Emerald Star

In San Francisco Bay it is a big event when sailors "go out the gate and turn left". It means that you are leaving for an extended period of time, several months or years, to sail to Mexico and possibly beyond. Usually it takes years of planning and dozens, sometimes hundreds, of completed projects before this can happen. For us the big day to turn left was August 31st.

Luna looking at San Francisco - Adios SF!!

 Don, Ray & Luna

Our friend Don joined us for the trip from Alameda to Half Moon Bay. Then he returned to Alameda on another boat at the end of the holiday weekend. Don was along to get familiar with the boat. He'll be joining us at the end of October for the Baja Ha-Ha cruisers rally, from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.

Generally an additional crew person, or two, do the Baja legs of the trip. There are only two stops in about eight days of sailing. It's a good idea to have a third person on any coastal trip longer than about 24 hours.