FEBRUARY 11, 2025 CHALLENGING CHILLY CONDITIONS ALSO TIDES AND RULE OF TWELFTHS

 

FEBRUARY11, 2025

CHALLENGING CHILLY CONDITIONS

 

The final prediction was for winds up to 17 knots but with an ominous warning about “chilly conditions”.   The biggest question was about entrance conditions. I called the harbor on Monday and the person that takes the soundings said he was not able to get readings  because of the heavy anchovy presence in the harbor.  I was disappointed but got a call from the same person on Tuesday that a reading was taken and posted which was a huge boost in confidence.  We could at least get some smaller boats out.

 Whether the entrance was too risky or the chilly conditions were the cause, we had only four boats that came out with one retiring before the start.  We established a start line in an area close to Blacks and called for a course to round Mile to port and finish with southern end of the start line to port. Finish line being an extension of the line from lighthouse through the end of the line.   Some boats were slow getting to the start line area so we blew the horn at 3:35 for a 3:40 start.

The conditions for the beginning of the race saw winds over 20 knots which intensified the “chill factor”.   As the race started, we saw the wind drop to15 to 17 knots but we kept the reef in anticipating more wind outside which played out as anticipated.  Pair A Dice was first around Mile followed by Big Mac and Kicks.  On the way back to the finish line it was difficult trying to find the marks we had set.  At the finish it was Pair a Dice first 34:14 followed  by Big Mac 34:42 and Kicks  47:37.  Times are elapsed and the course distance was  2.59 NM.

Despite the chill in the air which we all had dressed for, it was great to see three boats finish in such challenging chilly conditions.

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

1             BIG MAC                                            222                       25:06

2             SAILING PAIR A DICE                     180                       26:28

3             KICKS                                                 180                       39:48

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be reviewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=105113&updatedAt=2025-02-12T01:02:47Z&dt=2025-02-11T15:16:02-08:00..2025-02-11T16:54:24-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1739319314300&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Kicks&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.950705&lon=-121.986923&tilt=34&range=276&heading=344

TIDES AND THE RULE OF TWELFTHS:

Because of our shoaling harbor entrance tides play a large factor in our ability to get out of the harbor.  But tides affect many factors for different reasons in different areas.  Tides play a huge factor in anticipating currents in the San Francisco bay or currents in reef passages in the tropics, it’s good to know about the rule of twelfths to anticipate how strong currents will be at a certain time or to estimate accurately the water height at a certain time. I believe Ernie Ridout was the first to inform me about this over dinner years ago and I used it extensively when I had to tabernacle to get out of the upper harbor.

In essence, high tides and low tides are about 6 hours apart.  The difference between High and low tide varies according to the alignment of heavenly bodies.  Using the rule of twelfths, you take the difference between high and low tide.  As an example we will use a difference of 6  feet which is about what we may get in Monterey bay.  We divide this distance by 12 which gives increments of 6 inches.  The progression of the rule of twelfths is that the first hour after high or low tide will give a 6-inch difference (for this example) in water height. The second hour will give 2/12ths (1 foot difference).   The progression for each hour using the rule is:  1/12, 2/12, 3/12, 3/12, 2/12, 1/12.   This means that the most rapid change is halfway between high and low tide with the change being 3/12 (1.5 feet in this example) for each of  the two hours encompassing the time in the middle of high and low tide.

Below is what it looks like if there was a 6 METER difference between high and low tide.

 

I hope this helps us all in dealing with our harbor shoaling.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JANUARY 28, 2025 NICE EASTERLY WIND

 

JANUARY 28, 2025

NICE EASTERLY WIND

Below is Doug Mahone’s recap of this Tuesday Afternoon race.  

When we left the harbor at 2:30p, it was sunny and clear, with an 8-10 kt westerly breeze from 245 degrees. We set up a 150 yd long start line perpendicular to the breeze, with the old Start/Finish mark (currently marked by a white fender and a small red buoy) on the left end, and a larger temporary red buoy at the right end. We were intending to race from the start line, to Mile, and back to S/F.

