DECEMBER 26, 2023 THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

 

 

DECEMBER 26, 2023

 THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

Christmas is a big holiday, so I knew it was sketchy to offer a race on the day after.  Missing the sail last week due to rain, my crew was eager to get back out on the water.  I had crew so I put the offer out for a race.  Several factors had to be dealt with: there was a potential swell building through the afternoon and with the swell there was excessive current at play in the harbor.

As we left the harbor at about 1:30, even though the weather was fine, there was only one  other sailboat out on the bay in the, once again, very light wind.  We saw tempting wind lines out on the horizon as we bobbed along in the less the 3-knot wind. Suddenly, at about 2:30 the bay was filled with an 8-10 knot breeze, and we were sailing!   On the whole bay there was no more than 5  boats including the fishing boats!  With such little traffic and all of the racing marks removed, the crew was taking turns at the helm learning how to use the tell-tales.  When I am not on the helm, I normally scan for obstacles  to avoid but with no traffic I was lulled into complacency.  As the crew shared turns on the helm, a new person took the helm and immediately noticed that we were aiming straight for SC3 little more than a  boat length away, the ONLY obstacle in the bay.  Lesson learned: always watch for obstacles even with no traffic.

At about 2:30, one other boat came out for the fun: Kicks.  With only two boats, we just enjoyed the sail with no race.  There were still lessons to be learned and conditions to deal with.  The swell was building and the tide was dropping delivering more energy to the harbor entrance.  This made the approach to the harbor and motoring in the harbor trickier. 

Both Kicks and PAD approached the entrance close to each other.  With the swell and the power increasing, I turned out to avoid entering right on the stern of Kicks.  In breaking surf at the harbor entrance, you do not want to be right on the stern of another boat.  A breaking wave could drive you into the stern of the boat ahead.  On both leaving and entering the harbor, it is good to have a surfer on board.  Surfers are accustomed to scanning the horizon for a lump of water (a big set) on the horizon to ride.  Surfers can use this talent to scan the horizon for lumps on the horizon to AVOID.  In any case, whether you can avoid the set waves or not, it is critical to take the wave with the boat absolutely perpendicular to the face of the wave, doing this with a clear path into the harbor.   If you are not absolutely perpendicular to the face of the wave, your boat will roll violently to the side, possibly dumping crew in the water.

As you are motoring through the harbor dealing with the surge created by the surf, there is no problem when you are in the main channel since water is surging up and down the harbor.  Problems can occur when you enter the fairway approaching your slip.  The old adage about docking: “SLOW IS PRO” does not apply in these conditions.  The most dangerous position to be in with strong winds or heavy surge is to be motionless in the water.  You must have speed to have control of your boat.  Speed, but not enough speed that you cannot stop the boat in the slip with the engine in reverse.

I know all of these points are well known by seasoned  sailors in Santa Cruz, but thought it would be good to review them again for the new to Santa Cruz sailors  that are sailing with us.

As usual, it is the skippers responsibility to ascertain the conditions and to decide whether the skipper and crew can deal appropriately with what is happening.  The swell predictions are for big swells to continue through next Tuesday.  If we cancel next Tuesday’s sail, I will post an email on  Tuesday morning.

Have a great New Year!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

 

 

DECEMBER 12, 2023 GUENTER'S RACE

 

DECEMBER 12, 2023

GUENTER’S RACE

With predictions for 7 knot winds, I was encouraged with the prospects for this afternoon’s sail. Unfortunately, as we left the harbor, the ocean looked more like a lake than an ocean.  Such is winter sailing in Santa Cruz!  We motored over to the Gov area and sat motionless in the water, though we did feel a very faint southerly breeze.  When I say faint, I am talking about 1-2 knots of “breeze”.  With 10 boats out, we set a line and placed a “breeze-ward” mark some 150 yards out and blew a 5-minute horn at 2:55 for a single fleet 3pm start.

It was frustrating with boats milling aimlessly around the start line, but some boats had reasonable starts. In such light wind, clear air is more essential than ever, especially if you are not sailing a light boat.  This was apparent as the heavier boats needed to beam reach up and down the start line while the lighter boats made their way to the temporary mark. The first boat around the mark was Guenter’s Wind II followed by Rosie, Interlude, Yellow Belly and Avatar.  Several boats got close to the mark, but were not able to round.

