Boat Delivery to Oyster Point

One Sunday in late August, I helped a friend of a friend deliver a boat from "the yard" at Oakland estruary to Oyster Point. The boat owner had had some work done on the boat and then decided to keep it in the bay for a couple of months, so he and his wife could have some summer fun on the bay, instead of their home port of Half Moon Bay (Pillar Point). It was a smooth and uneventful ride up the estruary, under the Bay Bridge, and down the bay until we got close to Oyster Point.

I'd spent a whole summer once hanging out on my friend's power boat, which was berthed at Oyster Point. She insisted that we get up early and have our fun in the early part of the day, so we could be back before 2pm. She said the wind comes up strong at Oyster Point in the afternoon, and she was afraid to dock the boat after 2pm. I always thought she was a wimp... until that day. Oh my god! As we entered the channel into the marina, the wind increased more and more until we got close to the docks, when it reached 35 knots!

I was on the bow. On other occasions, I'd been skipper at the helm and was about to hit something and wished someone was on the bow ready to keep us from hitting. So I was determined that I was going to prevent a collision on this day... at least at the bow.

We crept into the marina under motor power and down the fairway where Dave's new slip was. We were getting blown all over the place. Dave tried to take the turn into his slip at the right time, but the wind was having none of it. The wind was sweeping us sideways, trying to shove us into the docks and other boats and wouldn't let us turn. Eventually, we came to rest broadside to the ends of Dave's dock fingers.

Gerry jumped off on the dock finger near the stern and started trying to steer us with a dock line. Dave jumped off onto the dock finger near the bow and tried to maneuver us with another dock line. At this point, we'd moved forward, and I had one leg extended off the bow pulpit, keeping us from hitting the boat in the next slip and was pushing off the piling with my arms. I've never been close enough to literally touch another boat with my foot before!

At that point, a few slip neighbors came over to help. I threw them all lines and, eventually, they maneuvered the boat around and into the slip. As we were heading into the slip finally, I realized that no one else was on the boat but me, and there was no one at the helm to put it in reverse to stop the boat! I ran back, but the dock crew had enough lines around enough cleats to stop us. Phew! That was a harrowing landing!

We all went below, took several deep breaths, and exclaimed how none of us had ever tried to land a boat in that much wind before and how lucky we were to have gotten into the slip relatively unscathed. Dave had asked one of the nice neighbors who came by to help if it's always like that. Apparently, it is. I no longer think my friend is a wimp.

Another exciting day out on the bay...