A Spinnaker Sailing Ocean Adventure
It’s 16 miles from Redwood City to Half Moon Bay on the the ocean side of San Mateo County. The drive ought to take about half an hour. Of course, in October the trajectory can be a good deal longer because you’ll be in the crush along two-lane Highway 92 heading for the coast-side pumpkin patches.
Sitting in traffic may not be your idea of fun times. So it’s good that there’s another, and from a mariner’s perspective, better way to make the trip: Sail. That’s what six Spinnaker Sailing members and two instructors did a few weeks ago aboard the club’s Beneteau 39 Hurricane.
It takes a bit longer to sail than to drive to Half Moon Bay. From the Redwood City Marina to Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay is about 60 miles by water. But what a lovely way to go.
Eight of us — instructors David Pregeant and Patrick Twohy with adventurers David and Pam Cocca, Kim Hunter, Andrew Coward, Chad Brubaker and Karin Heck — set out bright and early on a Friday morning for a leisurely sail to San Francisco. The idea was to arrive mid-afternoon with enough time to enjoy seeing and sailing the central bay.
We looped past Alcatraz and, with the help of an ebb tide, passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, testing it’s ability to echo our shouts. A recent storm had stirred up an 8-foot ocean swell seaward of the bridge, something that caught the attention of our hardy crew.
In light wind, we motored back into the bay and docked at Pier 39 for the night.
After a great Italian meal at a neighborhood restaurant a few blocks from the tourist crowds, we settled in for the night.
Saturday saw us up and out of the marina (bye noisy sea lions!) early enough to catch the morning shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge on the Marin Headlands hills as we headed for sea. Soon we passed the line linking Point Bonita light at the southwest corner of Marin County to Mile Rock just off Lands End in San Francisco — the demarcation line separating the bay from what the U.S. Coast Guard considers open ocean.
Eight miles past the bridge, we rounded the San Francisco Approach Lighted Whistle Buoy, otherwise known as the Light Bucket or Light Ship. In years past, this navigational mark was actually a ship with a light beacon. Today, it’s a red-and-white vertically striped buoy with a red ball atop — a configuration that maritime authorities call a safe-water buoy. The Light Bucket serves as a reference point to line mariners up to enter the dredged channel through the shallow San Francisco Bar that guards the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
After the Light Bucket, our course turned south-south-east to a point well clear of the famous Mavericks surf break, two miles off shore from Pillar Point Harbor. We had company for those 17 miles: dozens of dolphins.
In addition to Mavericks, the approach to Pillar Point Harbor can be tricky due to ocean swells and a rocky reef that projects south from the peninsula protecting the harbor. Safe passage is possible between buoys marking the approaches.
Pillar Point Harbor is protected by two breakwaters. Upon entering the outer harbor, we radioed the Pillar Point harbormaster requesting accommodation and were assigned a berth. We entered the inner breakwater and found our berth with little trouble.
After docking, tidying up and showers on shore, we dined at sundown at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., a few minutes’ walk from the harbor. We spent a quiet, peaceful night aboard.
The plan for Sunday was to retrace our track all the way back to Redwood City. We left the harbor and motored well offshore before setting sail north toward the San Francisco Bay entrance. We crossed the San Francisco Bar in a 10-foot swell with light wind.
Upon entering San Francisco Bay, we encountered hundreds of sailboats racing or simply out enjoying an amazing sunny, fall day on the bay. In very light wind, we motored past the city and along the San Mateo shore, crossing under the San Mateo Bridge by mid-afternoon. We docked at Spinnaker Sailing in time for an early dinner at home.
I’m sure each of us on board has particular memories. For me, what stands out is how much we all enjoyed the trip and the company. I learn or see something new each time I step aboard a boat, and this voyage was no exception. But as always, I was enthralled with the beauty and power of nature and thrilled by our ability to make use of natural forces to achieve our goals.