The first boat to cross the finish line was Wind II 34:48 followed by Rosie 38:55, Yellow Belly 43:43 and Avatar 46:53.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 0.34 NM. While it was a frustrating afternoon on the water, the lighter boats were the only ones to finish with Guenter leading the group on Wind II.

Race QS:

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=96164&updatedAt=2023-12-13T00:45:46Z&dt=2023-12-12T14:45:01-08:00..2023-12-12T16:41:47-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1702421936578&focus=Yellowbelly&rival=ROSIE&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.957286&lon=-122.010070&tilt=11&range=974&heading=164

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE   BOAT                                     PHRF                     CORRECTED TIME

1             WIND II                                 213                        33:35

2             ROSIE                                    162                        37:59

3             YELLOW BELLY                    141                        42:55

4             AVATAR                                132                        46:08

TIDAL CURRENTS AND LIGHT WINDS:

This evening was interesting with the interplay of the light wind and the currents that were in effect. On Pair A Dice, we had some close crossings with other boats as we s-l-o-w-l-y drifted by each other. There seemed to be a current that made the crossings even more interesting.  We even had a close encounter with GOV with just enough wind to fight the current and clear the ball within inches.  I usually watch the kelp that is attached to the bottom to see which way the current is flowing, but there was no attached kelp in the area.  You can also determine currents by observing kelp attached to a mark.

Lets hope for a “Christmas wind” next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

DECEMBER 5, 2023 LIGHT WIND SAILING

 

DECEMBER 5, 2023

LIGHT WIND SAILING

While I am vacationing in Hawaii, Stefan and the crew of Perfect 36 organized the race for this evening.  As reported to me, the wind was light and coming from 230 with 20-degree shifts.   A start line was set square to 230 degrees, and there were ten boats out for the fun.  Being another light wind evening, a short course was called: start to round a sailboat over by Cowells and finish with Gov to port with finish line being an extension of the line from wharf end through Gov.  A single horn was blown at 2:55 for a single fleet start at 3:00.  Ultimately, the wind came up a little and the course was lengthened to twice around.

The first boat around the windward “mark” was Watts Moore followed by Interlude, Rosie, Perigon, Yellow Belly, Nidaros, Perfect 36 and Pacific Spirit.  After the second rounding Watts Moore was first to finish 29:37 then Interlude 35:29, Wind II 39:58, Rosie 41:35, Yellow Belly41:36, Perfect 36 52:14, Nidaros 52:35 and Pacific Spirit (New Perspective) 53:14. All times are elapsed, and the course length was 1.29NM.

While the wind appeared to be very light, which is normal for this time of year, Stefan and crew called a perfect course for light wind sailing.  A hearty thanks to Stefan, Steve Niemann and the Perfect 36 crew for setting the course.

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS

PLACE   BOAT                                     PHRF                     PHRF CORRECTED TIME

1             WATTS MOORE                 150                        26:23

2             INTERLUDE                         141                        32:27

3             WIND II                                213                        35:23

4             ROSIE                                    160                        38:06

5             YELLOW BELLY                    141                        38:34

6             PERFECT 36                        144                        49:08

7             PACIFIC SPIRIT                   147                        50:04

8             NIDAROS                             108                        50:15

THE ICONIC HONOLUA BAY ON MAUI WITH SIZE ON 12/5/ 23

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1017739&divisionId=96060&updatedAt=2023-12-06T00:21:35Z&dt=2023-12-05T14:47:50-08:00..2023-12-05T16:21:35-08:00&boat=Perf36&time=1701816526404&focus=Perf36&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=match&view=match

TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING SAILING:

There is one big difference between our races and the normal racing environment:  We have no committee boat to set and retrieve the start line mark.  This duty is conducted by one of the competitors, usually Sailing Pair A Dice. This means that this competitor must retrieve the mark after the race.  In normal racing the start line is frequently the same as the finish line.  For our series the finish line is almost always a line, or an extension of a line designated by stationary permanent marks: lighthouse, wharf end, or Gov.  This allows the boat that set the start line mark to retrieve the mark before all boats have finished.

I will see you next Tuesday.  Let’s all hope for wind!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice