AC 45 Racing

 After the Kiwis won the Louis Vitton Cup the stage was turned over to the worlds top youth sailors. The Red Bull AC Youth cup was four days of racing in the AC 45 cats. It was a fleet racing spectacular.Above the boats lined up at the start.

 Viewing from the shore was excellent as when racing the Bay tide and current play a big part of any effective strategy.

 As you can see from the pictures the weather was perfect. It seems as of Sept 1 a switch was thrown and summer started in the Bay.

The Youth regatta was won by a strong team from New Zealand with first and second place teams. Portugal took third and the US team finished fifth.

Portland to SF by Harley

 Our first stop after leaving Portland ,Oregon was the Swan Island Dahlia Farm in Canby. Made a total of 35 miles before we stopped! The dahlias were in bloom and we missed the show by a week.
Above is a shot of the scenery around Sisters , Oregon

 Next stop was Crater Lake National Park. Unfortunately the weather went sideways while at the rim. It rained and hailed for hours. Not a good thing on a motorcycle.

 Shot from the south rim.

 We cut across Oregon from the lake over to the coast so we could see the coastal redwoods just south of Eureka, CA. Again , this grove was sav d by three doctors who while on a fishing trip in the area were horrified by the callous destruction of the area by the timber companies and the efforts to build Highway 101. In 1927 they established a fund to save the redwoods as the greedy corporations were trying to log the coast from Eureka to Pt. Sur. Some of the tress in this grove are 2000 years old. At the time school children were donating pennies to save the trees.

 One fellow who wanted to save the trees built this truck out of a log and drove it around the country to call awareness to the giants being destroyed on the coast.

 Another view of the truck.

 Windfall with Queenie.

 We drove through many protected areas like the above.

 South of the Noyo River Highway 1 is a great motorcycle ride.

Muir Woods

It has been awhile since an update so here goes. Sometimes it is easier to get internet access in the third world than the USA while cruising.Below, we stopped at Stinson beach to check out the scene.

 My good friend , Larry Johnson and his wife Shelly came for a visit last month and we took a trip to the Muir Woods. The woods are a State Park set aside to protect a grove of coastal sequoias, sempervirens sequoia.

 View looking North towards Pt Reyes.

 One of the Giants! The coastal redwood grows taller than the giant redwoods that are found on the slopes of the Sierras.

 Walkways are provided to prevent  damage from tourist activity. Remarkable this forest is only 11 miles from San Francisco. Amazing people in the early twenties had the foresight to preserve this tiny patch of a forest that stretched from Humboldt Bay to Pt. Sur. Knowing the greed of corporations the people who fought to save these giants would have had an enormous battle.

 Below , is a start of a redwood growing out of a fallen tree.

July 4th, Sausalito

 I think this is an ORAM 60. We see him roaring around the bay with a professional crew.

 This is on of the few surviving M Class Boats PURSUIT, built 1934. The sign say s This Boat is NOT for Sale. Same owner for 60 years!

 The parade route.

 Dorothy, the Grand Marshall

 The University of California Alumni Band (CAL)

 Live music

 sea nymphs

 Dog People

 Dude looks like a Lady

 Scomas, a tradition and very old building in this area.

 Queenie waiting for the Friday night concert series to begin. Every Friday free Jazz and Blues on the waterfront.

Santa Cruz, California

 After we left Monterey we decided to sail to Santa Cruz, which is just 20 miles across Monterey Bay. We dropped the anchor for the afternoon and planned to leave about 1900 for points North. The wind was predicted to lay down for the bash North.We took the afternoon to tour the boardwalk that has one of the old style wooden rollar coasters.

 Even though it was chilly a lot of people were at the beach.

 The river that flows through the town.

 Backside of the park.

San Francisco

 Approaching the Golden Gate. The short term end of our 4000 plus miles to get here. To say we were excited to stay settled for awhile is an understatement.

 Queenie was excited to sail/motor under the span.

 Our anchorage in Sausalito. As it is only a couple of miles to the race course i expect to spend some time here.

 Mark Gesley had us over for steak on the barbie up in the Oakland Hills. I have known Mark since high school. The picture below is Lake Merritt in Oakland.

 Our transport to and from Sausalito to the City. If you don not scope it out it can cost $10 each way. By buying a clipper card for $3 then charging it....cost becomes $4.75 each way. tip for travelers to City!

 Alcatraz with CG buoy tender at work.

 The outside of the Americas Cup Park. More to follow in a later post.

 Team New Zealand practicing on the bay.

 Inside of the historic electric trams that circle the Embarcadero.

 Market Street

Old Style Americas Cup 72. You can charter out and go out and watch the races and help sail the boat.