A Sailor’s Update on Bridge Works and Closures in the Delta
It’s great to have friends in many places. Last year we received an email from Josh and Candace Williams of the Hunter Legend 375 Nalu, letting us know about bridge repairs and subsequent delays in the California Delta. This week they let us know that the work is still going on, and that there are more closures, which they discovered during their annual Delta trip.
“We are currently moored at Willow Berm Marina after two nights anchored out in Georgiana Slough,” Josh wrote.
“Typically we would anchor in Steamboat and visit Grand Island winery, but with lots of bridge maintenance going on our plans changed.
“As of this writing, the Rio Vista Bridge requires four hours advance notice. Steamboat Slough Bridge is closed for the season. Three Mile Slough Bridge is also closed. On our route we found Georgiana Slough, Tyler Island, and Mokeulumne Bridge open as usual.”
Josh also reminded us that the latest information can be found in the Coast Guard’s District 11 Local Notice to Mariners published each week.
“Thank you for always producing such wonderful content and fair winds,” he added. (We just had to share the compliment.)
Thank you, Josh, for reading and for sharing your updates! – Ed.
Good Jibes #153: Summer Vacation Flashback to ‘Good Jibes Past (Part 2)’
Welcome to another episode of Good Jibes Past! Yes, our production crew are still on vacation and have left us in charge. Rather than take you all down the slippery slope of editors run amok, we decided to let maturity prevail and share some more of our favorite episodes from the last three years. (Has it been that long already?!)
This week we walk the Olympic line with USA sailor Hans Henken. When Hans sat down with Good Jibes host Moe Roddy in March, he was preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Four months later, he’s now in Paris preparing to race for the gold medal. Hans is a world-champion sailor and Olympian. In this episode Hans and Moe chat about the training, the challenges and the setbacks, including the injury Hans sustained during SailGP’s Season 4 in Italy last September.
Next, we fast-forward to earlier this month when we chatted with Bay Area sailor Stan Honey. Stan is a world-record sailor and three-time Emmy winner, and a member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and US National Inventors Hall of Fame. In this episode, Stan chats with host Moe Roddy about his life-changing experiences and races on the water, what it takes to be a great navigator, how to prepare for races, the sailing mentors who inspired him to new heights, and his favorite race snack.
Last, but certainly not least, we draw your attention to April 2022 and Episode #34: Brady Trautman & Alex Blue on Doing What Makes You Happy. In this episode, Brady and Blue chat with Latitude 38‘s Nicki Bennett about finding what you love on the water and sailing as a community. Brady and Blue have over 100,000 miles of combined sailing experience and 14 years sailing around the world, and they empower others to start their sailing journey through their sailing school and film company, Cruisers Academy. Hear how to turn your passion for sailing into a career and sail as a couple, and about the behind-the-scenes of their 80 North docuseries, the healing power of sailing, and how the duo first met.
Brady and Blue are attending the Latitude 38 Baja Ha-Ha Fall Crew List Party and Cruising Seminar, where they’ll be sharing their knowledge and experience gained over their thousands of miles on the water. See you there?
Catch a Sail or Shade the Sun With Zepp Sticks
Short Sightings — Encinal Regatta, Angel Island, Oakland Estuary
The last few boats in the Pacific Cup are making their approach to Kaneohe, the Melges 24 PCCs are on this coming weekend at the Richmond Yacht Club, and the Bay Area’s sailing Olympians are racing in Marseille, and yet, there’s still more sailing news from the California waterfront. We’ve included some in today’s Short Sightings.
Alameda Adapts
Sailor Lauren Eisele has been working hard with the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee to help prepare the region for sea level rise. Solutions include ideas like the famous dikes utilized by the Dutch and levees like those in our California Delta. As the state battles hundreds of thousands of acres of fires, other parts of the state are addressing being inundated with water. Here are three meetings you can attend if you’d like to learn more and help Lauren and others on the committee:
August 3, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. — Estuary Project (Alameda focus) at the REAP Climate Center, 2133 Tynan Ave, Alameda.
August 12, 5:30–8:00 p.m. — Bay Farm Island Project at Leydecker Recreation Center, 3221 Mecartney Road, Alameda (Bay Farm Island)
August 15, 5:30–8:00 p.m. — Estuary Project (Oakland focus) at Port of Oakland Community Room, 530 Water St., Oakland.
It’s nice living close to the water but you may not want the water moving too close. You can learn more about OAAC here.
Encinal Regatta
Fifty-eight boats signed up for the YRA’s Destination Regatta to Encinal Yacht Club. The fleet raced under gray skies with a starting line to the northeast of Treasure Island and a course out to Point Bonita.
John Arens, winner of Spinnaker 2 aboard his J/109 Reverie, reports on their race, “It was especially fun because the top three boats traded the lead back and forth multiple times over the course of the race.
“The course was the typical Berkeley Pier start to Point Bonita to Encinal. We had the tail end of a big ebb and moderate breeze — probably 10-20 kts. The sun never really showed up so it was gray and even misty at times. A little cold.
“We had a poor start but found a lane to get over to port for the long leg toward the headlands. We tried to stay in the deep water in the middle to get the last of the ebb. It was a little lumpy and confused out the Gate but it made for some surfing opportunities on the way in. We had enough breeze to carry us across the Bay Bridge and into the Estuary, where we milked the puffs and ducked a hole or two.
“We sailed well but had some luck too.”
This will be a tough race to run if they build the Oakland-Alameda Estuary Pedestrian Bridge!
You can see full results here.
