Sunset Sailboards San Francisco

Had a good day at Da Stick yesterday on my trusty Legend 4.7 and Skate 108.  This is after cruising all over the bay for decent winds.  First stopped at Berkeley, which was looking OK.  I would have had to rig at least a 5.3, and it always seems like I'm sailing uphill on my port tack at Berkeley.  The day before here was decent, but nothing spectacular... so onward ho... next stop Coyote.

I had read some good reports from the day before raving about the great water texture and steep ramps.  I want to work on my port forwards... need to learn how to control the rotation better so I can plane out regularly and spin faster off small ramps, so a good day at Coyote was just what I was looking for.  Unfortunately, it was only blowing about 12 MPH when I got there.

Next stop, Candlestick.  Of course, Da Stick always seems to deliver.  4.7 and 108l and flat water.  Lots of people complain about Da Stick

• it's too gusty
• it smells
• there are too many ruffians hanging around
• it's too flat

I guess some of this is true to some extent.  The wind is a little gusty, but that bad and certainly not that much worse than any other spot.  At least it's WINDY!!  I don't notice that Da Stick offends my olfactory senses, even though it's downwind from a garbage plant!  I don't know why I don't smell this, but I don't.  There are a lot of locals that hang out here and drink, smoke pot, etc... but there all pretty nice for the most part.  I had one lady ask me where I got the big JP stickers that were on the side of my van.  She explained to me that those were her initials, and she wanted some stickers for her car.  I gave her what I had in the van (two big JP sail stickers... about 2ft across each).  Next time I saw her, she had them plastered on the hood of her Cadillac, and she gave me a big hug!  

Da Stick seems to be consistently windy, and it's pretty much my ace in the hole... and it blows until dark.  The flat water is great for slalom, jibes, and freestyle.

Anyway, I had a great day yesterday, and I'm ready for more today.  I saw early on in the sesh that my spreader bar was breaking, so I spent most of the time trying to get my weight more onto my feet and bear some of the load w/ my arms.  Not the most efficient way to sail, and I was dog slow, but at least I got to sail and didn't have to come in early due to broken gear.

Here's an old video from 2008... funny vid, pretty much raw, uncut footage, with some funny commentary.  Originally posted here: