I oughtta just retitle this blog: "Confessions of a Bad Blogger"

Save myself the trouble of making excuses all the time, right?

:::sigh:::

Suffice it to say, it's been a Berry Busy Summer. Much boating. Much sunshine. And yes, even some fun worked in!

The boating, as you may have gathered from my last post, has been on Overkill, unfortunately. We did take a week's vacation and moved the boat up to Brisbane Marina in August. I was rather hoping that this would temper Roger's enthusiasm, somewhat. At least wear some of the "shine" off of "New Toy Syndrome!"

Rog motored up early one morning - took about 1-1/2 hrs @ WOT. I drove my car up, and met him there (I *needed* my own mode of transportation readily available, if "Abandoning Ship" became necessary!)

Roger had compiled quite the list of Things We Must Do: Sail out the Golden Gate (:::rolling eyes:::); Sail around Angel Island; Go to Berkeley and/or Jack London Square for lunch; Have dinner at Pier 39; yada-yada... Well, wind conditions on the bay are pretty challenging most of the time - even down where we're docked (which is significantly calmer than up around the 'Gate). Winds are especially gnarly in August - when the coastline is cool and foggy, and inland temps can top triple-digits. And there's an awful lot of water flowing in and out of the bay (year-round). That all equates to rough, windy, "challenging" conditions...

Lazy Lightning - while she's a very nice boat - she just isn't a boat who's well-suited to challenging conditions. She's 26-feet long, 8-feet wide, foam-filled and self-righting, with lots of interior space which means she's got lots of freeboard (freeboard = the stuff that's up above the waterline and subject to wind and waves). And, with the water ballast tank full, she displaces only about 4,000#. In other words, she bobs like a cork and windy, rough conditions make for a very uncomfortable ride...

My bay-sailing experience has been on heavy keelboats - and, even then, my Sailing Friends were of the ilk that *wouldn't* go out when conditions weren't damn-near perfect (yet I still had more than my share of "rails in the water/balls-to-the-wall" sailing!). Yes, I've sailed out the 'Gate on a 35-footer - on a dead-calm day. But that was on a BIG HEAVY CRUISER. Roger's enthusiasm - at least initially - exceeded Lazy Lightning's capabilities. And that made me pretty nervous.

But I digress...............

And, with us docked next to San Bruno Mountain - sharing the same channel as Oyster Cove (aka "Hurricane Gulch"), my home for six years, let's just say that the list of Things We Must Do got shortened significantly!!!

I've utterly given up on reminding Roger that "conditions change *instantly* on the bay" and "if Small Craft Advisories start at 1:00pm, I wanna be back at the dock by 12:30." Instead, Rog took the helm and took it upon himself to always sail "just a little bit farther" and stay out "just a little bit longer" than we should have. We were never in danger, but it made for some mighty dramatic sailing - hauling @$$ at breakneck speed, trying to make it back to safety! And I assumed a new role: "Ballast Girl." Whenever the conditions got really rough, I'd go down below to lower the center of gravity and shift my weight around to offset the tossing of the boat ("If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost!").

Ohhhh yes... A Grand Time Was Had By All!!!

To be fair, Roger has finally figured out that "conditions change *instantly* on the bay" and "if Small Craft Advisories start at 1:00pm, we should probably think about at least being CLOSE to the marina by about 12:30..." And he figured that out All By Himself!!! :::sigh:::

We actually did do some sailing (early in the mornings), and we did motor across the bay to Ballena Island and had breakfast at a cool little waterfront restaurant over there. But we never made it out the GG, nor to Angel Island, nor Pier 39, or wherever... It was just toooooo nasty out there for a little 4,000 lb. 26-footer.

Come October, we might be able to tackle some of those list items, but definitely not in August! Trouble is: The City is sooooo far away from where we're docked, it'd almost have to be an overnighter.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that I *did* survive our "Vacation" on Lazy Lightning. And I am totally convinced that she is suitable for a "Weekend" away. But definitely NOT a week! (There is, quite honestly, no way to store a weeks' worth of provisions on her!!!)