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<\/p>\n– Advanced Coastal Cruising class (ASA 106), June 22 \u2013 24, 2012, by Brad Call<\/p>\n
On Friday morning I met my instructor, Bill Yawn and my two fellow students, Mary Ann Paulazzo and Daniel Merle.\u00a0Bill is a long time instructor at Tradewinds and he also serves in the Coast Guard Auxiliary.\u00a0He mentioned that participation in the CG auxiliary comes with many beneficial free training opportunities.\u00a0He was certainly a wealth of nautical information!\u00a0Mary Ann Paulazzo and her husband Cliff own a nicely equipped cruising yacht named \u201cCarola\u201d (Young Sun 37).\u00a0She and her husband hope to \u201cdip their toe\u201d into the cruising world this August with a trip down to the Channel Islands, a 3 week journey there and back.\u00a0Daniel Merle and his wife own a Leopard 46 catamaran that they have placed in charter with Moorings in Mexico.\u00a0Their boat is named \u201cBalajan\u201d which is \u201cmy little child in Armenian.\u00a0One of the benefits of placing a boat in charter with Moorings is the ability to use other Moorings boats around the world.\u00a0They recently took advantage of this benefit and took friends to sail off the Croatian coast.<\/p>\n
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After meeting each other, Bill had us haul our gear and food down to the boat for the checkout.\u00a0For this class we were using the club\u2019s Bavaria 42 named \u201cMy Density.\u201d\u00a0The name has an interesting origin that involves the owners meeting in a chemistry class during college.\u00a0In any event, the Bavaria 42 is a very nice boat.\u00a0It has a master suite with head forward.\u00a0There are two aft cabins, a galley, head, and large dining area.\u00a0The cockpit is quite spacious and it has dual helm stations.\u00a0It is powered by a Volvo diesel with a sail drive instead of the typical drive shaft and propeller.\u00a0For this class a large emergency raft occupied the after part of the cockpit.<\/p>\n
We spent about 3 hours checking over the boat, filling the tank with fresh water, and stowing our gear.\u00a0Bill briefed us on our itinerary and how he would conduct the class.\u00a0Each student would spend one hour as helmsman, then crewperson, and finally as navigator.\u00a0This rotation continued throughout the class.\u00a0We were finally on our way out to sea a little after noon.\u00a0The weather was unusually mild for this time of the year.\u00a0During the week leading up to the course Bill had us checking on the weather, swells, and waves.\u00a0It was clear from the forecasts that a low-pressure system would clear the area on Thursday, leaving calm conditions off the central California coast for the weekend.\u00a0This in fact was what we experienced.\u00a0The winds were light on Friday and coming from the southwest.<\/p>\n
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Bill\u2019s plan was for us to travel from San Francisco to Half Moon Bay on Day 1.\u00a0Day 2 would take us north, past the Farallon Islands and up to Drakes Bay.\u00a0On Day 3 we would return home and take the test to finish up the class.\u00a0The southwest wind direction was not optimum for our Day 1 course, so we motored out to R \u201c8\u201d in the Main Ship Channel and turned south.\u00a0We set sail and tacked back and forth as we proceeded south.\u00a0Occasionally we passed crab pot buoys and we kept a sharp lookout to avoid them.\u00a0The visibility was exceptionally clear and we were able to see many San Francisco landmarks (Golden Gate Bridge Towers, TV tower, etc.) up to the point at which we turned southeast towards Half Moon Bay.\u00a0Point San Pedro, Devils Slide, and Point Montara were all clearly visible.\u00a0Bill mentioned the dangerous reefs between Point San Pedro and Pillar Point.\u00a0I used my hand compass to practice taking bearings on prominent landmarks.\u00a0There were many sea birds on the water as well as an occasional dolphin.\u00a0We arrived at buoy RW \u201cPP\u201d off Half Moon Bay at around 6 pm and used the VHF radio to contact the Pillar Point Marina (channel 74) and request a slip for the night.\u00a0The Harbor Master assigned us slip \u201cH45.\u201d\u00a0We eventually paid about $36 for the slip and we prepared our dinner aboard.\u00a0It was clear that we had brought a lot of food for the class and as a result we dined well throughout the trip.\u00a0The Pillar Point Harbor is a busy commercial fishing port.<\/p>\n
