My first big boat sailing was last Labor Day weekend. I met Jean, who is now my good friend, on that sail. She was the skipper of the 34' Catalina we chartered out of Spinnaker, SF. So I thought it was appropriate to organize an anniversary sail this Labor Day weekend, and I was glad that Jean was able to join me. Also joining us were Gerry (who I knew from Google and who invited me to help him and his friend deliver a boat to Oyster Point a couple of weeks before), CK (a relatively new sailor I'd met at a Spinnaker event in RWC), and two of Jean's friends, Greg and Theresa.
We chartered Carita, a 32' C&C we'd sailed a few times before, and sailed out of Sausalito in the late morning. The weather was fine—sunny and mild with a nice breeze. We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge first, since Jean and I were the only ones on board who had ever done it. Then we headed toward Angel Island to see if we could moor at Ayala Cove for a quiet lunch on board. As we slowly motored through the mooring field, we couldn't find any available mooring buoys. But then I noticed that there was a small section of the guest dock available, so we quickly maneuvered over there and got our spot.
That was a good time to break out the champagne I'd brought to celebrate my anniversary with big boats and have a toast. Everyone had brought delicious snacks, so it was a very nice little celebration. We decided to go up on land to stretch our legs and ended up in the visitor's center. I'd never been there but found it very interesting.
Back on the boat, we sailed around a bit and then headed back to Sausalito. We could already feel how much shorter the days were getting. We had the boat all buttoned up by 6pm, and it was already pretty dark.
Once again, we all headed over to the Spinnaker Restaurant for a lovely meal with a fantastic view. Thanks all for making it a memorable anniversary for me! (Sorry, no pics... just good clean fun!)
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