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View Full Version : Another lovely day on the bay



zelatore
02-21-2008, 01:39 PM
A nice day for a little boat ride ...
(well, other than the overcast and rain)
pics to follow tonight

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46237

Looks like about 7' at 13 seconds. We'll be in a 35' Albin.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:17 PM
Out the gate and we're off!

Is it bad if your client gets sick? Well, he wasn't the only one, the representative he brought along to document the off-shore transfer also spent some time chumming.

I was kind enough not to shoot any pics of the two of them 'finding nemo'.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:18 PM
Yes, it was a little rough out. If you click on the link in the first post you can look at the recorded average wave heights and periods - we went right past this buoy around 3:00-3:30. Average wave heights were about 8.5 - 9.5 feet at 12 to 14 seconds.

Now keep this in mind when somebody tells you about how they run their 18 or 22 in 6'+ waves. Maybe they just measure things differently on the east coast? 'Cause you ARE NOT going to bring any classic Donzi out in this stuff.

Our little Albin did better than our buyer ... never any water over the bow (but close a couple times), and no spray on the windshield.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:20 PM
It's tough to get a decent pic of the water from inside a moving boat. It looks much more impressive in person. But you get the idea.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:22 PM
Finally we arrive at our destination - we have to be at least 3 miles out, and these buoys are about 5.5 miles so we know we've covered our bases.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:26 PM
Here's a sorry sight - our client's 'expert' hired to document the transaction. Note how his eyes get much bigger as we drop off the top of the wave into the trough. :eek!::boggled:

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:29 PM
Of course, there are a few ships to pay attention to.

I tried to shoot a pic of the pilot boat that was waiting to meet an outgoing freighter but didn't really get anything but grey water and grey sky. I'll give those pilots credit - I wouldn't want to jump from my 'little' boat to a rope ladder hanging on the side of a ship in calm conditions, much less nasty weather.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:30 PM
I couldn't get a good shot to give an idea of the boat's movement. This is about the best I could do. We're headed back in now, making maybe 12 knots.

Going up!

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:32 PM
And heading back for the gate

The radar pic shows pretty well. This is a Raymarine E120 display running a 4KW radome with all settings on auto. 6 mile range, 1 mile rings.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:36 PM
Once back in the bay our passengers began returning to their normal color. I got a nice (for today) shot of the Bay bridge with the San Francisco in the background, as well as a shot of the east side of the Bay bridge - the double decker part that some of you will remember as having partially collapsed during a little shake up we had a few years ago...They're finally building the new 'earthquake proof' replacement - you can see it in the background.

mjw930
02-21-2008, 08:36 PM
LOL, I aways get a kick out of people that exaggerate wave heights. Usually you can halve whatever they tell you unless they are someone you know understands things.

When I had my Velocity I would check the buoys before leaving and if they were over 4' I usually didn't venture outside. I've ended up out in 5's a couple times and had to surf 6' -7'ers coming back into the inlet and that ain't a good time no matter what anyone tells you. The 22 will probably never go outside unless it's glass. My inlet is very narrow and even on calm days there are honest 3' rollers in the cut. having about 24" of freeboard doesn't inspire a ton of confidence ;)

BTW, what was the reason for going out? "off-shore transfer"?

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:38 PM
Nice little place... it would be nicer if it was closer to say lattitude 10 instead of 38...

I believe the head of Coast Gaurd Station San Francisco gets to call this home.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:40 PM
And a few ships at anchor in the bay awaiting their turn at port. You get an idea for what the bay itself looks like here - no swell, just wind waves. I understand the bay actually has more in common with the Great Lakes in terms of wave action than most other ocean locations. Makes sense from what I can tell.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 08:44 PM
And that's about it - back safe and sound at our docks in Oakland. The boat behaved wonderfully - these Albins may not be fast, but they will take a pounding.

Here's a parting shot (of a sister ship) of the boat we took out.

zelatore
02-21-2008, 09:00 PM
MJW-

You're right about how many people exaggerate wave heights. Of course it's all relative to the size boat you're in - from a boat like a classic where your butt is pretty much sitting at water-level, everything looks big! Take a 60 footer out, and suddenly the estimate of wave size gets more reasonable.

For kicks I asked the guys with us what they thought the waves were, knowing I could check the sea buoy when we got back. The buyer has some ocean experience, his expert seemed to have none. They estimated between 10 and 15 feet. I'm sure a few of the larger waves probably did hit 10', but nothing was close to 15.

The off shore delivery is basically for tax purposes. Our county sales tax is 8.75%. Without getting into the details of this transaction, the retail price on this boat is well over $300K, so you can see that if you can legally avoid that tax a lot of people will. Since this boat is going to Coos Bay, OR, the buyer can take formal delivery 'outside California' (hence the 3 miles out), then bring the boat back to CA for a limited time for fitting out, then take it out of the state. It's a bit more complicated than that, but you get the general idea.

mjw930
02-21-2008, 09:21 PM
MJW-

You're right about how many people exaggerate wave heights. Of course it's all relative to the size boat you're in - from a boat like a classic where your butt is pretty much sitting at water-level, everything looks big! Take a 60 footer out, and suddenly the estimate of wave size gets more reasonable.

For kicks I asked the guys with us what they thought the waves were, knowing I could check the sea buoy when we got back. The buyer has some ocean experience, his expert seemed to have none. They estimated between 10 and 15 feet. I'm sure a few of the larger waves probably did hit 10', but nothing was close to 15.

The off shore delivery is basically for tax purposes. Our county sales tax is 8.75%. Without getting into the details of this transaction, the retail price on this boat is well over $300K, so you can see that if you can legally avoid that tax a lot of people will. Since this boat is going to Coos Bay, OR, the buyer can take formal delivery 'outside California' (hence the 3 miles out), then bring the boat back to CA for a limited time for fitting out, then take it out of the state. It's a bit more complicated than that, but you get the general idea.

Oh, now I understand, I didn't know it was a sales transaction. I'm reasonably familiar with the process.