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The next morning Bill had us awake and ready to depart Pillar Point Marina at 7 am.\u00a0After passing buoy RW \u201cPP\u201d, we set course for the Farallon Islands (290 magnetic).\u00a0The weather was exceptionally mild with light wind coming from the northwest.\u00a0Once again the wind direction was not conducive to our plans, so we motored.\u00a0As we proceeded northwestwards, we began to see whales about a mile to the west.\u00a0They could be seen \u201cblowing\u201d as they came up for air and occasionally a tail could be seen.\u00a0At around 9 am I suddenly saw two whales about 75 yards to port.\u00a0Their large mottled gray backs seemed close enough to touch!\u00a0Not wanting to provoke the whales we immediately adjusted course to the east and eventually turned back to our original course.\u00a0That was our closest encounter with those majestic animals.<\/p>\n
At 11:30 am we arrived at the Southeast Farallon Island, the site of the \u201cLow Speed Chase\u201d accident on April 14.\u00a0It was sobering to see the area where 5 sailors had died during the race.\u00a0It is a very remote and desolate island, the abode of seabirds and marine mammals.\u00a0Many small fishing boats were visible, some taking sport fishermen out for the day.<\/p>\n
After passing the Farallon Islands we turned to course 350 magnetic and arrived at Drakes Bay around 3 pm.\u00a0We anchored 100 yards WNW from a Coast Guard mooring ball and discussed various nautical topics and rested until it was time for dinner.\u00a0We also watched (and listened to) the Elephant Seals that were lying on the shore west of us.\u00a0After eating we rested until dark, and then raised anchor to begin our night man-overboard drills.\u00a0While recovering the anchor we discovered that the rode was fouled with kelp.\u00a0The resulting \u201cbattle of the kelp\u201d went on for about 30 minutes.\u00a0The tenacious plant did not want to surrender its grip on the rode.<\/p>\n
Once free of the kelp we motored out to the middle of Drakes Bay, set sail in the light breeze, and preceded to conduct our drills.\u00a0We were unable to use our normal points of reference in the dark bay, so Bill advised us to trust the feeling of the breeze on our face to orient ourselves.\u00a0This worked surprisingly well and soon we were all successfully executing the \u201cfigure 8\u201d man-overboard recovery technique in total darkness.\u00a0Towards the end of the drills our man overboard marker float came apart and we performed some rapid sail and motoring permutations to recover the remains from the water before losing it in the darkness.\u00a0After completing the drills we motored back to our anchorage, deployed the anchor, and turned-in for the night. The stars were very vivid in the darkness, illuminated only by a waxing crescent Moon.\u00a0However the clarity was such that we could see a faint glow coming from the San Francisco neighborhoods 25 miles away that lie along the Pacific coast.\u00a0It was a very special feeling to experience this portion of the coast in good weather.<\/p>\n
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The next day we were once again up early, had our breakfast, and departed for San Francisco. Drakes Bay was very calm and tranquil in the cool clear morning air and I wish we could have lingered longer. But it was time to return to clean the boat and take our test. There was not a breath of wind, so once again we were forced to motor. We had a wonderful view of the Marin coastline as we proceeded south. Bill showed us how to use the radar and we could see many fishing boats and the occasional freighter in the area. There are dangerous reefs along this section of the coast, the Duxbury Reef lying off Bolinas being only one example. We entered the Bonita Channel at buoy G \u201c1DR\u201d and proceeded southeast following a series of buoys until we rounded Point Bonita, reentered the Main Ship Channel and headed east to the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a quick lunch while motoring back to Richmond Marina and arrived around 12 pm. After unloading our gear and cleaning the boat we took our exams. All three of us successfully passed the rather difficult exam. This brought to a close a very challenging but rewarding 3 days on the water. Bill is a very knowledgeable and supportive instructor and he helped all of us to get the most out of the experience and to become better and safer sailors. I highly recommend the class.<\/p>\n
You will find information about trucking law in Baton Rouge<\/a> and the people to turn to for legal advice on road accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" – Advanced Coastal Cruising class (ASA 106), June 22 \u2013 24, 2012, by Brad Call On Friday morning I met my instructor, Bill Yawn and my two fellow students, Mary Ann Paulazzo and Daniel Merle.\u00a0Bill is a long time instructor … Continue reading