[from the A30 forums]
http://sfsurvey.com/photos/sail/imagepages/image1.htm
A pleasant sail in SF Bay
-
Tim
- Shipwright Extraordinaire
- Posts: 5708
- Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:39 pm
- Boat Name: Glissando
- Boat Type: Pearson Triton
- Location: Whitefield, ME
- Contact:
This link has been circulating around everywhere, and the photos are fascinating.
Word is, the channel (for lack of a better term) between the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge and the shore, where this guy was sailing, is well known in the area as a serious danger zone, and is well populated by surfers (which is the reason the photographer was there in the first place...for the surfers).
This is the area in question, between the south tower and the shoreline. From the photos, it looks like he was right in the area where it gets much shallower, not out close to the tower where the bottom topography is more consistent with the surrounding areas. Even further out, look how the bottom upslopes drastically. Ocean waves coming in here unimpeded would obviously tend to break.
Who knows why this boater went in there, but "accidents" like this are completely avoidable. The whole Pacific ocean behind...notorious strong currents at the Golden Gate...drastic shallowing of the water..heck, the chart even says "tide rips" nearby. All these things are clues. It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but despite that it still seems pretty clear to me that this area might want to be avoided.
Nonetheless, we are given a rare opportunity to watch a rollover in action. Normally, we only hear of these things secondhand, without photo documentation, as they tend to occur offshore. It's incredible to watch.
Word is, the channel (for lack of a better term) between the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge and the shore, where this guy was sailing, is well known in the area as a serious danger zone, and is well populated by surfers (which is the reason the photographer was there in the first place...for the surfers).
This is the area in question, between the south tower and the shoreline. From the photos, it looks like he was right in the area where it gets much shallower, not out close to the tower where the bottom topography is more consistent with the surrounding areas. Even further out, look how the bottom upslopes drastically. Ocean waves coming in here unimpeded would obviously tend to break.
Who knows why this boater went in there, but "accidents" like this are completely avoidable. The whole Pacific ocean behind...notorious strong currents at the Golden Gate...drastic shallowing of the water..heck, the chart even says "tide rips" nearby. All these things are clues. It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, but despite that it still seems pretty clear to me that this area might want to be avoided.
Nonetheless, we are given a rare opportunity to watch a rollover in action. Normally, we only hear of these things secondhand, without photo documentation, as they tend to occur offshore. It's incredible to watch.
---------------------------------------------------
Forum Founder--No Longer Participating
Forum Founder--No Longer Participating
-
Tim
- Shipwright Extraordinaire
- Posts: 5708
- Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:39 pm
- Boat Name: Glissando
- Boat Type: Pearson Triton
- Location: Whitefield, ME
- Contact:
I just went back and looked at the photos again at high resolution (if your connection can handle it, I highly recommend the highest resolution for viewing).
What I hadn't noticed the first time I saw this was that the boat was rolled twice. (See images 26-34 for the second rollover.) It's the second rollover that filled the boat so badly that she sank.
The continued breaking surf, plus the fact that the boat was sailing in the white foam line near the shore, shows that this wasn't a freak accident, but was completely avoidable and resulted from a lack of proper seamanship.
Anyway, it's amazing to watch.
What I hadn't noticed the first time I saw this was that the boat was rolled twice. (See images 26-34 for the second rollover.) It's the second rollover that filled the boat so badly that she sank.
The continued breaking surf, plus the fact that the boat was sailing in the white foam line near the shore, shows that this wasn't a freak accident, but was completely avoidable and resulted from a lack of proper seamanship.
Anyway, it's amazing to watch.
---------------------------------------------------
Forum Founder--No Longer Participating
Forum Founder--No Longer Participating
-
grampianman
- Master Varnisher
- Posts: 108
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2003 2:21 pm
- Location: South West Florida
- Contact:
How not to sail!
Admittedly I have surfed waves in my 30 foot sailboat when I was in Barbados, but never anything like these! I also noticed he had his jib on a whisker pole out to starboard in the opening photos. Yup, he sailed straight into the surf. It just goes to show, never quarter waves which are breaking. I wonder if he had gone straight if he would have just been pooped but not rolled. I know, what if.... That said, the sequence shows more of those big rollers coming through so even if the boat had survived one, what about the second or third or fourth etc.? What a picture lesson!
Cheers,
Ian
Cheers,
Ian
-
Robert The Gray
- Candidate for Boat-Obsession Medal
- Posts: 351
- Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2004 1:54 pm
- Location: Oakland California
- Contact:
Having both surfed fort point and sailed through the gap between the south tower and shore I can say that these conditions are common only in the winter. we will have much higher swell heights due to the alaska storms. the current can get to be as much as five knots. judging by the level of the rocks exposed I am guessing that the ebb had been flowing for a while. a common practice is to obtain relief from the current by huggin the south shore and then ducking through the south tower gap. unfortunatly when we have a big storm generated swell the tide stands the waves up all across the gap. the surfers can catch a 90 second ride(that's long in surfing) around the point. they call it a wrapper.
As a surfer yu stay fairly stationary in what is called the line up. the group of guys that are sitting on their boards looking to sea. you wait for waves and you wait for your turn to ride. the waves must be caught when the waveface is near vertical, or the board cannot accieve planing velocity and you get hammered just like the little tuna. this area of critical wave steepness is called the impact zone. It is constantly moving around in relation to the bottom. Bigger waves break further out in deeper water. Sailors often are accustomed to the wave action out at sea but not near shore. One of the things you realise as a surfer is that there are these clean up sets that roll through the line up every now and then that break way outside the usual impact zone. you cannot tell from the water the outside edge of the breaking waves because these waves break with clean faces, no foam from previous wave. If you see the clean up set come through and then you can see the foam remains on the water. I suspect as with most bars if you were stationary near them for more that 1/2 an hour you would see a range of waves and could then tell where the outer limit would be. when surfing getting caught inside these cleanup sets is quite indimidating. imagine swimming through snow up into an avalance.
With the looks of the wind I do think that the problem that this guy had was there was no way he could get on a plane fast enough, the wave just rolls on by faster than him. I am thinking that an olsen, or an express, with a big kite up on a gust would have already been on a plane and would have had a wild ride. This guy was just passing through, a few minutes later or earlier might have been ok. a tip. when passing through a question zone hang out for a while outside and watch for the big sets. if you want to surf have a planing hull, lots of speed, and trim in when the speed goes up.
another thought was that if there were no surfers there and the ebb was really running there is the possibility of being sucked out the gate into the ocean. the surf break just outside fort point is called "dead man's". there have been some suicides that wash up there after jumping from the bridge. whoops!
One thing about the bay is that even in the midst of urban density it is possible to have nature slap you around. that is what I call a high grade wilderness experience. like fighting a bear over salmon.
robert gray
triton WC #165
As a surfer yu stay fairly stationary in what is called the line up. the group of guys that are sitting on their boards looking to sea. you wait for waves and you wait for your turn to ride. the waves must be caught when the waveface is near vertical, or the board cannot accieve planing velocity and you get hammered just like the little tuna. this area of critical wave steepness is called the impact zone. It is constantly moving around in relation to the bottom. Bigger waves break further out in deeper water. Sailors often are accustomed to the wave action out at sea but not near shore. One of the things you realise as a surfer is that there are these clean up sets that roll through the line up every now and then that break way outside the usual impact zone. you cannot tell from the water the outside edge of the breaking waves because these waves break with clean faces, no foam from previous wave. If you see the clean up set come through and then you can see the foam remains on the water. I suspect as with most bars if you were stationary near them for more that 1/2 an hour you would see a range of waves and could then tell where the outer limit would be. when surfing getting caught inside these cleanup sets is quite indimidating. imagine swimming through snow up into an avalance.
With the looks of the wind I do think that the problem that this guy had was there was no way he could get on a plane fast enough, the wave just rolls on by faster than him. I am thinking that an olsen, or an express, with a big kite up on a gust would have already been on a plane and would have had a wild ride. This guy was just passing through, a few minutes later or earlier might have been ok. a tip. when passing through a question zone hang out for a while outside and watch for the big sets. if you want to surf have a planing hull, lots of speed, and trim in when the speed goes up.
another thought was that if there were no surfers there and the ebb was really running there is the possibility of being sucked out the gate into the ocean. the surf break just outside fort point is called "dead man's". there have been some suicides that wash up there after jumping from the bridge. whoops!
One thing about the bay is that even in the midst of urban density it is possible to have nature slap you around. that is what I call a high grade wilderness experience. like fighting a bear over salmon.
robert gray
triton WC #165