Sailing SF

[Ron Churgin]

Hello all,

On a recent vacation in San Francisco, I spent some time walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. The inlet from the Pacific to the Bay is quite spectacular.

Do any of you Bay Area CD'ers have any tales to tell about going through that inlet? Is it difficult getting through? Is it ever rough? Any must know tips for traversing it?

I would have enjoyed renting a boat and sailing in the area but had little time and less knowledge of the waters.

[seadog6532]

We got a little close to hitting the bottom of the bridge with the top of the boat, I was on the USS Enterprise at the time. We ran aground a little later in the day. It was 1982 and home comming day of my first Navy deployment. 62000 miles without a hitch in 9 1/2 months and we get stuck in the drive way.

It's not a Cape Dory but built almost as good as one.

[David VanDenburgh]

Ron,

We sailed the Bay for 10 years of so before moving to Ohio in 1996. The three main difficulties with the GG are: (1) the current (tide generated, complicated by the outflow of water from the river coming into the Bay), (2) the fog (common in summer during the afternoon and quite dense in the GG), (3) the traffic (other boats and large ships bound in and out of the GG). The current can easily run 5 or 6 knots, with swirls and back-eddies, so it is possible to be moving through the water and not move over the ground, or even be swept backwards, so you want to chose your time for transiting the GG with an eye on the tide tables. Fog can be thick and it can come rather suddenly. If can be quite disconcerting to be in the (fairly) narrow waters of the GG and have visibility diminish to almost nothing. So you want to be sure you know how to navigate in the fog. The remaining factor, traffic, can be a real problem. The wind is usually blowing in from the ocean, so a sailboat usually has to tack out through the GG and under the bridge, back and forth through traffic. There can be a lot of traffic, some of it very large - like the USS Enterprise (which I saw go aground in the channel to her berth - white uniformed sailors running back and forth on the flight deck, trying to rock her off the mud!).

Anyway, the challenges of sailing in the GG are interesting, but by no means impossible.

Oh, did I mention that it is often very windy in the GG? Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five knots are not unusual in summer.

But it's a wonderful place to sail!

[seajunkie]

I have never sailed there, but I kept this shortcut on my computer after seeing it a couple of years ago. If you follow the clips, you watch this boat pitch-pole under the Golden Gate Bridge.


http://photos.sfsurvey.com/sail1/imagepages/image5.asp

[Dalton]

I work for a company based out there. On one of my first business trips out there I went looking for a boat to rent. I found this funky little outfit in Sausalito. They own old Bristols, Cal 20 somethings, J 24s, Santanas etc.., all in ship shape condition. They also represent owners of larger boats nearby. When I first showed up they said "go pick the boat you want to sail". I chose a 1960ish Bristol 27 day sailor. Instead of a sailing resume or interview or check ride they simply said "Fine, put a reef in it and call us when your done". I did, they checked it out and said "Fine, let's do the paperwork" and off we went. I try and go sailing every chance I get when I get out there. What a blast. I tend to stay in the bay. The wind is typically calm in the mornings and reliably picks up in the afternoon, 30 knots is not uncommon by 1500. A swing by the GG is exciting, we time it so we're near it on an incoming tide. I've also rented from Club Nautique. I chartered a Hunter 46 once and 4 of us stayed aboard. It was cheaper than hotel rooms and we got to go sailing!

[Ron Churgin]

Thanks for the replies....those shots of the boat pitchpoling were quite sobering....and the Enterprise going aground...now I don't feel so bad about my occaisional groundings

a serious place to sail

[Neil Gordon]

USS Missouri grounded leaving Norfolk in 1950. I know a radarman who was on USS Salem... he noticed them going out of the channel and reported that up the chain. The bridge of the Salem informed the bridge of Missouri and got a: "#%$& you, pal, when you're the #%$&ing flagship you can decide what the right #%$&ing course is!" Anyway, shortly thereafter, Missouri was around and the admiral transferred his flag to the Salem.

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... h96789.jpg

[Doug Gibson]

I've sailed SF bay for 25 years and in/out of the Gate numerous times. David's description of the challenges is right-on.

The greater challenge is actually not right in the gate, but 2-3 miles out. The water depth under the bridge and through the narrows is very deep - over 200 feet. You go out about a mile, and there are shoals of 30 feet. The main shipping channel is dredged to about 50 feet through these shoals. In otherwise benign conditions, 6-10 foot swells can become 20-30 breakers when the long NW Pacific rollers encounter these shoals and a strong ebb tide. Early spring can be the worst when there is also a strong run-off in the rivers from melting snow.

I recall one trip we took out to the Farallon islands. On our way back, the wind and swells really picked up and when we hit the entrance to the channel, we were surfing down steep, sometimes breaking swells. My boat ( a Pearson 28 at the time) hit a speed record of 13 knots down the front of the swells. It took us about an hour to get through the mess and my full concentration to keep the boat heading straight down the swells, trying to avoid a broach. We were still 3-4 miles out from the GG bridge!

Careful planning with the tide schedule is critical when going in and out of the gate... I've learned the scarry way over the years.

Here's a photo of a breaker on an otherwise benign winter day about a mile west of the bridge.

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lec ... &dayid=202

[D Rush]

The USS Salem is now located in Quincy, Ma , close to my home port.
I motored by it once. It's huge when you're next to it in a CD25.

http://www.uss-salem.org/