A happy close of the 4th to all. I hope you everyone had a good 4th of July. LZ and I went for our first 4th of July sail that I can recall. Usually we send the day at the marina, sipping wine, napping, grilling, float and kicking it. This year, I invited a couple of the Chan group family over for a sail. It was their first time on a sail boat. I thought with a Boat named Zen, the Chan ( Zen) group getting their first sail would be appropriate. We were an interesting group, representing, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and America.

It is nice sailing our of the estuary. It was not crowded as I thought it would be. We had an easy sail up to Jack London sq. It of course took several tacks, but it was really nothing. The wind was good, not too much not to little. A good day  to be out for a casual sail with first timers. The estuary is my teaching grounds for the city of Oakland, for me the day was a practice in single handling even though I had a boat load of people. LZ was injured from playing tennis so I did not want her moving around much. I handled everything at docking and cast off, it is all in the planning, skill , going slow and help from the Force. She did help steer a couple of time when I need to do something.

Everyone was excited to be out and it was a perfect day for it. We docked at JLS easily. I docked on the far side for a change, since there was already a boat in my usual spot. Which was ok, because the wind pushed me next to the dock this way.

We docked and took a walk to a Korean BBQ, I had some spicy tofu, rice and veggies. Yum, The others had misc stuff. I spotted something I will try next time, the spicy Tofu and some soba noodles and veggies. Oshiso. We shared a huge dessert, one of which was peaches with flaming brandy, hmmmmm good. Not as sweet as I thought it would be, so it was good!

The trip back was smooth fast and easy, which was good because LZ and I had more to do later. Everyone ( but me) was surprised at how short a time it took. We came back in with another  islander, a  I-30 we saw as we were leaving. There seems to be quite a number of Islander around this area. I meet the owners of another in my marina yesterday, and there are at least three of 4 others that I have spotted.

I digress. The day sail Part I, was fun and good practice. LZ kept remarking how she is ready for a longer trip, she wants to practice for Japan. Big change from when she first started. We have another sail next weekend with some friends. It will again be a short sail, but there is a longer one coming with the I-36 group in Aug. Banzaii!

Number 2 son is visiting. LZ and I took him for a Summer pre-Sailstice Sail. Since we will be in the city doing Kyudo tomorrow we will not be able to get our sail-on. It was the first sail out of our new marina.

It was a good day for it, light winds, comfortable temps and the wind from a good direction. It was an easy cast-off from the double fingered slip, I like it. LZ was shocked she did not have to do anything. She says sugoi Capt Zen!

We headed out of the marina and quickly raised the sails. Having taught many many classes there in the Estuary I was pleasantly surprised to have a good wind direction, and it was light traffic because it is Friday afternoon. It took only 3 tacks to make it up to Jack London Square.

I had #2 steer some and work the sails, he did well.  We docked at JLS easily and headed off to find lunch. We went looking for a Korean BBQ place and found it without much trouble. I should say I found it, because LZ and the security guard we asked both sent us in the wrong direction.

Lunch was good and reasonable cost. I had spicy Tofu, rice and kimchee.

#2 and LZ had meat stuff, pork sandwich and hot bowl. Whatever…

When we arrived back at the boat there were Coast Guard guys all over. Two speedboats had pulled up along side. It took me a moment to ascertain I was not in big trouble but upon close inspection I found some guy had gotten hit or cut up by a powerboat or …? He was in his Kayak and it had flipped, sounded like he came up next to a boat and gotten cut up. The Coasties bandaged his feet did a report and then took off.

I waited before casting off until they were all gone, I needed the room to do a spring line cast off as my reverse sucks on s/v Zen and the wind was on my stern. After much thought and planning the cast off went smooth and we were off back to the marina. It was all down wind from there I let #2 steer all the way.

We had a smooth docking and headed back home. LZ and I both crashed out for a nice late afternoon nap. She in fact is still asleep. (^_^)

It was a good mini sail. I’m suppose to take some of my Chan group out for a mini sail next Sat. It is great having the Boat here in this area and we are pleased with the Marina.

This was a first weekend teaching for the city of Oakland since last year. I was glad to have some work, since EDD was punishing me for making an error on my report card. Anyway, had three students at the start. One lawyer for Wells Fargo, One ex-lawyer ( reformed he said) who was now a musician, and a doctor. Wow, big time clients. The Reformed lawyer ended  up dropping the class because he wanted to get to the recording studio to work with his band on a Cd. He wanted to change to another class time. So I was left with two, The  Lawyer, and the Doctor. Both seemed nice enough. I had to politely get after the lawyer later because he kept cutting me off when I was talking. The Doc, I had to get on his case about slowing down and paying attention.When out on the water the helmsman would say ready to come about and he right away would say ready, but still reaching for lines. Hey!! Do not ready, until you are ready!!!! He was not a fast study.  On boat handling, in his defense the Lawyer did have some background, he did not.

Friday was an easy lecture. The Doc had lots of questions which was ok. One is suppose to ask.

Sat, went fairly well. We had some trouble get the main up. It would not go all the way up the mast. I did not fine anything it was stuck to, so I just reef it and off we went. Turns out it was just as well because there were high gusts of wind. That day and they would have had a really hard time otherwise. The was very crowed on the water that day. There was some kind of Polynesian canoe club show, or race or both

Sunday was adventure day.

It started of smooth enough. I gave them their written test and both passed. Then I reviewed knots and what-knot with them. We then took an early lunch, afterward I gave them a lecture on SANMAI-ITTAI. At first the Lawyer looked bored then he started paying attention. When I explained the body part the Doc was nodding his head in agreement. from there we went out on the water.

We went back and forth, forth and back. each taking a turn at the  helm. Just before when I was about to take over and demo MOB drills. I hear someone yelling for help. It turned out to be someone on the dock. I saw a person in the water with a boat over turned. But figured it was just a Kayaker, we have lots of them there. He could just swim over to shore. So I told the helms man to continue. However I kept an eye on the person in the water. I thought, hmmm, we’ll take a closer look. I have them tack the boat again. The Laywer says, as I lawyer I say do not get involved. Then he smiles and says, just kidding. Before I went into the lecture about helping people on the water. Upon a closer look it was a canoe. There was a guy hold up a small child with one hand, and on to the Canoe with the other. There was a female next to them holding on to him and the boat. I gave the order to drop the main and come up around them. We coasted up, and turned in next to them. I gave the command to release the jib, and we came to a slow crawl. I reached over with the Boat hook toward the Kid and Dad. He had him grab the pole. I then grabbed the kid and pulled him aboard.  Next the wife took hold and I grabbed her. All the talk about not being easy to get someone out of the water, True true true. I grab her arm and told her to hold on and swing her legs up.She could not do it. I pulled and lifted, then grabbed her pants and the Lawyer grabbed her other arm and we dragged her aboard. By now we had drifted with the wind catching in the jib. I noticed more boats coming now, one of them a small power dingy. I left him deal with the father. Since all had on their life vests and help was there it was not an immediate danger to him. I sailed off heading to the dock to drop of the family. However the motor would not start and the current and the wind were not helping with trying to dock unde sail. It took me a few takes at getting into position. The power dingy came over towing their canoe and said he could take them. I let him come to port and hooked on to his boat, and helped the family aboard. He dropped them off on the dock as I got the outboard running and docked.

I went over to check on them, all was well. The little kids was shaking from the cold. I had them take off his wet shirt and gave him a dry life vest to put on.  I was told they just lived a few blocks from there, the wife was taking him home. She was also wet, but said she was ok. With a short thanks off they went. It was the kid’s first boat ride. Something he will not forget. Good thing they had on PDF’s, he was trapped under the canoe when it flipped, before the Dad got him!

The lawyer said, wow! That is enough class for me today that was dramatic. I said, this is why you wear a PDF,  also why you do MOB drills. Also you got to see how hard it is to pull someone out of the drink. We will take a break and go back out for more fun…

We went back out. Sailed around and I showed them the full MOB drill. The Doc had a hard time. He was not good yet with handling the boat or his directions. He needs a lot of practice. The Lawyer did pretty well. I did not have them do the actual drills at first. I just had them do the  steps with out picking anything out of the water. After they both had a few turns at dry runs, I was about to setup an actual pickup drill, when… I hear a loud Riiiiiip! and the boom falls into the cockpit. The Main Sail had torn.

I had them dop the Main, turn down wind and trim the jib. Once in control we fired up the metal sail and became a motorboat.

So much for today class of adventure, all in a day’s work.

awwww yeah!    Owarei desu! yokatta!  I’m final officially done with the move now. I took s/v Zen to her new marina. Whooohoo!

I drove the car over to the temporary rest marina in Oakland this morning. Fired up the boat and had an easy cast off even with a fair wind blowing across the bow, it still worked out smooth, with a bit of a spring line to get me going in the right direction.

new marina in the background

It was just a 10 min motor over to the new home port, Alameda Marina. The tricky part was finding my slip. I knew where it was suppose to be, but on the water things looked different. After about 6 or 8 circles, I went for where I thought it was.

The home fairway

Just as I started down the fairway the harbor master comes out to meet me. I ask is that me down there. Yup he says and I was good to go. As I am heading in a notice yet another Islander. That makes 3 I have seen at this marina, two other on my fairway. They are both I-30’s

After an easy dock I head to the office for paperwork. Smooth and painless I get my gates passses and I am done. I head back to the boat to get my bike to ride back to the other marina to pickup my car and return the marina keys…and it hits me!!!!  DOH!!! I left the key to the bike lock in the car… at the other marina. What to do , what to do. I could walk, or boat back, or saw the lock off. Sigh, I went for the saw. some 15 min later I was biking my way back to pickup my car. Once there returned the keys and it was a done deal.

I moved the Islander to the Island, we are officially all Island residents…cool!

Now after my Mountian Zen & Kyudo retreat I get in some local sailing, on the Islander from the Island.

This would have been a good post for the Tillerman list assignment,  in part that list caused this post. So Blame Tillerman, well only partly, because it was really someone in my Kyudo class that made this come about as well. A real Cause and Effect (Karma) post . I just finished a post on the ..”by land” blog having to do this this topic SANMAI-ITTAI., relating to Kyudo, Tai Chi , Kung Fu etc. I mentioned there that it also had to do with sailing.

Sanmi-ittai means the unity of the three essentials…to do Kyudo as one body.
In Kyudo it is : Body, Spirit/Mind, Bow.

In Shaolin Chan Kung Fu/Tai Chi it is: Mind, Body Spirit

To me they are the same, and the Shaolin Chan listing is more on point. Reason being, Spirit and Mind to two elements, not one element and the Bow should be an extension of the body not a separate element.  Those who agree raise your hand…

On to Sailing :

Body, Mind Spirit., yes, it is the same, all of it is the same. Even just living is the same. However now I am talking about sailing, Inner Zen Sailing. Look at each

Body: It is obvious you need to be there, also in good shape, enough to handle the boat. Of course the better in shape you are the least you will struggle on a physical level. Up and down, pulling, lifting, yeah that stuff.

Mind: you need to be mindful, there. Alert, aware, paying attention, to the waves, boat, wind, traffic, your crew if there is one, clouds, all that stuff

Spirit: Not only the understanding the Spirit of non-duality of nature and us, but also of that and the Boat and us, the boat and nature. Also the spirit to deal with whatever comes up.

