Drakes Bay

[Daydreamer]

I have a question (probably dumb!) regarding the sailing instructions.

In reference to the course; "From the start, to Duxbury Reef (YRA DUX) Whistle Buoy “1DR” to starboard, then to the finish. (Saturday)"
" From the start, to Duxbury Reef (YRA DUX) Whistle Buoy “1DR” to port, then to finish. (Sunday only)"

Is the Duxbury bouy to be rounded?
Or is it a proximity mark to approach but not go between the mark and shore?
If the answer is proximity, how close is close enough?

Greg

[BobJ]

I'd call it a passing mark. You pass it on your way up and on your way back, and you can't sail between it and the shore. How close you are when you pass it depends on where you think the best breeze will be - close to shore or well out. My experience with Drake's Bay races is "neither."

[Daydreamer]

Thanks Bob, that's what I was originally thinking. Then I started thinking, and well...

Hey, how is your back doing? I don't see Ragtime! in the roster yet.

I am very excited about anchoring out.

[Wylieguy]

About the Duxbury Buoy for the Drakes Bay Race. Old traditions die hard. There was a lot of discussion several decades ago about the Duxbury Buoy for the Drakes Bay Races. It's always been listed as a "mark" on the course, but it really isn't. It's like the Pt. Blunt Buoy, the Castro Rock Buoy, or Mile Rocks (for some races). It was argued that the DB should be listed among the restricted areas (like Blunt, Castro Rocks, the S. Tower, etc.) or with the instruction to leave it to "seaward." But, it remains as a "mark" to confuse folks.

It's meant to keep boats off the real Duxbury Reef. Almost every year someone who misreads the SIs sails inside the buoy. Very few are protested, because most everyone else is a mile or so to seaward.

[Philpott]

An article on great whites in the SF Chronicle over the weekend noted a big uptick in "whitey" sightings off Duxbury Reef.

[tboussie]

Another question from a Drakes Bay virgin. The finish line is described as off "the abandoned USCG pier on the NW shore of Drake's Bay". Consulting Google Earth (my charts are on the boat), I see two piers: one labeled "Historic Pt. Reyes Lifeboat Station" which seems to have two parallel piers and a structure on the shore side, and another pier just NW of it that has a building on the water side. Which is the finish mark? Does anyone have gps coordinates?

[mike cunningham]

OK, I thought Nightmares' question was pretty not dumb so, to put the planets back in alignment, I am going to have to ask an authentic dumb question.

How do people normally sail the race? Up through the Bonita Channel or out the main channel and north?

Looks like Bonita would be quite a bit shorter but, hell, I don't know, maybe there is less propitious wind/current? I have never gone up there before.

[BobJ]

Tom (what boat are you sailing now?) the key is to locate the committee boat (and immediately call them per the SI's) and then keep them to starboard as you finish. It'll be a larger power boat flying at least the blue R/C flag, plus maybe another flag or two for good measure. Exactly which point they use for the other end of the line will make only a 2-3 second difference in your finish time if you pass close to the boat. Also the "NW shore" is misleading - it's more like the SW shore. As I recall it's the long pier that extends from the building. This linked race report might help visualize it - you'll see us passing close to the boat end down the page a bit:

http://www.norcalsailing.com/entries...drakesbay.html

Mike, Saturday's ebb is only 1.5k. When the wind is light you can sometimes find a bit more along the shore. Both of these argue for the Bonita Channel. Put the buoy reports in your phone and call them (that's allowed in the SI's). A couple of the veteran Cal 40 guys (including our former Commode d'Or) insist there's a starboard tack lift to be found between Stormy Stack and Miller's Point/Arch Rock. They like to sail up the shore, then tack out to the finish when they get headed on port.

OTOH, if the wind fills during the afternoon it will fill from offshore and the boats farther out will get it first. Plus you have to get around Duxbury anyway. This argues for taking the ebb on out and then heading north. That's what I did a couple times and it worked out. As they say, "YMMV"

[Philpott]

Put the buoy reports in your phone and call them (that's allowed in the SI's).

Dial-A-Buoy = 888.701.8992
Drakes Bay= 77921; 18 nm w of SF=46026; SF Bar = 46237

[Gamayun]

snip....

OTOH, if the wind fills during the afternoon it will fill from offshore and the boats farther out will get it first. Plus you have to get around Duxbury anyway. This argues for taking the ebb on out and then heading north. That's what I did a couple times and it worked out. As they say, "YMMV"

Based on my VAST experience doing this race one time last year double-handed on Dura Mater, this is probably the better strategy to consider. Winds can be so light and the counter current along the Bonita Channel is going to be a beast to tack against. Also, the Duxbury buoy is quite a farther ways out there than it seems. Go for wind.