Tuesday, July 6, 2010

We're off Like a Rocket. Well................

On the button. 9:40 am, Tuesday morning, July 6th, 2010. Off the dock at RYC and on our way to the starting line at the St. Francis YC. Lots of action around the start line. There was a huge white catamaran with no mast or sails that was flying a really big kite. Then the San Francisco Fire Boat put on a wonderful water display. We took out one of the two reefs that were left over from the delivery. Wind was gusty 15-25 knots and coming in the Golden Gate. My crew made me promise to not be aggressive in the start and get us in trouble. So, I started a minute or two behind the others.

It was really blowing out under the bridge and bumpy waves. Serious sailing. Then in a matter of minutes the wind dropped off and we took out the other reef. The direction of the wind would not let us head toward Hawaii and we ended up drifting up the coast past Stinson Beach and at the moment we are headed for Point Reyes at a speed of about 4 knots in a wind of 5-6 knots. We have a lot of company, especially the double handers in tiny fast little boats. They are sort of zipping around us, but aren't really going anywhere either.

We went inside the Bolinas buoy. At one point Kathy's iPad said we should be in 60 feet of water and so we were.

Sure not like any thing I have ever seen before. We'll keep you posted. Bill
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At 7/4/2010 10:13 PM (utc) our position was 37°54.48'N 122°22.97'W

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4 comments:

  1. ValerieJuly 6, 2010 at 6:30 PM

    Cirrus is a jewel in light wind -- she'll get the bit in her teeth and we look forward to welcoming you in record time. BLOW --- VENT VENT VENT --
    Positive thinking all the way.
    Aloha
    Valerie

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  2. AnonymousJuly 6, 2010 at 8:54 PM

    Great to hear that the boats started off well, without any almost-collisions :-) Jun and Melanie

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  3. Clara Monica, Juliana and Maria LuciaJuly 6, 2010 at 9:50 PM

    Rick and Cirrus crew, it is great to read about your first day and we hope the wind will be better soon and you will speed up. Clara Monica, Juliana and I are already in San Francisco after having a wonderful lunch and afternoon with Helen, Jimmy, Kim and Lou, who took us to the Lombard Street. All is well with us.
    It was wonderful seeing you from the Sr. Francis club, you all look wonderful. We took a lot of pictures and we would like to know how to send them to you! Miss you a lot!!!

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  4. ChrisJuly 6, 2010 at 10:01 PM

    Agnes and I watched your start via the streaming Internet video on our large screen TV. You guys looked great as you sailed across the line and away toward the Golden Gate bridge. You were alone and centered in the video frame. In the audio portion, we could hear Michael Moradzedah and Kim Ickler discussing your departure. We heard Kim say "Fair Winds Cirrus! Stay warm and dry!". We could not have said it any better. ~Chris and Agnes

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