And training for this, how does one do that. Beside having/getting the obvious sailing skills, background

Body: Stretch, walk, lift, yoga, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, get some exercise, know your body, how it works, communicate with it, give it good fuel. Food /Water/Air should be clean, pure as possible ( excellent reason for good ecology practice..ne! Helping yourself…to sail)

Mind, as the mind is vast, it needs vast training, Educate it on water skills, manners, rules. Hone and relax it with meditation.

Spirit: Meditation will build your spirit, experience will build your spirit.

You may ( or not) have noticed that I said nothing about the boat…directly. Because I include the Boat under Body. Just like in Kung Fu the weapon is an extention of the body , in Sailing your Boat should be an extention of your body. So the goal of a perfect sail, even just a good Sail is within to make happen .  To have a good Shot in Kyudo we need Sanmi-ittai. To have a good Sail we need Sanmi-ittai

Kuan Yin is considered patron of sailors

Once again Grandmaster Tillerman has tasked his minions with a writing assignment. Yet another shameless rouse to bring hits to his site. We hear and obey. Since you know those who read this I’m all about Zen/Chan I figure I would do something in that vein. Chan is about living fully, it is also about knowing we are part of everything, mindful, alert, relaxed, prepared, adaptable, connected but not attached, centered, doing one’s best with everything, tying a dock line, hosting a sail, tacking, cleaning the head, battening down the hatches, you get the idea. With mindful, being the key word, it is something every  good sailor should be anyway. Here is my short list:

1. Check the weather
2. Check the wind
3. Check the boat for anomalies
4, Check your bilge
5. Check your sails (before leaving)
6. Check the area around you ( at, leaving, & away from the dock)
7. Check your safety equipment
8. Be aware of everything
9. Do not think about having fun
10. Be fun

O dark thirty comes early…More so when you can not get right to sleep the night before. I had planned on going to sleep early because I needed to get up at 4:30 to cast off at 5:30 am. However I could not sleep. The wind was really blowing, seriously, the boat was rocking n rolling in the slip. I was thinking… to go or not to go, that is the question.  It is not a big deal if I postpone the trip by a day, however the experience of the serious wind would be good. Of course having taught now over at the big O in Berkeley I was more use to big winds now. These are the thought that keep up from falling peacefully off to sleep whilst rocking in the bosom of s/v Zen.

I was up with the alarm @ 4:30 I had felt the winds calm during the night, and my fear of no wind , too much wind was resolved. The wind was just enough even that early. I felt relief. I did my misc get ready stuff

Even the camera was not awake enough to focus this early

including some meditation…a breakfast bagel and off I went.

My plan was to motor to the Carqinez bridge then raise the sail. Unlike the past travels, this went smoothly to the bridge.

Going with the tide really made a difference in ease and speed. The motor ran perfect and I yelled, YATTA as I passed under the bridge into the frontier of San Pablo Bay, the neutral zone. It was kind of silly but fun, glad no one could hear me… I think.

I raised the sail after passing the bridge and immediately I was off under the wind as I zipped past the Vallejo entrance. I dodged a few ferries and I was making amazing time. Being one with the flow was happening big time. Things went a long smoothly or should I say flowingly and before I knew it I was coming up on the Richmond bridge. the end of the neutral zone.

Here I really got a taste of how the current was pushing me, and made use of it as I slipped under the Richmond bridge with a loud Yatta!! Awwww yeah, I was into it now!

On the other side of the bridge things were a bit of a mess with the currents however I was able to sort it out and continue onward , through the Richmond Riviera and down into the Berkeley slot.

I took some videos there of the cruising grounds of the Ocean crossing, SF examiner writer, super blogger’s, Team Polka Dot Captain EVK4. and also of the T-man’s pick for #1 commenter, O-Docker the blogless.

Sailing the Bay

Next I had to make my way through the minefield/obstical course This was tricky, before getting to the Last bridge, the Oakland Bay Bridge there is an area of the falling down Berkeley pier, floating barges, balls, and bridge construction mess.

I slip my way through this under reducing wind power. Just as I came through the last of it and was heading for the bridge, the wind vanished!

