Home	Summer Sailstice Rally 6/22/24

Four great Islanders, Barnacle, Bella Luna, Kapai and Wind Catcher, sailed the Sailstice Rally and were joined in spirit (pun intended) and pics by Kindred Spirits! Here are their stories of another fun I-36 day on the Bay.


From Kapai:

We had 4 boats start the Sailstice Rally. Dan Throop had his daughter Mary aboard Wind Catcher and arrived at the start on time.

Bob DaPrato aboard Bella Luna was running a little late, and Barney and his wife on Barnacle were perfectly staged on the SF side of the bay bridge! We postponed the race until 12:30 when Barney arrived.

Kapai crossed the line first followed by Bella Luna, Wiindcatcher and Barnacle. It was quite windy and I think Barney decided to bail out because I looked back off the Berkeley circle and he had vanished.

The remaining sailors got into a wind hole behind Angel. I caught the wind first and tacked up Raccoon Strait. We took a pic of Kindred Spirits and then took off for the Finish across the slot. It was foggy and we lost sight of everyone.

Kapai finished at 3:03PM and waited in McCovey Cove. Windcatcher crossed next and said that they lost track of Bella Luna as well.

We rafted up with Windcatcher for a libation for about one hour. Counter clockwise did work well as the raftup was close to the finish. We had a great chat with Dan's daughter Mary who is 14 years old and an accomplished sailor. I can't believe we did not take one picture on Dan's boat during the raft up.!!! I will say that McCovey Cove is far better than Clipper Cove. Our crew included myself, Bryce and Reanne and first time sailor Sherwin who is a new acquaintance of Bryce.

Fun day. Best Rick Egan.


From Windcatcher:

We arrived at the start with two minutes to spare. However, the other boats were also not quite ready so all 4 of us started at 12:30.

Kapai, Bella Luna and WindCatcher sailed close together with Barnacle in the rear. When we reached the wind shadow behind Angel Island we all stopped except for the current pushing us. Kapai found wind first with Bella Luna and WindCatcher behind.

We lost sight of everyone in Raccoon Strait. The sail towards the bridge between Angel Island and Alcatraz was pretty windy so I reefed both sails. WindCatcher hit the shadow of the west span of the Bay Bridge at 15:13:17.

Then we headed over to McCovey Cove to meet up with Kapai.

Dan Throop


From Bella Luna:

Bella Luna was in second place behind Kauai all the way to Angel Island when the wind died and we all stopped and had lunch.

When we saw Rick Egan and Kapai were already halfway up Raccoon Strait before we even got wind, we decided that the race was over and we had to sail back under difficult wind conditions with full main and 135% jib! We never reefed the main or the 135° jib, and were under full sail and had up to 20 knots on the way back to Emery Cove!

Thank you, Felix Gonzalez Martinez from Maryland and his mother, Olga Martinez for assisting in the venture as their first time in San Francisco Bay! The two ladies had some frightening moments and we decided to be careful and get home ASAP. Maria and her cousin Love the boat and all the amenities after we furled the jib, which was always a concern when we surfed downwind to Emery Cove. The best day of sailing is when you hit 9.0 kn and come home with no broken parts!

Cheers…

Robert DaPrato, Vallejo Ca.


From Kindred Spirits:

I have a charter tomorrow so won't be taking part in the regatta but will be there in spirit.. In the meantime I'm sharing some photos a friend took of Kindred Spirits out near Tiburon earlier today.

Will Cabranes
Kindred Spirits

Pictures from Rick and Reanne Egan, Dan Throop, Bob DaPrato and Will Carbanes.

Barnacle ....	gets some wind.	Bella Luna waits for wind	Kapai is going ...	to the starting line ...
Happy crew!	Here comes ...	Wind Catcher ...	who ready with ...	reefed main.
Under way, Kapai leads Bella Luna	Bella Luna	Barnacle	The chase is on ...	ducking below ...
Bella Luna.	Mary is hanging on ...	but happy!	Dan is too.	Windcatcher gets ...
a puff.	Kapai leads Bella Luna and Wind Catcher	Angel Island doldrums ...	waiting patiently.	Kapai ...
begins to get ...	some wind.	Kapai sees Kindred Spirits ...	This is the view ...	from windward.
Leaving Racoon Strait, Golden Gate fog.	Kapai tacks to clear Angel Island.	Wind Catcher anchors in McCovey Cove ...	Kapai coming alongside.	Felix drives Bella Luna ...
and Bob and Maria ...	back to Emery Cove ...	Felix and Bob ...	Olga, Felix, Bob & Maria ...	are happy below.