Angel Island – Tiburon Ferry
The ferry service connecting Angel Island State Park and downtown Tiburon is going electric hybrid in a project with EV Maritime from New Zealand.
The ferry company is owned by Maggie McDonogh and operates three vessels between Tiburon and Angel Island. The project will create a new hybrid electric vessel and electrify two existing boats in a project financed by the California Air Resources Board.
Latitude 38 August Issue Out Tomorrow
It’s true! Tomorrow is August 1, and our eighth issue for 2024 will be on the trucks on its way to you via your nearest or favorite distributor. Or, if you’re a subscriber, via USPS. You’ll also be able to check out the new issue online, here.
We’ll have a preview for you in Friday’s ‘Lectronic Latitude.
- Youth Sailing
- West Coast Sailing
- Northern California Racing
- Racing
- Wings & Foils
- International Racing
- Events
Regattas Galore in the Month of August
A Sampling of Races Around Northern California
The Melges 24 Pacific Coast Championship on August 3-4 (with a practice race on Friday the 2nd) will serve as a warm-up to the Worlds. Richmond Yacht Club will run the races in the Berkeley Circle area that San Francisco YC will use for the Melges 24 Worlds on August 20-24. As of this morning, 31 teams had registered for the Worlds, and 19 have entered the PCCs.
Sequoia Yacht Club invites local racers to participate in the annual South Bay Championship, incorporating the Open 5.70 North Americans on August 3-4. SeqYC intends to run five races over the two days. They’ll offer a South of the Border-themed party on Saturday night at their club in Redwood City.
On August 3 Sausalito YC will welcome all-female and mixed crews for their Women Skippers’ Regatta.
The spectacle that is the Great S.F. Schooner Race and Belvedere Classic will return to SFYC on August 10.
Encinal YC’s Gracie & George on Sunday, August 11, will be a doublehanded, coed, women skippers’ race (Gracie drives).
SFYC will take advantage of a nearly full moon on August 17 with the 34-mile Midnight Moonlight Maritime Marathon, a pursuit race to the Carquinez Bridge and back.
Car-top your El Toro and head upslope for the “Worlds” on Pinecrest Lake, a high-altitude resort, on August 17-18. See www.eltoroyra.org.
Head over the hill to pastoral Tomales Bay for the International 110 PCCs at Inverness YC on August 23-25.
A Busy Time of Year at St. Francis
US Sailing and St. Francis YC announce the first-ever US Wingfoil Championship, to be held on August 9-11 in San Francisco. The heavy breeze conditions and challenging currents of San Francisco Bay will test skills in this up-and-coming class.
On August 17-18, StFYC will host the Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure for Cape 31, Express 37, Folkboat, J/105, J/22, J/88, Knarr, Melges 24 and Moore 24 classes, plus ORC- and PHRF-rated boats.
On August 29 (yes, that’s a Thursday), StFYC will start the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge Race for hydrofoil kites, windsurfers and wingfoilers at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Out the Gate
The Yacht Racing Association and the Singlehanded Sailing Society will join forces to organize the Drake’s Bay Race, with a leg from San Francisco to Drake’s Bay on Saturday the 10th, and a race back on Sunday the 11th. (Anchor out overnight — there are no docks!) Register for the YRA version and/or the SSS version on Jibeset.
Coastside
On the first weekend of August, Stillwater YC in Pebble Beach will host Santana 22s for Santanarama.
The Mercury fleet will sail on Carmel Bay out of Stillwater YC for their Labor Day Regatta, actually a week early on August 24-25. Update of August 9: This regatta was canceled, as the hoist at Stillwater Cove is out of order.
From Our Friends to the North
On August 10, Hood River YC in Oregon will offer up the Double Damned Race, an often-devilish dash from the Cascade Locks to the Dalles.
San Juan Island YC will run the 54th Shaw Island Classic on the 10th. The race starts and ends in Friday Harbor, WA, and allows racers to circumnavigate Shaw Island in either direction. A hearty lasagna dinner and awards presentation will follow the race. The public can watch the race from the shores of San Juan, Orcas, Lopez and Shaw Islands, as well as from ferries transiting the course. The race is open to multihulls, unballasted centerboards, PHRF sailboats and cruising sailboats of all sizes and rigs.
In Southern California
On August 5-8, San Diego YC will host the Chubb US Youth Triplehanded Championship. The kids will compete for the Sears Cup in SDYC’s fleet of J/22s.
Balboa YC in Newport Beach will host the Laser (aka ILCA) Nationals on August 9-11. California YC in Marina del Rey will follow up with the ILCA (aka Laser) Masters North Americans on August 15-18. Charters are available. The entry fee discount will end tomorrow, Thursday, August 1. August 15 will be a prep and practice day, on land and on the water. Fleet member Emilio Castelli is providing complimentary wine. “I understand some of you may have concerns regarding our facilities following the recent clubhouse fire,” writes regatta chair Janice Pearson-Read. “Rest assured, the impact on your experience will be minimal.”
Labor Day Weekend Regattas
Labor Day Weekend will actually start in August this year. You’ll have a lot of races to choose from, so we’ll save those events for a special preview a couple of weeks from now.
As always, the above regattas are just a few of the events available to West Coast sailboat racers. For many more, see our Calendar in Latitude 38, coming out tomorrow, and the 2024 Northern California Sailing Calendar and YRA Master Schedule. Also feel free to give a shoutout to your faves in the Comments section below.
A ‘Save The Dater’ — Latitude 38 Baja Ha-Ha Fall Crew Party