Shortly after 3:00p, the breeze died. We were in a transition, awaiting an easterly. At 3:15p, the easterly arrived, blowing from 85 deg at around 6-8 kts. We quickly motored upwind about a half mile and dropped another temporary mark. We kept our original start line, but in reverse, with the S/F mark on the right end and the temp red ball at the left end. The course ran upwind to the new temporary mark, down to Gov, and back up to S/F, taking all marks to port. The finish line was an extension of a line from the lighthouse thru S/F.

At 3:25p we sounded the prep horn and got off to a clean start at 3:30p. Eight boats recorded their tracks on RaceQs, with another two or three anonymously joining in the racing.  The new breeze held up through most of the race, although it started to falter at the end for some of the later finishers.

It was a bit tricky finding the Gov mark, because there was an illegal anchor out sailboat tied to it.

Some of the finishers were apparently confused about which of the start line marks was S/F, and instead finished by rounding the temporary red ball at the left end of the start line.

The harbor mouth was a bit tricky, as the shoal narrowed the channel close to the east jetty at a nominal depth of
10 ft. The fleet passed thru at lower low tide of -1 ft (9 ft deep). There were no significant swells complicating passage. The deepest boat, Aboriginal, ran aground, but was able to back off and get thru. I think all the other boats passed without incident.

Coming back to the harbor mouth, it was swarmed by terns feeding on a large school of bait fish. My depth sounder showed 2-3 ft depth all the way in past the gas dock, apparently fooled by the schooling fish because we didn’t hit bottom.  All boats made it back to their slips before dark.

It was BBQ night at the club, with a lively crowd around the grill and in the dining room.  With the lengthening days, we’re hoping more boats will be able to join in the coming weeks as we count down to the return of daylight savings time.

Doug Mahone, Avatar

Big thanks to Doug for the excellent recap!

The first boat to round GOV was Aboriginal then Aquavit, Avatar, Nidaros, Inspiration, Big Mac, Kicks and Wind Goddess.  On the beat back to the finish line, the first boat to finish was Aboriginal 33:58, then Aquavit  40:22 Avatar 41:03, Nidaros 44:04, Big Mac 46:35, Kicks 49:56, Inspiration 48:54 and Wind Goddess 58:33.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.53NM.  Though  the finish line was designated to take S/F to port, two boats finished at the wrong end of the line.  I finished these boats but added 30 seconds to their elapsed time.

Though I was not able to participate in this race, it was nice to see a nice Easterly wind.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

1             ABORIGINAL                                   33                          32:34

2             AVATAR                                             132                       35:29

3             BIG MAC                                           222                       37:13

4             AQUAVIT                                           72                          37:20

5             NIDAROS                                           118                       39:05

6             KICKS                                                 180                       42:20

7             INSPIRATION                                    147                       42:42

8             WIND GODDESS                               168                       51:28

RACE QS:

The track for this afternoon can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011635&divisionId=104864&updatedAt=2025-01-29T01:02:47Z&dt=2025-01-28T15:18:09-08:00..2025-01-28T17:02:44-08:00&boat=Kicks&time=1738106307865&focus=Kicks&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=fleet&view=auto

I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing  Pair A Dice

JANUARY 21, 2025 SWEET CHILLY WIND

 

JANUARY 21, 2025

SWEET CHILLY WIND

Once again the predictions were for light wind but as we left the harbor, the beautiful sight of wind on the water spread across the bay. We determined the wind direction was from 240 and found our way to the fenders that indicate where Start mark is normally located and set a line square  to the wind.  We used the temporary mark as one end of the line and deployed our usual red ball for the other end of the line.  We called for a course Start to Mile (port rounding) and finish with the red ball to port.  Finish line being an extension of the line from the jetty lighthouse through the red ball.  We blew a 3:25 five minute horn for a single 3:30 start.

It was an  interesting start with several boats right on the line.  It was challenging with the line, being square to the wind making the line very skewed with relation to the Mile buoy destination.   All boats tacked their way towards Mile trying to achieve clear wind which was a challenge with most boats choosing the same route.  At  Mile, Aboriginal was first around followed by Avatar, Aquavit, Rosie, Inspiration,  Pair A Dice and Nidaros.

