A Floody Mess at Crissy

Monday I sailed Crissy Field on a pretty strong flood. Two and a half knots was the forecast, some people said it seemed more like 4 knots in some places. The flood can be problematic at Crissy because the wind and the current are going in the same direction, so getting upwind can be really difficult. To add to that issue, there aren't a lot of great places to swim in or land if the flood is cooking, especially if you have a gear breakdown. Once you hit the piers which are about a half a mile downwind, you're probably going to get sucked right along to the Bay Bridge. The wind reading was averaging 24 on the inside. Normally I would have sailed a 4.7, but I rigged my 5.3 just so I could be sure I could beat the current.

The water conditions were really messy on the inside, but pretty clean and flat on the outside. I felt overpowered at times in the 30kt gusts, but it wasn't a big problem because I really needed to point as much as possible. Overall, a pretty fun day. Also, there were some memorable jumps when the freighters went by. Normally these only leave a big moundy wake, but on Monday they left a wedgy wave that came directly towards a slight upwind reach... WEEEE...

Sailed Crissy again on Tuesday and it was similar, but less windy. The 5.3 was barely enough for me to keep ground. It wasn't a great day, but who am I to complain? Any day of sailing is, in fact, a great day of sailing.