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Day 1 Saturday, December 13, 1997Alameda - Angel Island10:00 Getting On Board S/V Sea Star I spent last night first packing up my office, then stuff for the trip. It was exhausting! I didn't get done until 4 am, and even then I had a few things left. Up again at 7 am after a fitful three hours sleep. Then a frantic search for a missing pair of leather gloves. Damn it, where are they? I bought them only a few days ago especially for this trip. I remember taking off the tag and putting them down somewhere, but where? Ah, this is so infuriating! At 08:10, I've still not found them and I'm now officially late for being picked up by Ashikin over at the Peninsula Marina. Well, at least in the danger zone. We said 8-8:30, and it takes about 15 minutes to get there. As much as I hate it, there is nothing much else to do than give up. Grrr. Fortunately, she has just arrived by the time Dan and I get to the meeting point. My roommate Dan asked me yesterday if he could come up with us to Alameda to see the boat, but then changed his mind. Instead, he's giving me a lift to the Sea Star's old marina from which I promised to help Ashikin by driving her other car back. We arrive back to S/V Sea Star at around 09:15 and are greeted by skipper Ray. Having arrived during the previous two days, crew mates Ken and Andy are already onboard and busy preparing the ship for departure.
The ship is a two-masted cutter-rigged 57-foot ketch. As it turns out, there is still a lot to do with the ship before we cast off. You know the old Army saying, hurry up and wait! Although I would rather be back in my bed catching few more Z's, it's not too bad. This means that there is enough time for me to get a pair of replacement gloves and camera batteries. I also get another six-pack of beer, "just in case." After all, you can never have too much beer onboard. What if we get stranded on a remote island? Don't want to risk running out, no do we! 15:00 Cast Off Time It's 6 bells and finally time to toss the lines and cast off. We're a bit late, but it's not too bad. Ho, ho, ho, and off we go... to the fuelling station. Fill'er up, please! Oh, it's self-service? OK, all right then. Now, where's the lid on this baby?
15:30 Twenty-Five Gallons Later... ...and off we go again. Our diesel tanks aren't quite full, but the pump at the fueling station broke down so this is all we got. Because of "unfavorful" winds and generally bad weather, we're only going as far as to Angel Island today, by motor no less. Tomorrow, we'll continue at the crack of dawn. Or thereabouts. It all depends on the weather. As they say on the cover of Latitude 38, the local sailing magazine, we go where the wind blows. (Please Mr. Wind, blow us south!)
22:30 Nighttime Sjön suger, as we say back home. That would literally be the sea sucks, but no, not in that way. What I meant was that we had a great dinner tonight. Hunger is always the best spice, as another Swedish saying goes, and you sure do get hungry on the sea. After dinner, we decided to try to get to Sam's Bar in Tiberon, a ten minute or so ride with the dinghy. Alas, after a first feeble ten second run, the little outboard refused to start so we had to haul it back on board and call it a night. Maybe that was for the better. After all, we weren't exactly sober and would have been even less so on the return journey. Tomorrow is a new day too, and we're planning on leaving at the crack of dawn (again), presuming that the weather is better. |
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