After rounding Mile, everyone reached back to the finish line.  At the finish, Aboriginal was first 20:00 followed by Avatar 23:38, Aquavit 23:50, Rosie 26:24, Inspiration 26:37, Sailing Pair a Dice 27:15 tied with Nidaros 27:15.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 1.99NM.  After the race, it was such a beautiful day on the bay we sailed over to the wharf.  As usual the wind died and we had to motor back to the harbor.

Once again it was great to be a sailor to enjoy such a beautiful afternoon sailing in a sweet chilly wind. 

 

 PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

1             ABORIGINAL                                                   33                          18:59

2             AVATAR                                                            132                       19:15

3             ROSIE                                                               162                       21:01

4             SAILING PAIR A DICE                                   180                       21:16

5             AQUAVIT                                                          72                          21:26

6             INSPIRATION                                                   147                       21:44

7             NIDAROS                                                          118                       23:21

 

RACE QS:

The track for this afternoon can be reviewed  at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=104784&updatedAt=2025-01-22T00:04:33Z&dt=2025-01-21T15:21:02-08:00..2025-01-21T16:04:29-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1737504269000&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Avatar&tab=match&view=auto

NEXT TUESDAY IS THE LAST  TUESDAY OF THE MONTH WHICH IS:

BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE CLUB, BRING YOUR BEST BARBECUE ITEMS TO GRILL, ENJOY AND SHARE!

              _)                                          _)                                         _)                              (_                                (_

SAIL AWAY SOCIAL SATURDAY JANUARY 25 AT 6PM.  A GREAT EVENT TO MEET AND GREET POTENTIAL NEW CREW AS WELL AS BOATS TO SAIL ON.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

JANUARY 14, 2025 A GREAT DAY FOR A SAIL

 

JANUARY 14, 2025

A GREAT DAY FOR A SAIL

Predictions were for 7 knot winds and the forecast seemed to be accurate.  There was very light breeze showing in the harbor.  It was encouraging talking to sailors returning to the harbor with reports of 13 knot winds out by mile. We left the harbor at 2:30 and could see a steady wind across the bay, but would it decrease as the afternoon progressed?  We determined the wind direction was from 230 degrees and set a start line very close to the normal starting area.  We called for a course: start to Mile (to port) and finish at the Eastern end of the start line, taking the mark at the end of the line to port.  We blew the 5 minute horn for one start at 3:30.  We had 10 boats out for the fun and all boats had a clean start.

The first boat to round Mile was Rosie followed by Aquavit, True Love, Avatar, Big Mac, Sailing pair a dice, Nidaros and  Kicks. All boats did their best going down wind in  the lightening breeze and the first boat to cross the finish line was Aquavit 30:49 then Avatar 31:25, Inspiration 31:35, True Love 31:45, Rosie 32:16, Sailing Pair A Dice 32:38, Big Mac 33:02, Nidaros 34:14, and Kicks 39:01.  All times are elapsed, and the course distance was 2.30 NM.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a little chill in the air but still a great day for a sail.

SURFERS GO "TOES TO THE NOSE" TO INCREASE SPEED
WHEN SAILING DOWNWIND I GO "BUTTS ON THE BOW"

 

 Race QS:

The track for this day can be reviewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=104694&updatedAt=2025-01-15T00:35:37Z&dt=2025-01-14T15:15:00-08:00..2025-01-14T16:35:28-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1736898118887&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Nidaros%20II&tab=fleet&view=follow&lat=36.942767&lon=-122.000198&tilt=1&range=3572&heading=230

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

1             BIG MAC                                                            222                       24:31

2             SAILING PAIR A DICE                                     180                       25:45

3             INSPIRATION                                                    147                       25:56

4             ROSIE                                                                 162                       26:03

5             AVATAR                                                              132                       26:22

6             AQUAVIT                                                            72                          28:03

7             TRUE LOVE                                                       72                          28:59

8             NIDAROS                                                           118                       29:42

9             AND KICKS                                                          180                       32:07

 

READING WAVES:

Many of us surf or have surfed in the past, so we know how to read waves.  Exiting and entering the harbor safely requires some knowledge about reading waves. By reading waves, I mean being able to see how a wave is acting to determine roughly how deep the water is under the wave.

