Alcatraz -> Golden Gate Bridge

Five days on shore is plenty of time to get you excited for the next trip out. We had planned on taking Nyree, Hunter, Dave and Dan out today, but rather than wake up early and drive to the boat, we opted to spend last night on the Murray for the first time. After a few hours of general boat stuff to get him ready for all the visitors, we paddled into town for dinner and a few drinks at the local working class bar. Once back at the boat, we were treated to a perfectly calm evening free of waves or sounds. Woken by the rumble and the wake of the local commercial fishing fleet making their way out to sea, I managed to take a few pictures of the sunrise before falling back asleep to wait for our visitors to arrive. We met the rest of the crew just across the channel at the dock and set out for the bay. Unlike last time out, there wasn't much wind to speak of when we left the protection of our harbor so we just motored to Angel and Alcatraz islands and drank a bunch of beer. As we rounded Alcatraz the wind started to pick up so we pulled the motor out of the water and sailed out past the gate before turning home. Things we saw on this trip of note: a mother and baby dolphin, seagulls, jellyfish, pelicans, brown jellyfish (rare), harbor seals, kite boarders, Alcatraz agaves, a B17 Flying Fortress (I think), a sea lion tearing a fish apart under the bridge, tugs, barges, container ships and so on. So, you can see, it was quite an eventful day.

How Murray Got His Groove Back

Two months after we bought him, we find ourselves underway on the Murray's maiden voyage. The forecast was for light to no wind, but we had planned on spending our sunday on the water so we were going to just motor around if that was all we could do. El Hondito is a fine outboard, and carried us swiftly south in the direction of Alcatraz and SF. As we left the protection of Richardson Bay we were treated to the sight of a number of other sailboats heeled over pretty hard in what turned out to be a strong 15 knot wind from the WSW through the gate. Just as we finished putting the main sail up we crossed out of the wind shadow cast by the Marin headlands and we were sailing. I went up front to raise the jib sail and Ellie took the helm and plotted a mental course west to the bridge. We ended up tacking five times against the incoming tidal current and passed under the bridge on a strong port tack, waving to a number of excited children on the bridge deck. We took a few pictures of our feet outside the gate, a new Murray tradition, and enjoyed the scenery, but the sun was getting low over the endless Pacific horizon so we turned around and made a quick exit, this time with both the wind and the current at our back. An hour later we were back on the dock deflating Thingy and turning our noses up at million dollar yachts that look under appreciated. Next week we hope to repeat today's success but with some of The Murray's other crew members on board.

Our New Addition

The Murray is proud to announce the addition of our newest team member, a 2005 5HP Honda 4-stroke long shaft outboard. I picked her up in a gravel lot at an oil recycling facility in Newark, CA at about 8:45 last night. I left everything I knew about the seller with Dan and Dave in case I didn't return home, which wasn't necessary as the guy was really nice and just happened to work the second shift in the shadiest part of the east bay. So that's that. This was the last piece of the puzzle we needed before we were going to leave the safety of our mooring buoy. Soon you will find this page littered with photos and tales of grand adventure on the high seas or something like that. Yaaarrr.

More Important Than This Silly Boat Anyhow

We would like to welcome the newest member of, aw heck, look at how sweet she looks. Keep yourself up to date on her wonderful world at: zoeameliabrenoel.blogspot.com

NOAA Nautical Chart On-Line Viewer

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a nice site where you can have a look at their nautical charts. It has an interface much like other map sites. Click to zoom, click and move to pan etc. It has been helpful for dreaming up longer trips outside the bay. Click here for the bay, or here for everywhere else.