Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Here are a few snaps taken during outings in 2011. It was a good year...
I did a few offshore races (on other boats) in addition to the races I do on the Mephisto Cat...

The 2012 edition of the 3 Bridge Fiasco just happened. It was another good one. They always are, although some can be very frustrating. -I won't spoil it here, but I'll have the race recap write-up shortly on that thread. I'll put a link here when it is done.

Picture 1.- The Commemorative plaque at Angel Island. We go there often as it is one of my favourite destinations in the Bay. There is a lot of history there...

'European ships had sailed up and down the California coast for more than 200 years without sighting the fog-shrouded entrance to San Francisco Bay. The first ship ever to enter the San Francisco Bay was the San Carlos, a Spanish packet-boat under the command of captain Juan de Ayala. The San Carlos reached the entrance to the San Francisco Bay on August 5th 1775, but the strong current pushed it back out to sea. Eventually, the boat slipped through the Golden Gate guided by the dim light of a half moon at 10:30 pm.

The San Carlos dropped anchor behind an island which was christened 'Isla Santa Maria de Los Angeles' (Spanish for 'Saint Mary of the of the Angels'); It is now known as 'Angel Island'. Over the next forty-four days, ship pilots set out in longboats to chart the various arms of the Bay.'

Picture 2.- One of the personalities inhabiting SF Bay; the USS Potomac (AG-25), formerly the USCGC Electra,[3] was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. It is one of only three still existing presidential yachts. On August 3, 1941, she played a decoy role while Roosevelt held a secret conference to develop the Atlantic Charter.

In January 1964 she was purchased by Elvis Presley for US$55,000. He gave it to St. Jude Children's Hospital which sold it that same year for US$ 75,000. By 1980, she was involved in drug smuggling and was seized by the United States Customs Service in San Francisco, then towed to Treasure Island, where she sank.

After being refloated by the U.S. Navy just two weeks later, the Potomac was sold to the Port of Oakland for $15,000 and underwent a major restoration. She is now preserved by the Potomac Association, and berthed at Jack London Square in Oakland

Picture 3.- A (fast) 'mini' waiting for a race start off Crissy field for the Half Moon Bay Race


Picture 4.- Racing out to the so called 'Lightbucket'; the former location of the old lightship that used to mark the approaches to the main ship channel leading into San Francisco Bay. The location was originally described as: "Off San Francisco, 8.6 miles and 244 degrees from the Point Bonita Light, and 3 1/4 miles outside the bar in 109 feet, with Alcatraz and Fort Point lighthouses in range." The station was replaced by the San Francisco lighted horn (LNB) buoy "SF".


Picture 5.- Other 'sailors' out on the bay do a 'fly-by'...