Alamitos Bay to Newport Beach

MG

Crossing back from Pier 9 in Alamitos Bay to our slip at Balboa Yacht Basin. We started the day practicing undocking maneuvers, springing off the stern both at Pier 9 and again at the public dock. After clearing the harbor, we settled onto a close hauled to set up the proper geometry for a downwind leg toward Newport. The idea was to practice flying the gennaker correctly, not simply to take the fastest line home. To deploy and carry the gennaker efficiently, we wanted roughly a 120° angle to the wind. So instead of bearing away immediately toward the waypoint, we held about 40° apparent wind angle and continued sailing upwind longer than would make sense in a race. At one point, for example, the waypoint sat about 30° off our port side while our apparent wind angle was around 40°. Added together, that only gave us 70°, far short of the angle we wanted for a proper gennaker run. We therefore kept pressing farther toward the wind until the waypoint opened to roughly 60°. Combined with the 40° apparent wind angle, that finally gave us the geometry to bear away and set the sail. Of course, this strategy carried us geometrically farther from the mark. In a race, we probably would have stayed on a beam to broad reach instead of sacrificing distance just to practice sail handling. There were other tactical considerations too: staying closer to shore would likely have reduced current, although the prevailing current coming down from south of Long Beach was actually flowing in our favor that day. Offshore, where we stayed, usually means more wind pressure, while the breeze near shore tends to soften. The gennaker hoist itself brought a little chaos. The sail twisted during the set, creating enough drama that we never fully achieved the proper downwind angle to use it as intended. For a while we carried it more like an oversized genoa before eventually switching back to the genoa entirely and rigging the whisker pole to hold it wide on a beam-to-broad reach. And yet, those imperfect sailing days often become the memorable ones. Near Bolsa Chica State Beach we spotted something none of us had ever seen before along the Southern California coast: a sea turtle. Its color was extraordinary, a pale brown almost identical to drifting kelp. In fact, after turning around to look for it again, we found ourselves staring at floating kelp beds that looked nearly indistinguishable from the turtle itself. Later we crossed paths with an enormous gathering of pelicans and other fishing birds working the water. Then, as if the Pacific wanted to complete the scene properly, six dolphins appeared at the bow and surfed alongside us for several minutes before vanishing back into the gray-blue water.