Sailing, Friday April 11
VALIS is getting ready for the Pacific Cup! On Friday, Apr 11, Daniel T, Alan B, and I met onboard VALIS to review the systems and rigging, and any changes necessary. We were joined by our rigger J.P. (J.P. Boatworks, Sausalito – whom I highly recommend). We went over the boat from stem to stern, and J.P. went to the top of the mast, for a preliminary inspection. We’ve now got a list of items to be added, changed, repaired, inspected, etc, and a schedule deadline for haulout. VALIS is looking good, but we will be changing the foreguy rigging, adding a reaching strut (especially useful now that we won’t be racing with the asymmetrical spinnakers), improving the preventer rigging, and about a dozen other items.
After J.P. had filled his notepad with things to do, Daniel, Alan, and I took VALIS out for a brief sail on the bay. We tacked back and forth across the bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and out past Mile Rock. We then ran back into the bay, past an incoming tanker (empty???) and an outgoing container ship, the Genoa Bridge. Once under the bridge, we rounded Alcatraz and headed for home as the sun was setting on a spectacular day.
Attached is the Google Earth .kmz file showing our tracks and those of the AIS-equipped ships in our vicinity:
