Oakland Yacht Club, Alameda

Here we are at OYC and the picture on the right shows our friends from S/V Estrellita tied up at the guest dock in front of us. They took only six days to sail here from Tofino, Vancouver Island, and they found the sun. With the right weather, everything is possible. OYC's hallmark is to be the "Friendliest Yacht Club on the Bay" and we can vouch for that. Once again we have met great people here and look forward to catching up with them on the airwaves or in a distant place. Also next door is the Encinal Yacht Club, again a great place to meet up. New friends the Rossi family were kind enough to take us out to Berkeley one evening to broaden our horizons and we hope to see them later in our travels.  Alex showed up unexpectedly from his Alaska trip to make sure that we didn't miss the award winning noodles made while you wait at the Ark Chinese restaurant, Alameda. I also recommend the great food at the India Palace.

The island city of Alameda has a gentle pace of life and we brought out our folding bikes to ride most days. There are reputedly the highest concentration on Alameda of Victorian homes which escaped the 1906 earthquake in which an estimated 3,000 people lost their lives. At the time a figure of 375 deaths was fabricated by government officials who feared the truth would hurt real estate prices. Of course that sort of thing doesn't happen today.............of course not. Here are the photos of our bikes ready to ride and another photo of them folded and packed to stow in their cubby hole in the engine room.
Here also is our photo of one of those iconic San Francisco streets, you know, the ones that go up, then up,

then up even more. And you can imagine those police cars coming careering down just like in the old TV series. Yes, we did all watch them, you had better own up. One day we took the BART over to San Francisco from 80 degree Alameda to 65 degree San Franciso; the Admiral was particularly keen to view the bojagi-inspired exhibition at the Museum of Folk and Craft Art. Now I know all about Korean wrapping cloths; if it is educational it is good, right?
We have done boat chores and homework also and are ready to depart tomorrow at 0530 for a long run to Monterey. I have been watching the weather forecast twice a day all week since we have first tomorrow the San Francisco bar and later in the week, the "Cape Horn of the Pacific", Point Conception. I have been monitoring the forecasts for the two buoys Point Argello and Harvest, that is where we will be Sunday night if all goes according to plan. It is essential to get this weather right. You will remember our caution in the down transit to California and that we reckoned we just crept under the wire before last week's gale. S/V Gypsy Soul were not so lucky, the Coast Guard rescued these experienced sailors early Friday morning in 30 ft seas and 60 knot winds; a hatch was stoved in by the seas and they were unable to cope with the amount of water coming aboard. Prepare, prepare, prepare and then be cautious. And good luck would also be very useful.