Ok, no biggie, I had no used the motor since entering the Frontier so I fired it up and took off. Passed under the bridge again with a extra loud YATTA!

Generally once on the other side of the Bridge winds picks up, but not today, even as I entered the estuary it was windless. So I motored , paranoid and planning what to do if things stopped. Just to make things even more interesting there was a dredging barge working right in the middle of the estuary channel. However the Force was with me even though the wind was not, I slipped right on by with no incident. I motored down just past jack London square and there was a hint of winds, a  light kiss on the flags around the area. I cut the motor and drifted slowly. I had no need to rush I had made amazing time. It was only a little before 1:00 pm. Once down around Coast Guard island the wind picked up more as did my speed.

I had an easy approach to the slip so I just sailed into my spot. Not because I had to but because I could It was very cool and a good end to the trip.

Once I tied in and down, one of the locals from the marina came by introduced himself and said welcome to the neighbourhood.

The reason this is called almost the final leg, because I am just there at this marina for two weeks, then I move just across the estuary to final destination, Alameda island Marina. Anyway this was a good trip and I’m glad it is done.

Now once settled I have some internal work to do on the old girl. Like the stuffing box leak, upgrade to a electronic distributor, Re-wire the cabin, replace the impiler, etc. But also enjoy sailing the bay without a day in travel to get here. nice! Yatta!

I did some packing during the afternoon while at home and waiting for LZ to return from work. She was giving me a ride to Amtrax. which is only about 15 min. away.

It was an easy trip to the Amtrax station, I made it with about a 15 min wait, which was perfect after showing LZ the way to get home.

I had just settled in my seat when I could here my train a coming…

Once I boarded the train it was a pleasant ride. The sunset over the water was delightful. With the easy motion of the train I could feel sleep knocking on my door, I was tempted to nod, but did not.

It was only about a 1 hour trip to my station. Once I got off the train I was surprised to feel the strength of the wind that was howling.

I thought will if it is like this I will not having any problem if the motor quits on me. I will have to fight my way out to the San Pablo bay against this headwind, but at least I will have the tide pushing me so that will help.With that thought I set off to the marina to prepare for the evening and the morning.

Once on board s/v Zen I started preparing for cast off at o-dark thirty. I was not looking forward to it, but it was the way to take advantage of the tide flow. I had fought the flow the last trip and it was not pleasant. This time, less sleep, less work. I had planned on getting being able to access the Internet from the boat but, no good. I do not know if the PC I brought along instead of my Mac was not strong enough or they had cancelled the service at the marina. No matter I was off line. So here I am making my first entry off line and I’ll complete it once I get home.

I can not help but think about the other times I have made this run out of Martinez down to the bay. The first time in Kuan Yin. Not much wind I had to motor a good deal of the way with a two stroke that made my ex at the time sick. Once we hit the Bay it was way too much wind and I knew nothing about reefing.

The second time in Kuan Yin there was way too much wind, I got a late start fought the tide and aborted the trip once in San Pablo Bay.

The third time on Zen I had a smooth trip down to Loc Lomond, it was perfect, well other than going aground which I got out of, I was so pleased.

Fourth time LZ and I headed out left in good time and had a smooth trip down to Ballena Bay Marina to hang out with the Island 36 group.

Fifth trip, was pretty smooth, other than the motor quiting around Emeryville, but there was plenty of wind to get us down into the estuary. Once there we took a dinner break and it fired up again and we made it to the club gathering. So here I am on number six almost the reverse of when I first brought Zen here.  Only a couple of weeks and several years difference almost an anniversary. I am a much better sailor now and can deal with high winds and know how to lessen the effects on my nerves and the boat . I may not like it, but I can cope. I’m hoping the wind will settle down some in the morning so I can have an easy run out of the Straits, I really do not want to work to hard. I recall there was a small craft advisory for the Bay area tonight. With only 2-5 knots predicted for the morning. We’ll see. Better a bit to much than not enough. If it is too crazy in the morning I’ll just wait until Thursday no biggie. It is 10:45 now. I’ll read a bit then crash for the night and see what the Force has planned in the a.m….yosh!

