Westpoint Marina and Grooves in the Muck

The day after Thanksgiving, Dave and I took out a Merit for a few hours of peace and quiet out on the water. We knew the wind was light, but we hoped for a few windy spots on the bay... and did actually get some real sailing in for a while.

We sailed out of the slip in 0 knots. That's right... no wind, both sails up, no motor. Dave pushed us off the dock and then almost fell out of the boat as he helped us avoid hitting the new Cal 24 parked at the end of the fairway, directly behind us as I backed out. Off we went at about 1/10 knot out of the marina. It took about an hour for us to get out into the main channel—200 yards or so—at which point, Dave decided to start the engine. I had just finished eating my lunch and didn't have a problem drifting around the basin, but when Dave wants to use the engine, you know there's no wind at all! ☺

After Dave started the engine, I took the helm and motored us up the channel, so Dave could eat his lunch. We'd sailed past the Westpoint Slough several times and noticed the new channel markers a few weeks ago. Then our friend Mike told us he'd gone down there one day to check out the new Westpoint Marina being build, so we ventured in. Dave had been hiking down there before they flooded the basin, but he hadn't seen the docks in the water yet. I'd never been down that way, so it was something new to do on a light wind day.

The slough is narrow, and it was nearing low tide, so we stayed right in the middle to avoid going aground. We were still motoring, so we had plenty of control. Dave took the helm part way in so I could shoot some pictures. This is going to be a beautiful marina!

After exploring the marina, we headed back to the main channel and out to the bay. The wind had picked up by that time, so we shut down the engine and sailed. Actually, we got some pretty good wind... 8-10 knots is my guess. We were actually heeling for a while, so we were having fun. Still, we only had about 3-1/2 hours out there, so we made it as far as marker 12, rounded it, and headed back.

By the time we got to the channel, the wind had died down a bit, but we kept sailing. The tide was so low by this time that we could see more of the exposed mud and muck than I've ever seen before. Dave pointed out that the grooves in the muck are from boats going aground, so I shot a bunch of pictures of the keel and engine grooves. For more pics of the Westpoint Marina and grooves in the muck, check out my Picasa web album!

About half way down the channel, I finally convinced Dave that we were going backwards, so he fired up the engine again and took us in. We were going so slowly that we were able to flake the main, put the cover on, and get the boat almost completely buttoned up before we ever hit the dock. The sun was setting as we returned to the dock... a beautiful ending to a lovely day.