Beating to windward

We had almost no wind until we got past the Bay Bridge, then it started to pick up. By the time we got to around Angel Island, dodging the racing fleets, we had some decent wind and as we approached the Golden Gate it was about 18 knots.

Golden Gate

As soon as we went under the bridge, the wind dropped considerably and we had a quiet time, a little too quiet on the way back.

The tide was still ebbing at at least 2 knots, and with only a few knots wind it took us quite a while to get back into the Bay.

Homeward

As soon as we entered under the bridge again the wind picked up to 15-18 knots and we were off like a rocket.

With 15 knots just aft of our beam we were making 9-10 knots. Good fun.

I was driving at the time, so didn't get any pics of the AC 45's (America's Cup Challenge Series) we saw out practicing. They were fast.

Tide

We got from the Golden Gate to almost the Bay Bridge at an average of about 8 knots, and then we came to a standstill. The wind dropped to 5 knots and the tide was running against us at 2-3 knots so we like many other boats pretty much sat still for about half an hour, slowly inching our way in.

Eventually the wind picked up a little and we quickly reached the channel into Alameda, and time for the engine. Sam took us in and did a fine job.