "Three Bridge Fiasco" Race .. as our boat is not quite ready for racing yet. I new there was a real wicked afternoon ebb but we figured at slack there was just enough wind to poke out the Golden Gate .. spin around and skirt the Marin shoreline ahead of the tide back in. All went as planned until the breeze softened as we turned to come in. Even with our 150% Genoa we were crabbing out to sea already. Well, I've been through this drill a number of times and the only fix is time for the tide to turn (lots of it) or some motor sailing to get back through pronto. We chose the later.
At that moment, I must admit .. I had a real appreciation for this forum and all the hours & dollars I put into the little A4. She did us proud .. without a hiccup

We motor sailed back thru the Gate off Fort Baker without event then made the expected slow progress sailing back through Raccoon Straits home. Gave me allot of new confidence in the old mill.

Regards, Greg

Here's what I referred to as wicked

San Francisco Bay Entrance (Golden Gate), California Current
37.8167° N, 122.4833° W
2010-01-30 06:59 PST 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins
2010-01-30 09:56 PST 3.64 knots Max Flood
2010-01-30 12:49 PST -0.01 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2010-01-30 16:04 PST -5.76 knots Max Ebb
2010-01-30 17:31 PST Sunset
2010-01-30 18:32 PST Moonrise
2010-01-30 19:53 PST 0.01 knots Slack, Flood Begins

[Administrator]

Hi, Greg:

The boat must have been perfectly trimmed. Look at your son's light touch on the wheel in the photo!

Bill

[High Hopes]

Greg,

I had a similar experience trusting my A4. I crossed the Chesapeake and back in one day - all on the A4. A friend who was with me was impressed and kept saying what a great engine it was. I sort of expected the A-4 to perform but he had had bad experiences with outboards and didn't expect the reliability.

The A4 is a great, low maintenance engine. Once you get her fixed up, it is VERY dependable. It is a good feeling to know we a simple four-banger onboard when we need it. Beats a diesel any day, IMHO.

Cheers, Steve

[rigspelt]

Minus 19C here this morning, winds 15 knots gusting 20 WNW. White stuff all over the ground. A4 high, dry, silent and very cold. Nice to see someone else is warmer and wetter. Sigh.

[Jesse Delanoy]

Terrific pics of the Gate - I haven't been back there since I moved out of Alameda about 30 years ago.

I've fought my way into heavy weather up Chesapeake Bay (and Delaware bay a couple of times) with three different A-4s over a period of many years. They've never let me down when it counted.

[sastanley]

Greg,
Are those Pineapple Sails? I race on an Antrim 27 here in the Chesapeake and the owner bought new Pineapple's for his last racing set of upwind sails because he says Cami (sp?) is the best regarding knowing the Antrim. As his main trimmer and snacktician I can comment that they still look great after 2+ years of racing them very hard.

Nice!! - It is nice to be able to rely on your motor, but is also good to see the sails up when it is sailing time!

[Greg]

[FONT="Georgia"]Bill ..

I'll take that as a compliment, Thanks

We're real close to having the rig set where we want it. That was actually the day's purpose. You probably noticed we had the 1st reef in the main .. and we were still under the 155%. I find this keeps masthead rigged boats on their feet and with plenty of power as the wind and / or the seas come up. Yea, very little weather helm. Next step is the smaller headsail up the foil of course. We've used this racing as well.

I used to live back east, so I know how you guys feel. It did rain the day & night previous .. but we are blessed with lots of nice winter breaks and temperatures.

Shawn ..

Those are Pineapple's. Kame Richards builds very good sails. That main is 25 years old by the way. I think 20 of those were laying under cover on the boom. When I bought the boat, I thought it was a throw away. But hoisted the dirty thing and was way surprised. I sent it to Sailcare and they cleaned and repaired it very nicely. I'll plan for it's replacement next year. Maybe a Hood Vektron. I have a Pineapple chute too thats very well built.
I'll bet the Antrim is big fun I did some Bay & offshore races on a Custom Wilderness 30 that had a carbon keel & spars designed by Jim Antrim. The spinnaker pole was 130% of the "J" .. I was his driver and it was all I could do to keep the boat under the big a** chute many times. Yeehaw
my Son trimmed for us .. Good Times !

Thanks for the interest,
Greg