Hello,

Hope this goes better then the last time I tried posting here.

Anyway, I'm contemplating a job-related relocation to the Bay area from New
England. I'm hoping to get some comments on the sailing scene in the Bay
Area as compared to the Northeast (Mass/RI/Maine) coasts. I do mostly day
sailing with a few 2-3 days weekends and a couple of week long trips per
year. My weekends are usually up to Cape Ann or down to the Plymouth, and
the week long trips are usually to Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, or P-town
and the Stellwagen bank for whale watching.

While the weather and the wind seems pretty decent in the Bay Area, I'm
wondering about the following:

-Is there a variety of places to visit, anchor, go ashore and explore like
there is in the Northeast, or is sailing mostly criss crossing the bay?

-How is sailing in the off-season? Even in Boston there are hardy souls
that do winter sailing/racing (kind of cool in the snow!) but I was
wondering how common it is for people to get out in the winter season.

-If I didn't want to buy a boat right away (I think the local housing market
will take care of that) are there any recommended clubs to check out,
preferably that have a fleet with boats in the 24' - 30'-something size? I
mostly sail J-30's, and sometimes C&C 33's with an occasional J-24.

I get a sense that I'll miss all of the islands and harbors here in New
England. But I'm not sure what kind of destinations lie inside and outside
the Bay. And of course it's closer to Seattle, and the San Juans, where I
really like to charter for a week and sail, and in the Bay it seems an
exciting ride is pretty much guaranteed on a regular basis.

Comments appreciated!

Thanks!

You would have liked the Chesapeake Bay. Too bad.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

I agree, the Chesapeake is great for exploring, fishing, crabbing. It goes
back a while but I've had a good time sailing down there, when I was in
college, our sailing team got to race a couple times on the Luder Yawls at
the Naval Academy. Unfortunately that's not an option I wish it were, a lot
closer to my family in NYC.

"SAIL LOCO" wrote in message
...
You would have liked the Chesapeake Bay. Too bad.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
Trains are a winter sport

Intenost,

You got the right man with Jon.

I think you"ll love sailing out here. I'm in the Puget Sound Area, after
growing up on Long Island Sound. I was led to believe LI Sound was the
best. Boy was I wrong.. Puget Sound tops it hands down

I sailed a little on SF Bay. Damn little but it's a hell of a great
place to sail. Maybe the best in the country. IMHO!

The big draw back out hear is the water is cold, COLD!! You don't go
swimming like back East. This is Wet Suit Country.

SAILING IS THE GREATEST!

Ole Thom

Thanks! Jon, Thom, Bart, et al, appreciate all of the great info. So looks
like I'm in for some challenging sailing, and hopefully will have the time
to get into the racing scene, although I've been more of a cruising sailor
the last decade or so. I did charter a boat, J-24 I think, out of Sausalito
once, and had quite a ride, in fact I watched another boat get dismasted,
dramatic, although nobody was hurt, and local boaters and S&R got there in a
hurry. Funny, I thought I would get grilled by the charter outfit, being an
out of towner on a pretty rough day, but all they did was asked me to put a
double reef in the main at the dock, and then they said, "have fun" which I
did! But I was wondering about the crusing opportunities there as I feel
kind of spoiled by New England, with all the coves and harbors to duck into,
and lobster for the taking.

Puget Sound is great, I've done 4 weeks in the San Juan's over the last 5
years, and hope to go back in 2004. It's just such a great place to get
away, great sailing, beautiful sailing, unspoiled. And nice to be able to
empty that holding tank in Canadian waters :-).

Due to work location and cost of living issues, I may wind up living closer
to Santa Cruz/Monterey then SF Bay, so I may be back looking for pointers on
the sailing opportunities in that area...

Regards,

-Ost

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Intenost,

You got the right man with Jon.

I think you"ll love sailing out here. I'm in the Puget Sound Area, after
growing up on Long Island Sound. I was led to believe LI Sound was the
best. Boy was I wrong.. Puget Sound tops it hands down

I sailed a little on SF Bay. Damn little but it's a hell of a great
place to sail. Maybe the best in the country. IMHO!

The big draw back out hear is the water is cold, COLD!! You don't go
swimming like back East. This is Wet Suit Country.

SAILING IS THE GREATEST!

