Round trip sail: Pillar Point to Santa Cruz

[pbryant]

Aug. 31, 2013 to Sept. 2, 2013

I had a great sail Saturday down to Santa Cruz with a return to Pillar Point on Monday. You can see the track here: http://aprs.fi/#!mt=hybrid&z=9&ts=13...all=a%2FN8QH-8.

I could see the entire disk of the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon, and those little creatures that light up like lightning bugs in the boat's wake. It was warm, sublime, and worth a lifetime of effort to get there.

On the way down on Saturday, I just happened to be paralleling the Windjammer race. Some of those (much bigger) boats got into trouble in the Pigeon Point Washing Machine - mixed swell, high winds. One boat lost a bunch of gear overboard including a sail. I had no problems at all - just a nice downwind run with no need to touch the tiller. My rudder could have fallen off, and my Ariel's keel and the wind would have delivered her up at my waypoint in Monterey Bay.

My technique for crossing Pigeon Point when it's ruff is:

1) Don't behave like a racer (behave like a seaman instead) and go the extra distance to give the Point a wide berth to avoid the venturi effect around the bend.
2) Go at night so you can't see the swells ;-)

Still, I had 20 knot winds way out off the coast, and I happily made 4 knots dead down wind under bare poles with a following sea, while I kicked back listening to music and counting the planets in the sky. Majestic!

On the trip back, it was flat as a mill pond with just little capillary waves and enough wind to make 4 knots on a close reach with the wind 35 degrees off the port bow. The sails balanced so well that again there was no need to touch the tiller after tacking to Ano Nuevo, and my Ariel headed straight for home on her own like a horse back to the barn.

Fantastic! I can't express how much I love the handling and stability of my Ariel at sea.