The other day, hmmm Thursday, I went to the marina. It was checkout day for the boat. The wind was very light , the sky was clear, the air was a comfortable temp. My only concern was there was not enough wind. I went through the boat checking , oil, draining the bilge ( just in time) , cleaning off bird droppings ( grrr ) and doing general stuff. I also changed the coil , even though I know the mystery cut off problem is not the coil I figured why not. So after giving everything the once over, and having a lite lunch that LZ made. I decided to go for a sail, not only giving s/v Zen her first 09 sail but a outing with my new hat and sailing gloves.

I was not expecting much in the way of a sail since the wind was so light. Once out on the straights I was able to move at a slow easy pace even with just the main up. I did not feel much like working so the main was the plan for the day. It worked out well, I cruised for a couple of hours then went back into the marina. Other than one unplanned gybe, due to my over shooting my wind sense, it was a marvelous sail.

I have my arrangements set at the Union basin marina for 14 days of my free visit time. After ward I sail just across the estuary to our new slip in Alameda, before I head off to Sonoma mtn for a 5 day Zen/Kyudo retreat.

I checked in with Alameda Marina today my slip is still on hold and I am expected on the 26th.

Next Tues I ride into Martinez with LZ and will stay over night on the boat and set sail early on Weds. Early as in O-dark thirty riding the ebb tide at 5:00am. So far the weather report looks good. Unsure about the wind at this point, but does not look like I will need to try out my new foulies with sun and 70 degrees forecast… so far. All I need now the Kaze Kami ( wind spirits) on my side. The big event is near…

My calendar says it is a blogoversary. I had thought it was on the “by land site” But it is not. However I was thinking in sailing terms about something to post there, phrases and the like, and recalled that it is also the anniversary of my purchasing s/v Zen. As it turns out it that anniversary that is on the calendar but also this month I started the by sea blog, but this day Cinco de Mayo that I purchased s/v Zen. Que Bueno!. One of my all time favorite songs is called Cinco De Mayo, by one of my all time favorite groups “WAR”. I do not espect anyone who reads this to know of them, which is ok and of no matter. Happy Anniversary to me. I had planned on doing a shake down cruise today for my up coming cruise down to the Bay next week. But.. things , like the winds on sails change. Tomorrow I’ll hit the marina and make the a checkout and fuel fills, oil check, etc, etc.

Nothing really new in the way of sailing here. My weekend work for the Berkeley O was cancelled, not enough peeps for class for a boat for me. Which is ok, I have other stuff I want to do over the weekend any how so it’s cool. Also the pay that I get is taken out of my UE check so , what the heck, I’m working for free the folks at EDD do not want you to get ahead.

Last week I was suppose to help the lady who purchased s/v Kaun Yin do some stuff on the boat , but that got cancelled becasue of her having to work, so that whole bit of extra under the table cash is put on whole until she returns from Peru. Nice for her she can go. I did picked up her outboard motor to take to the shop for her. As I promised when I asked to borrow it last year in case I could not fix my transmission and needed to mount an outboard to go to the All Islanders event.  However I was able to make it under our own power… barely.

So next week I bring s/v Zen back down into the Bay and she will be docked for a couple of weeks at one of the local Alamar docks before settling into her new home at Alameda Marina.. yay!!

I’m hoping to have good winds to make this trip, so I do not have to depend on my inboard. Which runs ok, until it just stops and some unknown time. Then restarts after an hour or so. I thought it was the coil but the last time it did that , I switch out the coil and it still did not start. grrrr drat!

Anyway that is the local news from the island on the islander and self. Oh btw, my google Islander 29 group is still growing. I am pleased and amazed.

Fair winds me hardys!