 |
| Home again, home again. |
We were about an hour early for the start of the America's Cup race, which was a non race, only one boat ran the buoys. But we managed to sail right onto the course, the edges had not been clearly marked yet. We were busy marveling at how great our view was going to be, when the Bobbi Tosse, a race support boat from the Berkeley Yacht Club (my club) came after us. Even though I was acquainted with the three people on the boat, their attitude of self importance and rudeness pretty much summed up the America's Cup racing for me. It's certainly not about entertainment, it's a rich boy sport and an insiders event. I can't imagine another professional sport where a team would refuse to participate. They're all thumbing their noses at all of us inconsequential spectators, whether we're on the water or live streaming from our computers or watching from the shore.
We sailed home under jib alone, something I hadn't done before. I know it will keep the boat off balance in heavy seas, but we were sailing on the last of the flood and the water was smooth. It was lovely.
The best part of the whole day: I docked Pearl alone! Leigh and Paddy stood by in case of mishap, and we talked the whole thing through first. I approached the dock once, stopped the boat too soon, half of it was still out of the slip. While I pondered motoring forward more, the bow began to swing away from the dock in the slight southerly wind, so I backed away. After a deep breath, I approached again, this time pulling the boat completely into the slip and parallel to the dock before stopping it's motion. I stepped off with all three dock lines, stopped the boat completely with the midship line, tied off the stern loosely, and then the bow. Voila! Bingo! Yippee! Empowered.
 |
| I did it! By myself! |
Boat cleaning afternoon, everything tucked away, Berkeley Bowl stop and a drive home through the fog with no radar. Cars are really at a disadvantage.
A great trip!
