By Tom Fowle
It was one of those February Fridays when, after a week of work for which I felt I should have been paid at least triple, a nice sail was absolutely necessary. The weather was cooperating, warm enough to wear nothing but a BAADS wind breaker (well, maybe a few more items). There was a nice winter breeze with barely a chill.
Oh sorrow, all the BAADS boats are down: poor E.T. is out for her much deserved refit, and the Independences both have outboard problems! We could go over and charter a boat from Spinnaker sailing, but then we couldn't eat for a month, and we like food too much for that.
Wait, Sue reminded me about the Lake Merritt sailing program. Several BAADS members have taken their course and reported on nice little boats to rent there. It's been a long time since Sue and I sailed a small boat -- we wonder if we still can? A quick phone call determined that if the weather held, we could rent a boat there and our ASA certifications would be accepted as qualifications.
A BART ride, a bus ride and a little searching for the boat house we hadn't seen in years led us to choosing between a Hobie Holder, and a a Capri. The nice guy on the dock recommended the Holder, as being more modern and a bit more responsive. We had fun figuring out how to rig this neat little boat (what, no roller furling jib?) and almost got it right the first time, only failing to get the jib halyard shackle through both the wire eye which reinforces the sail's luff and the cringle at the head of the sail.
So we left the dock and had no trouble getting going, even without a motor. However the jib wanted to slide down its wire luff stay and leave its top third crumpled and most unsail-like in shape. Oh well, it's good practice to have to go out on the foredeck of such a little boat and drop the jib while braving the howling 5 knots in the wilds of Lake Merritt.
Finally got it looking like a sail, and enjoyed a gentle, but never boring 3 hour sail around all the lake's fingers. Even with the always audible traffic noises, there was water, wind (a little light and quite variable in direction) a sail boat, nesting geese, and a great afternoon with the 2 of us sailing together.
The event was made even more special by the memories of one of our first dates almost 25 years ago when I had taken Sue out in an El Toro on that very lake for her first sail boat ride. The little Holder is certainly an improvement: one can heel a bit with 2 on board and not get wet, and it's a sloop.
It was great fun to sail a small boat again and to relearn those little(?) differences like how to tack a boat which has so little momentum that it's easy to get stuck in irons, and how to approach a dock without a motor. It's also nice to be able to reach both jib sheets and the main without moving one's seat, and adjust them without winches.
On returning to the dock we chatted with Dustin, the dock attendant, and looked at a newly acquired Hobie Wave, a small cat rigged catamaran which Dustin says is only sailable in high winds. We'll have to go try that one out some day too.
It wasn't an afternoon cruise to Angel Island, but it was a lot of fun, and a very enjoyable relearning experience too. The contrasts and similarities with our recent sailing experiences on Yukon Jack from San Francisco to San Diego in heavy weather are endlessly fascinating.
This was yet another fine example of the huge variety of experiences available to us all through BAADS! and our friends at Lake Merritt.
Try it, you'll love it.
The Lake Merritt boating program has the Hobie Holders (2 people, easy to sail but a little bit tippy), the Capri (2 to 4 people, and a little heavier, deeper and roomier), Sun Fish (1 person, and can be a real racing boat), and the newly acquired Hobie Wave (catamaran). They willingly accepted ASA certification, but even if you don't have that, they will give you a quick test and rent to anyone who can handle a small boat. Rates are $12.00 per hour and they offer a 50% discount for disabled persons. (Remember they have paid employees there to help.)
Written March 1996
Updated 6-20-2005