We all know that whitecaps start at about 15 knot winds. These whitecaps are formed because the wind is blowing the top of the wave forward.  Waves and swells approaching the beach experience drag from the bottom of the land underwater.  This drag from the bottom slows the forward motion of the lower section of the wave, while the top of the wave continues ahead not slowing down. This is why waves break as the top of the wave cascades forward over the lower and slower part of the wave. 

This is all simple physics: together the size of the wave and depth of the water determine how and whether a wave will break.  A good rule of thumb is that the size of the wave (from trough to crest) will break (form whitewater) in the same depth of water.  A 3 foot wave will break in 3 feet of water.  A one-foot wave will break in one foot of water.  Surfers who sail will watch waves break across the harbor entrance looking for the section where the wave backs off and doesn’t break indicating the deeper part of the entrance.  If the wave breaks all the way across the entrance, there is no channel. It is important to realize  that waves will start to break creating whitewater at these parameters. When large waves enter very shallow water, you get the barreling (totally tubular) waves that surfers crave.

 While it is easier to determine breaking waves from the beach, you can also see the whitewater of a breaking wave from the ocean.  In Santa Cruz, we have the entrance depth soundings on the harbor office website. These soundings are usually updated once a week through the winter.

One other important consideration when entering a harbor is to not follow a boat too closely.  You can catch a wave which will propel your boat into the boat in front.  Also, it is important, In shallow conditions to not catch a wave and hit the bottom as you come down the face.  This scenario can require an emergency haul-out to repair the boat and prevent your boat from sinking. The key is to watch the ocean to avoid entering on larger swells and to stay in the deeper part of the channel.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

JANUARY 7, 2025 MORE OR LESS WIND

 

JANUARY 7, 2025

MORE OR LESS WIND

With predictions for heavy gusts, I was not surprised when I got to the harbor around  noon to see very strong winds blowing from the North.  The forecast called for decreasing wind as the afternoon progressed and this prediction  was playing out.  As crew arrived and we left the harbor around 2:30, I was surprised to see strong gusts across the bay.  So much for a dissipating wind!

The wind was blowing from due North, presenting a problem for starting on a windward leg. We set a start line directly out from GOV and called for a course: Start>GOV>Mile>finish  with GOV to port.  We had five boats that braved the conditions.  I was envious of the boats with small jibs, which was perfect for the stronger gusts, but a disadvantage in the lulls.   We blew the 5-minute horn at 3:25 for a 3:30 start and all boats got off to a clean start.  All boats sailed around GOV with Avatar and Big Mac  in the lead followed by Pair A Dice and Pacific Spirit. 

On the downwind leg to Mile, different strategies were employed. On PAD we noticed that the wind seemed to be shifting slightly coming from a more Easterly direction, combined with the gusts, this allowed  us to sail further west setting up for the rounding of Mile.  Still it was Avatar leading around Mile with Pair A  Dice following with  Pacific Spirit and  Big Mac.  We had one boat retire, leaving four boats in the “race”.

At the finish Avatar (once again) was in the lead 36:57, followed by Sailing Pair A Dice 38:28, Pacific Spirit 39:47 and Big Mac 41:50.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 2.53NM. 

With the gusts and the lulls, it was an afternoon with more or less wind.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

1             SAILING PAIR A DICE                                180                       30:49

2             AVATAR                                                         132                       31:22

3             BIG MAC                                                       220                       32:25

4             PACIFIC SPIRIT                                            165                       32:40

Race QS:

The track for this afternoon can be reviewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=104609&updatedAt=2025-01-08T01:10:35Z&dt=2025-01-07T15:18:03-08:00..2025-01-07T16:33:45-08:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1736295110847&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Avatar&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.956960&lon=-122.013216&tilt=12&range=524&heading=187

COMMUNICATION IS CRITICAL:

I am constantly learning and on our sail toward GOV, as we approached the wharf area and the field of destruction from the wharf collapse, I wanted to tack away from the wharf but had a boat on my starboard hip, just far enough to tack and duck. I told my crew what we were doing but did not communicate with the other boat.  As I tacked, they obviously had no clue what I was doing and steered away like they were tacking, but were not prepared for the tack.  I feel like I was in error by not communicating my intentions to the other boat ahead of my tack.  Lesson re-learned, communicate with other boats!

Barry Keeler

SAILING PAIR A DICE

Sailing Pair A Dice