Ole Thom

Ost,

If you get to the Puget Sound, you better give me a call. There is a
Gulf 29 Pilothouse Sloop for you to use (An old man and a Ratterrier
Dog) that goes with it. There is no way you can beat the Price.
One "Mamhatten" straight up. That's your cost.

Seriously, e-mail me and I'll show you some out of the way anchorages
and some Dungeness Crabs that won't beat those NE Lobsters but their not
to bad. With the Microwave, in the Pilothouse you can't get a much
fresher Crab Louie anywhere.

And; "I'LL DRINK TO THAT!"

Ole Thom

You're welcome. Most places are probably more cautious
than that in my experience. It's easy to get in trouble on the
bay.

"Intenost" wrote in message
...
Thanks! Jon, Thom, Bart, et al, appreciate all of the great info. So
looks
like I'm in for some challenging sailing, and hopefully will have the time
to get into the racing scene, although I've been more of a cruising sailor
the last decade or so. I did charter a boat, J-24 I think, out of
Sausalito
once, and had quite a ride, in fact I watched another boat get dismasted,
dramatic, although nobody was hurt, and local boaters and S&R got there in
a
hurry. Funny, I thought I would get grilled by the charter outfit, being
an
out of towner on a pretty rough day, but all they did was asked me to put
a
double reef in the main at the dock, and then they said, "have fun" which
I
did! But I was wondering about the crusing opportunities there as I feel
kind of spoiled by New England, with all the coves and harbors to duck
into,
and lobster for the taking.

Puget Sound is great, I've done 4 weeks in the San Juan's over the last 5
years, and hope to go back in 2004. It's just such a great place to get
away, great sailing, beautiful sailing, unspoiled. And nice to be able to
empty that holding tank in Canadian waters :-).

Due to work location and cost of living issues, I may wind up living
closer
to Santa Cruz/Monterey then SF Bay, so I may be back looking for pointers
on
the sailing opportunities in that area...

Regards,

-Ost

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Intenost,

You got the right man with Jon.

I think you"ll love sailing out here. I'm in the Puget Sound Area, after
growing up on Long Island Sound. I was led to believe LI Sound was the
best. Boy was I wrong.. Puget Sound tops it hands down

I sailed a little on SF Bay. Damn little but it's a hell of a great
place to sail. Maybe the best in the country. IMHO!

The big draw back out hear is the water is cold, COLD!! You don't go
swimming like back East. This is Wet Suit Country.

SAILING IS THE GREATEST!

Ole Thom

Same goes with what Thom said...

Re Monterey/Santa Cruz... Try Pacific Yachting. www.pacificsail.com.
I know the owner and a good friend is one of the instructors.

"Intenost" wrote in message
...
Thanks! Jon, Thom, Bart, et al, appreciate all of the great info. So
looks
like I'm in for some challenging sailing, and hopefully will have the time
to get into the racing scene, although I've been more of a cruising sailor
the last decade or so. I did charter a boat, J-24 I think, out of
Sausalito
once, and had quite a ride, in fact I watched another boat get dismasted,
dramatic, although nobody was hurt, and local boaters and S&R got there in
a
hurry. Funny, I thought I would get grilled by the charter outfit, being
an
out of towner on a pretty rough day, but all they did was asked me to put
a
double reef in the main at the dock, and then they said, "have fun" which
I
did! But I was wondering about the crusing opportunities there as I feel
kind of spoiled by New England, with all the coves and harbors to duck
into,
and lobster for the taking.

Puget Sound is great, I've done 4 weeks in the San Juan's over the last 5
years, and hope to go back in 2004. It's just such a great place to get
away, great sailing, beautiful sailing, unspoiled. And nice to be able to
empty that holding tank in Canadian waters :-).

Due to work location and cost of living issues, I may wind up living
closer
to Santa Cruz/Monterey then SF Bay, so I may be back looking for pointers
on
the sailing opportunities in that area...

Regards,

-Ost

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Intenost,

You got the right man with Jon.

I think you"ll love sailing out here. I'm in the Puget Sound Area, after
growing up on Long Island Sound. I was led to believe LI Sound was the
best. Boy was I wrong.. Puget Sound tops it hands down

I sailed a little on SF Bay. Damn little but it's a hell of a great
place to sail. Maybe the best in the country. IMHO!

The big draw back out hear is the water is cold, COLD!! You don't go
swimming like back East. This is Wet Suit Country.

SAILING IS THE GREATEST!

