JANUARY 23, 2024 THREE REACHING BOATS

 

JANUARY 23, 2024

THREE REACHING BOATS

Predictions for the day  were for pleasant, sunny and warm conditions with a 14 knot breeze. It was enough to entice three boats to risk the shoaled harbor entrance.  We had a steady breeze blowing from about 260 degrees at GOV and white caps showing outside.  With Schuyler not in place, we had one mark to use for a race: Mile.   From a GOV start line to Mile and back is a reach in both directions.  Reaching both ways, there were no tactics to employ, so it was a drag race.  Despite this, it was a delightful day on the bay.  It was so warm before the start, someone quipped “is this January or July?”  As sailors, we all enjoy reaching points of sail!

We called the course to round mile and finish at GOV and blew the 5-minute horn for a 3pm start.   All boats had a clean start.  As all three boats reached toward Mile, a couple of low flying planes flew overhead.  I thought, what a great day for sailing as well as flying!  As we approached Mile, I saw 20 knots of apparent wind. Perfect 36 was the first around Mile followed by Avatar and Pair A Dice.

At the finish, the order of boats did not change with Perfect 36 19:24, Avatar 20:14 and Pair A Dice 21:14.  Times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.30 NM.  Despite the risks at the harbor entrance, it was a delightful day for a sail.  

As it turns out, the planes flying overhead were sailors that normally sail on Perfect 36 and they took several photos.  Thanks go to Barry Porter from Perfect 36 for sharing  the photos. As all three boats were reaching toward Mile and reaching back to Gov it was three reaching boat.

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS:
PLACE          BOAT                     PHRF            CORRECTED TIME

1        PERFECT 36                     144             13:51

2        SAILING  PAIR A DICE      180             14:19

3        AVATAR                              132             15:08

 

 

Race QS:

We had all three boats record their track for this sail. It can be reviewed  at:

 https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=96606&updatedAt=2024-01-24T00:14:15Z&dt=2024-01-23T14:45:04-08:00..2024-01-23T16:10:22-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1706052134000&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Avatar&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.958929&lon=-122.013072&tilt=2&range=405&heading=244

                                                              JANUARY OR JULY?

NEGOTIATING THE HARBOR SHOALED ENTRANCE:

There are several procedures I follow when dealing with a shoaled harbor entrance.  My first consideration is to check the most recent harbor sounding found on the harbor’s website.  The second critical consideration is the tide, with extra caution exerted when dealing with a low tide.  Any grounding of a boat is not good, but getting grounded in the harbor entrance with the swell action is something to be avoided.  Getting grounded is not as bad as taking a wave, either while exiting or entering the harbor.  If you get  propelled by a  wave into a shallow sand bar with the bottom colliding, you may be in for a  possible emergency haul out.

One final procedure I follow before going out in shallow conditions is to observe the swell action at the entrance.  Having studied the sounding and watching the harbor entrance for at least 15 minutes, you must see a path out of the harbor even with the biggest sets.  Both exiting and entering the harbor can be challenging.  It helps to have a surfer’s eye for lumps on the horizon that you want to avoid.

The dredge was broken for close to three weeks and, even with no dredging, there is a narrow channel close to the East jetty.  We have had a lot of rain and water exiting the harbor which helps to create this channel.

LATER STARTS:

Now that the sun is setting a little later, we are changing to a 4pm start.  This should help with some of the boats getting crew.   The five minute horn will be blown at 3:55.

BARBECUE NEXT WEEK:

Next Tuesday is the last Tuesday of the month which means it is barbecue night at the club.  Bring your best grilling food  and let’s all pray for clear weather!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

JANUARY 16, 2024 VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

 

JANUARY 16, 2024

VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

Winter sailing can present challenges in Santa Cruz.  As if rain and shoaling at the harbor were not enough of a challenge, predictions of “light and variable” winds are too common. For this afternoon, we got a reprieve with no rain until later and the harbor deep enough for all boats to transit the entrance at high tide.  We still had to contend with Mr. “light and variable”, so we were pleasantly surprised to see a steady 8 knot wind across the water.  Since the wind was so light, we set a windward mark out off the end of the wharf.  We had six boats out for the fun, and we called for twice around the windward mark. We could always shorten course if Mr. “light and variable” raised his ugly head.

We blew the five-minute horn at 2:55 for a 3pm start and all boats tacked their way toward the temporary windward mark. Rosie was first around, followed by Avatar, Aquavit, Pair A Dice and Kicks.  With no decrease in the wind, we all made it around the second time and finished at GOV with the finish line being an extension of the line from  wharf end through GOV

At the finish, Rosie was first 27:29, then Avatar 28:11, Aquavit 28:46, Pair A Dice 33:16 and Kicks 35:02.  All times are elapsed, and the course distance was one nautical mile.

