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We had been wanting to take a longer trip to get some great sailing experience and visit the protected Farallones Islands about 26 miles off the coast of San Fransisco. After two weeks in our floating home we decided that it was about time that we took to the ocean for an experience on the open waters. Until now we have only sailed the somewhat sheltered bay area around San Francisco. This was an opportunity to reach out past the Golden Gate Bridge and fill our sails.

Our good friend Wendall took me to get a fishing licence so that we would be able to catch lots of Rock Cod that frequented the waters around the Faralon Islands. This was not to be just a sailing trip but also a fishing trip.

We woke up early in the morning and although we did not head off at 7am as anticipated, we were ready and on our way out of the Marina by 7:50am. After a safety check and making sure that everyone had a life jacket and other safety equipment we motored down the channel and under the bay bridge. We quickly realized however that there was no wind for sailing. Hoping for something to fill our sails we hoisted the main sail and jib when the first gust of wind came, but this was short lived as the sails just ruffled as we approached the Golden Gate Bridge.

On the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge we again hoped for some wind but for the next three hours as we continued to motor along, found no wind at all to propel us forward. As we left the bridge behind us and about a mile out we began to feel the large swells of the open ocean rock the boat around as we motored along. I was sent downstairs to fix some of the bathrooms that were having some issued and by the time I came back up 15 minutes later, was feeling like a rather green captain.

I think it was at this point that I began to wonder what on earth I was thinking to be bringing my family out on the ocean. On our first day of open seas I was already feeling a bit green. I decided that I would let Wendall take the Helm and course at 141 degrees and relax out on the front trampoline of the boat. I was not the only one feeling a bit under the weather. Dailin was rolled up in a blanket with his pillow, desperately trying to fall asleep in the sun. The younger kids did not seem to mind or notice but Kirsten and Teyauna certainly did. We stayed out on the front deck and I think I must have timed it right but after coming from the cockpit I approached the forward part of the vessel to see a big wave splash the kids on the trampoline with their blankets and pillows with a nice big splash of salt water from below.

All of them except for Dailin who was too sick to move quickly scurried off of the front trampoline a bit surprised by the splash of water, but this only continued on and off for the remainder of the motor trip to the Farallon Islands. In all it took us two hours to motor to the Golden Gate Bridge and another 3 hours to the Farallon Islands. Half way there I was ready to pull up the sails and turn off the stinky diesel engines but others were determined to get some fishing in.

We finally arrived around 1pm and spent an hour letting the kids fish in the waters off of the islands. Eli told me that he thought the fish were gone to a party somewhere else because they definitely were not biting his fishing line and the sat on the back pontoons of the boat with their fishing rods. The kids tried their hardest to catch fish but did not have any luck at all and we knew that we needed to start heading back before it got too dark.

As we started back we discovered that the wind had finally picked up and it was going in a great direction for us to set a course for 61 degrees and sail directly back to San Fransisco without needing to tack or correct our bearings.

It was a great 3 hour sail as we left the engines off and maintained about 7.5 knots of speed directly back to the Gate. As we approached within 1 mile the winds died down and it started to get dark with a full moon starting to show over the Golden Gate bridge. The sunset behind us was gorgeous and we approached the city of San Francisco in the glistening lights of the night.

We finally returned home at around 7pm. Although we did not catch any fish, we did get in a great sail which was my reason for going. It was an absolutely gorgeous cool Sunny day out on the water.