Started out in a bit of haze, then it burned off. Proceeding toward Angel
Island, we encountered the nearly 300-boat annual Vallego Race. They were
running downwind from San Francisco toward the Richmond/San Rafeal Bridge
when we got there. Fortunately, we didn't interefer at all, having perfect
timing... we were at Raccoon Straight when they passed, so had a wonderful
view from the stern of Excalibur. No pics, as the camera was down for the
count.

After they passed we did some minor tacking and jibing, then settled into a
quick anchorage called Paradise Cove for lunch. We sailed back across
Southhampton dodging some anchored dredges, with towboats standing off. Not
sure what was going on with that. I dropped off one person who needed to get
back early, then we practiced close quarter maneauvering under power in a
couple of the local marinas. The wind mellowed considerably as we headed
back up the Richmond deep water channel. As we were coming out of the last
marina on our way home, we crossed another boat starboard to starboard,
since he was on engine and was kind enough to give us the upwind side. When
I asked him if it could possibly get better than this, he hollered over, "no
f*cking way!" And, we both smiled and kept going.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com