Home	Half Moon Bay Cruise October 21-23, 2011

(If you like, you can skip down through the prose and go straight to the pictures below!)

Here's Dan Knox's description of a fun cruise to Half Moon Bay. The participating boats and their crews are:

Because (BIG Islander), Tim & Rhonda Shea

Luna Sea, Dan Knox & Myphi Alloy with crew Anne-Marie Lebas
Freedom Won, John & Nanci Melton
Tacoma Blue, Rich & Takae Watters
Orion, Ray Duran & Barb Carpenter
Renaissance of Tahoe Vista, Steve Douglass

On Friday there was no sailing. We left at 8 am and got to Half Moon Bay a bit after 3. We had 6 boats in our group, one large I36 (Because) and 5 of the regular kind. We sailed for 10 minutes and motored the rest of the way on a calm Pacific Ocean.

As we got into the harbor and were taking down our sails we saw 12 knots of wind! There was also a group of 11 boats from Club Nautique, so we got to see Debbie and talk with Marianne.

We were scheduled to have a pot luck on Friday, but about half a dozen bottles of Champaign and a few beers later, the pot luck turned into more of just a big party. No one complained.

On Saturday there was a lot of hiking around and generally just checking out all the changes that have occurred in Princeton-by-the-Sea, which is the quaint name for the tiny town that technically holds Pillar Point Harbor -- what we all call Half Moon Bay. Half Moon Bay itself is the town about 3 miles to the south, centered around the junction of Highway 17 coming south through the coastal range and CA Highway 1 - the Pacific Coast Highway that runs the length of California along the Pacific Ocean.

In the image above, note the large "LT OBSC" sector where the harbor entrance light doesn't shine. Then check the depths between Pillar Point and the G3 bell just over a mile to the south. No only is almost all of it less than an Islander needs, but this is the home of murderous Mavericks Surf Contest. One of their top surfers died just over a year ago in breaking waves over 30 feet - and maybe 50' - high. The contest itself is held just west of the tiny Sail Rock marked less than a quarter mile to the southwest off the beach. Here's a link to some SPECTACULAR pictures of the event: Mavericks Pictures.

Tim scheduled a dinner at the Brew Pub for 12 but I think only about 6 people showed up. But we sure made the best of it and had another wonderful evening. Many of us left after dinner but a few diehards stayed and danced the night away.

On Sunday morning we planned to leave about 8 but didn’t get out until closer to 9. For the first hour once again there was no wind but then it picked up a bit and we got about 4 hours of very nice sailing in.

But once we reached the Golded Gate Bridge, the wind, which was from the east, dropped to the 3-4 knot range. Not a good thing when you are trying to fight a 3-4 knot ebb! Most of the boats tried to make it to the north side of the entrance but many could not. We were the only boat that tried for current relief by going south toward Mile Rock and were swept out past the Cliff House twice! After about 90 minutes of that we finally made it under the GGB.

The conditions were amazing. The water was just glassy and the temperature in the mid 70’s with very light winds. I have never seen those conditions under the Bridge before. We tried to sail but just could not make any headway and we turned on the motor and headed back to Marina Village. We tired one last time to sail when we saw a guest of 4 knots but it was not to be.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

--Dan

Pictures from Luna Sea, Because, Orion, & Renaissance. Click on images to enlarge, click "Back" to return.

In addition, here's a link to more pictures in Orion's Log.

Sf Piers ...	Anne-Marie is happy ...	Orion crew ...	very happy.
Golden Gate ahead ...	traffic & Islanders ...	bright city front ...	good day to go ...
glassy smooth ...	Islanders astern ...	nice schooner ...	under the bridge ...
into the ocean ...	Freedom Won ...	up close ...	under the Gate with ...
Freedom Won & Because	nice shadow ...	Pt. Bonita ...	heading west ...
Islanders ahead ...	heading south ...	Myphi at the helm ...	Orion heads south
Pillar Point ahead.	here's Renaissance ...	and Orion ...	Approaching HMB ...
outer harbor ...	inner breakwater ...	a touch of wind ...	Luna Sea
what else ...	a party!	Freedom Won	looks good ...
next in line ...	across to Tacoma Blue ...	Renaissance ...	bow on and ...
port side ...	Pillar Point radar ...	Meanwhile, back aboard ...	getting acquainted ...
all smiles ...	right on!	John checks in.	Girl time
Freedom Won from Luna Sea	Ray Duran & Barb Carpenter	Happy Campers ...	Dan, Pam & Anne-Marie
Tom Allegretti, current I36 Crew of the Year	Rich Watters & John Harold	Fun in town	Hiking out to ...
Pillar Point ...	beautiful Pcific!	Half Moon Bay harbor ...	inner harbor beyond.
Myphi looking good	Anne-Marie at the Brew Pub	A perfect day.	Nice morning.
Heading home.	Orion crew ...	is casual ...	well prepared ...
almost home ...	a beautiful sight.

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