Ole Thom

Consider normal Northern Hemisphere weather patterns. The weather
tends to move from West to East, which makes for a totally different
coastal condition, for sailing.
Think of SF Bay as an oversized Boston Harbor ... there are many places
to go in a larger area.
Sailing in Winter on the West Coast, is more normal than rare, but at
any time of year, sailing offshore, especially from Point Conception,
North tends to require some greater distances and greater pre-planning,
than you may be used to....the closest thing to NE for Islands, etc.,
for cruising is Puget Sound, etc..
I'm being vague and skipping details, but sense that's what you are
interested in.

Intenost wrote:
Hello,

Hope this goes better then the last time I tried posting here.

Anyway, I'm contemplating a job-related relocation to the Bay area from New
England. I'm hoping to get some comments on the sailing scene in the Bay
Area as compared to the Northeast (Mass/RI/Maine) coasts. I do mostly day
sailing with a few 2-3 days weekends and a couple of week long trips per
year. My weekends are usually up to Cape Ann or down to the Plymouth, and
the week long trips are usually to Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, or P-town
and the Stellwagen bank for whale watching.

While the weather and the wind seems pretty decent in the Bay Area, I'm
wondering about the following:

-Is there a variety of places to visit, anchor, go ashore and explore like
there is in the Northeast, or is sailing mostly criss crossing the bay?

-How is sailing in the off-season? Even in Boston there are hardy souls
that do winter sailing/racing (kind of cool in the snow!) but I was
wondering how common it is for people to get out in the winter season.

-If I didn't want to buy a boat right away (I think the local housing market
will take care of that) are there any recommended clubs to check out,
preferably that have a fleet with boats in the 24' - 30'-something size? I
mostly sail J-30's, and sometimes C&C 33's with an occasional J-24.

I get a sense that I'll miss all of the islands and harbors here in New
England. But I'm not sure what kind of destinations lie inside and outside
the Bay. And of course it's closer to Seattle, and the San Juans, where I
really like to charter for a week and sail, and in the Bay it seems an
exciting ride is pretty much guaranteed on a regular basis.

Comments appreciated!

Thanks!

He's talking about sailing - not motoring.
How come you motorboaters seem to think
you're qualified to answer questions posed
by sailors?

S.Simon


"otnmbrd" wrote in message news
Consider normal Northern Hemisphere weather patterns. The weather
tends to move from West to East, which makes for a totally different
coastal condition, for sailing.
Think of SF Bay as an oversized Boston Harbor ... there are many places
to go in a larger area.
Sailing in Winter on the West Coast, is more normal than rare, but at
any time of year, sailing offshore, especially from Point Conception,
North tends to require some greater distances and greater pre-planning,
than you may be used to....the closest thing to NE for Islands, etc.,
for cruising is Puget Sound, etc..
I'm being vague and skipping details, but sense that's what you are
interested in.

Intenost wrote:
Hello,

Hope this goes better then the last time I tried posting here.

Anyway, I'm contemplating a job-related relocation to the Bay area from New
England. I'm hoping to get some comments on the sailing scene in the Bay
Area as compared to the Northeast (Mass/RI/Maine) coasts. I do mostly day
sailing with a few 2-3 days weekends and a couple of week long trips per
year. My weekends are usually up to Cape Ann or down to the Plymouth, and
the week long trips are usually to Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, or P-town
and the Stellwagen bank for whale watching.

While the weather and the wind seems pretty decent in the Bay Area, I'm
wondering about the following:

-Is there a variety of places to visit, anchor, go ashore and explore like
there is in the Northeast, or is sailing mostly criss crossing the bay?

-How is sailing in the off-season? Even in Boston there are hardy souls
that do winter sailing/racing (kind of cool in the snow!) but I was
wondering how common it is for people to get out in the winter season.

-If I didn't want to buy a boat right away (I think the local housing market
will take care of that) are there any recommended clubs to check out,
preferably that have a fleet with boats in the 24' - 30'-something size? I
mostly sail J-30's, and sometimes C&C 33's with an occasional J-24.

I get a sense that I'll miss all of the islands and harbors here in New
England. But I'm not sure what kind of destinations lie inside and outside
the Bay. And of course it's closer to Seattle, and the San Juans, where I
really like to charter for a week and sail, and in the Bay it seems an
exciting ride is pretty much guaranteed on a regular basis.

Comments appreciated!

Thanks!