10/5/2010 - Heading out for a short run

The Westsail Rendezvous was great fun and I promise to write more
about it soon. But gosh, I've just been so darn busy. Although we
had a lot of fun, the rendezvous was also tiring. We visited almost
every boat that came and almost everyone who came visited our boat.
That made for a lot of visiting. And, with so many different people,
you find yourself saying the same things over and over and wondering
whether or not you already told these people that story. Then there
was the big dinner on Saturday and the breakfast on Sunday. By the
time that most of the boats started to head out on Sunday mid-morning,
we were ready to take it down a notch.

We had planned all along not to leave until Monday. As I explained to
several folks, since we've retired we try not to do stuff on the
weekends when all the working stiffs are trying to do stuff. We wait
for the smaller crowds that Monday usually brings. Besides us, Kay
and Keith from W42 Chamisa, Jim and Julie from W32 Worldwind, and W32
Desiderata all stayed over.

The plan was to head out Monday at high tide (around 10:30 AM). But
Sunday night the wind came up and blew like a banshee. It kept it up
all night. I decided that, if it kept up, I'd get up at my usual time
and check the weather on the VHF and make a decision whether we were
going or not. I got up about 6:45 and it was still blowing like
crazy. The flags over on the marina office were standing straight
out. The weather report called for small craft advisories in the Bay
until mid-afternoon. The wind was supposed to abate a little and then
pipe up again in the afternoon. Tuesday sounded better and Wednesday
better yet. So, the decision was made. We were staying put another
day. I reported this to Lulu who murmured "Good" and then turned over
and went back to sleep.

Jim and Julie, who have a lot more experience than us, having already
been to Mexico and back, decided the winds, which by now were dying
down, were just right and took off. Lulu and I and Kay and Keith all
walked over to the marina office to pay for another night (a bargain
at $10 and no coin slot in the showers). Naturally, no sooner had we
paid up than the wind died down to a mellow level, the sun came out
and things turned pretty darn nice. Would have been a perfect time to
leave but the four of us decided, "Eh, screw it. What do we care?
We're retired, have no schedule and nothing to prove." We decided to
have a nice relaxing day.

We all went back to Chamisa where we exchanged stories and Kay and
Keith gave us some tips on anchoring at Catalina Island. The big
spacious center cockpit on Chamisa is great for visiting. Later we
went back to Siempre Sabado to chill out. We had a tentative plan to
meet up again for dinner with Kay and Keith and their daughter and son-
in-law.

So here it is Tuesday morning. The water is dead flat here in the
marina and there's not a breath of wind. High tide isn't until 11:20
AM so we have plenty of time to get stuff stowed, have breakfast, get
fueled up and head out. Our destination today is Richardson Bay where
we'll anchor off Sausalito for a day or two before doing whatever we
decide to do next. We're hoping to sail since the trip is only about
20 miles but right now that doesn't look likely. However, I'm pretty
sure that a totally windless day on the Bay is a rarity so we'll
probably be able to get at least some sailing in. And, just so you
can't pin us down, Richardson Bay is only a tentative destination. We
might just decide to go over to Angel Island and stay there for a day
before Sausalito. Or we might not. Or.......