(+PICS) Benicia Sailing Hookup Saturday Jan. 31, 8am to 1pm

Went to practice AI sailing with Mel & Don.
Put the AI together then I realized I missed something, the seat.
With so much effort bring the AI I have to go. Got on the water I realized no seat is not bad. with the Hobie wheeleez stuck in the scupper holes behind me, the cross bar acted as my back support. But the lower back and hip suffered due to the hard non-negotiable kayak plastic. 
Morning sail was a blast. Went toward the carquinez bridge. So that was headwind (practicing GB2's sailing basic terminology  ). Want to follow Don but his boat disappeared in no time. Followed Mel and practiced Tacking. Finally got to the bridge. Had a lot of good moments when the splash are all over me.
Turned around at 1pm. Direction is downwind. Start to feel the boring part of slow downwind sailing. then I start to realized there are something even more worse, Pedalling. The wind died down. Hey Scott what is the sailing term when there is no wind?
To make it worse, outer bay is low tide! Current is nasty against our will of go back to ramp for lunch. Lunch?  Hip bones are not as strong as the yak plastic? Where is my seat?
After 3 hours of HARD pedal, I arrived the ramp. Lord, where did the wind go?
Mel helped me pull my yak up the ramp, helped me load the yak back to the top. And Don's wife and other ladies served a very nice lunch to us. Thank you the in-land supporting crew.
Met Gary and 2 other NCKA guys in this outing. I had a fantastic day.
My hip is hurting still . I'll try to forget a different thing next time.
Let me know when we are going for sailing next time. 

Thanks again, Guys!  It was good to meet y'all!  I got on the water late, but it was good practice tacking into the wind. Working with only a slight breeze  was helpful because the small adjustments made to the sails really showed what works and what didn't.

Another good lesson was that without wind, a fully rigged AI is kind of a pig in the water. Definitely takes some effort to pedal against a strong current.

Currents... a great reminder to remember the tide table when planning a trip out in the Bay. The forecast for wind didn't pan out and we got caught working against an outgoing tide. Quite the work out.  It's great to be with a group that takes care of each other out there.

Kudos to Mel for calling in a Pan Pan for a PB that lost power and was otw without a radio.  Someone said it best... "NCKA is better equipped to survive on the water."

Big thanks to Don and Armando and their wives for the lunch and company.  I had a brainfart and locked my keys in my secure truckbed at the end of the day. They stuck around until the Wife brought the spare keys.

Looking forward to the next trip!  Took some pictures but most look like scenery shots. If you look closely, you can see the AI fleet working toward the bridge.

The other guys pretty much got the details right. Here's my pictures.  I am stoked for the next sailing hook up. 

Ghan (Gary) with his Revo 13 sailed with us the whole day, all the way to the Carquinez Bridge and back.  My hat off to him!

More pics.. Sailing under the Carquinez Bridge.

Thanks for letting me sail with you guys.  It was a blast right up until the wind died.  Then my legs died peddling agains the current for 3 hours. 

A few more pics.

Pre-flight discussions.


Retractable daggerboard control on the 2015 AI

Taller mast

20% larger sail, now with 3 vertical battens




2 Birds of Prey

That's pretty damn cool, thanks for sharing.

Hi, here's my short video of last weekend hooked up with you guys. It has been a pleasure to meet you all there!   

Nice Video shot . We were so freaking hungry after a long day Of pedaling back . Lol .. I will set another sailing day soon guys . But this time I'm going to make sure we are getting plenty of wind and will coordinates with my buddy (my main Man ! Chuck E ) .. So stay tuned guys ..  Don

Looks like a great time had by everyone!

Too bad the 10-20knots that was forecasted didn't stay around too long.

Hmmm... Makes me want to get a sail.