As we collected the marks, we were getting peppered with rain, a small price to pay for a pleasant sail.  It is always a pleasant surprise when you expect no wind and show up to a bay with enough wind to have a sail and a race: VOILA, WE HAVE WIND!

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS:

PLACE          BOAT                     PHRF            CORRECTED TIME

1        ROSIE                             162             24:47

2        AVATAR                           132             25:59

3        AQUAVIT                         72               27:34

4        PAIR A DICE                   180             30:16

5        KICKS                             180             32:02        

 

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be seen at:

 https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1147771&updatedAt=2024-01-17T00:40:51Z&dt=2024-01-16T14:49:59-08:00..2024-01-16T16:40:48-08:00&boat=Aquavit&time=1705447379037&focus=Aquavit&rival=Sailing%20Pair%20A%20Dice&tab=setup&view=follow&lat=36.955641&lon=-122.015391&tilt=11&range=595&heading=340       

I hope conditions are favorable for us next Tuesday and hope to see you then.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice   

 

JANUARY 2, 2024 THE CALM BETWEEN THE STORMS

 

JANUARY 2, 2024

THE CALM BETWEEN STORMS

The incessant national news for the last few weeks has been the huge surf hitting the California coast.  Sailors do not even consider going out in such conditions, for good reason.  Even negotiating the currents and eddies in the harbor in these conditions is hazardous.  With this scene being predominant for the last few weeks, I was surprised to see the swells subside just in time for our Tuesday afternoon sail.  Even the rain had settled a little with predictions for the rain to start in Santa Cruz around 7pm.  With this encouraging prospect, I put out the notice that I would set a course if boats came out. 

We left the harbor at around two o’clock and the wind was existent but still very light, though we could see a wind-line way outside.   With the large swells we have experienced, I was curious to see if our temporary “Schuyler mark” was still there.  We motored out to confirm that it had been swept away.  No Schuyler mark to use!  As we returned to the GOV start area, the wind had increased to 15-20 knots directly from the south.  We set the start line and called for a course of start, Mile (to port) and finish at GOV.  We had five boats and an el Toro out for the fun.  As the wind was building, it was making the “small” five-foot waves a little more vertical.  We blew the 5 minute horn for a 3 pm, one fleet start.

We had a clean start as all boats beat their way to Mile.  The Perfect 36 was first around Mile followed by Avatar, Simpatico, Pair a Dice and Kicks.  It was a challenging down-wind run back to GOV, with gusts of wind and waves to contend with, making it difficult to keep the boat flat in the water.   The first to finish was Perfect 36 29:09, followed by Avatar (No track, no time) Simpatico 32:41, Pair a Dice 32:50 and Kicks 35:37.  All times are elapsed, and the course distance was 2.23NM.

With the ocean conditions we have had recently, it was awesome to get a sail in with the calm between storms.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                   BOAT                     PHRF                     CORRECTED TIME

1             PERFECT 36                        144                        23:42

2             AVATAR                                132                        ??

3             SAILING PAIR A DICE       180                        26:08

4             SIMPATICO                          165                        26:33

5             AND KICKS                         180                        28:55

RACE QS The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=96347&updatedAt=2024-01-03T02:39:58Z&dt=2024-01-02T14:45:24-08:00..2024-01-02T16:02:21-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1704238370987&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Perf36&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.958136&lon=-122.011287&tilt=7&range=337&heading=194

WIND AND WAVES:

This evening was an education for me about wind and waves.  We all know that waves need to be taken perpendicular to the face to keep the boat from rolling to the side. On the downwind run back to GOV, the temptation was to “keep the sails full”, but sailing to keep the sails full was not taking the waves correctly. The boat would be tossed to the side by the waves and the wind would accentuate this motion.  There was talk of using a whisker pole but with the unusual motion of the boat, for safety reasons I nixed the idea. Possibly a better strategy would have been to keep the sails full and deviate when waves came to sail straight down the face.

DOCKING IN CHALLENGING CONDITIONS:

In the last blog, I wrote about docking in strong wind or currents and using speed to counteract the deleterious conditions.  On this evening, as I entered my fairway there was a strong southerly breeze apparent on the water surface on the north edge of the fairway.  I noticed a predominant glassy area in the “wind shadow” of the boats in their slip on the north side of the our dock,  So I chose to avoid the heavy southerly breeze on the north edge of the fairway and motored slowly closer to the docked boats enjoying the less windy conditions there. As I approached my slip, I swung wide using the south wind to propel me into an arc for a smooth docking.  The lesson is, if you can avoid the wind, you do not need to speed up to compensate for the influence of the wind.

Stay tuned for next Tuesday.  We will see what conditions prevail and if the race will not be possible, I will notify by email by noon on Tuesday if it is cancelled.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice