Last summer a couple of SSS racers had a very close call with a 915-ft container ship at the mouth of the Oakland Estuary. The sailors were on the last leg of the East Bay-Estuary race, while the Shanghai was attempting to enter the Port of Oakland’s Outer Harbor. Two things came of this: The SSS will replace the East Bay-Estuary Race this year with the Richmond-South Beach Race, and the San Francisco Bar Pilot in charge of the Shanghai came to talk to the SSS members at their first and largest meeting of the year.

We’re not sure how many people attended January 16’s meeting at the Oakland Yacht Club in Alameda, but we can tell you the room was packed. A line formed to sign up for the Singlehanded Sailing Society’s season or just for the Bay Area’s most popular race, the Three Bridge Fiasco, which last year got almost 300 entries. This seemed like a good opportunity for San Francisco Bar Pilot David Gates to address the racers. He didn’t come to scold however. His good humor and graciousness impressed and entertained everyone, as did the story of the close encounter from his point of view. He introduced himself as “the guy blowing the five blasts,” and went on to give some numbers on the container ship he was directing. At 915 feet long, 131 feet wide, with 33 feet of draft, the ship weighs 65,000 tons. The bow is 600-700 feet from the bridge. For 2,000 feet in front of the bow, visibility is obscured.

Captain Gates saw the race fleet coming that day, and thought he would try to go through in a gap between two groups. But the racers were faster than he expected! To avoid the ship, the sailors would have to jibe. All the race boats jibed away except for two. Captain Gates actually had to stop the direct drive engine going into the Estuary. “I never had the courage to do that before,” he said, but joked that if he turned a sailboat into smithereens, it might look better for him if the engine was on ‘Stop’. If you ever wanted to know why they’re called Bar Pilots, he quipped, “It’s because that’s where they go after surviving a race day on San Francisco Bay.”

Leeway from the ebb running perpendicular to the Estuary required Captain Gates to approach the entrance at an angle. Because of the angle of approach, the racers may have thought that the ship was going to the Inner Harbor rather than the Outer Harbor. “The current at the Oakland Bar Channel is one of the worst places because it’s always on the beam (at the Bay Bridge too).” He normally tries to cross the Bar at about eight knots.

After his talk he took many questions from the audience, and even stayed late after the meeting for a friendly chat with sailors who still had questions. He got the biggest laugh and applause when he was asked how he felt about sailboats going under his bow while he was turning the ship around in the Inner Harbor turning basin. “To tell you the truth, I don’t see you, I could give a damn!” he replied with a laugh.

Other fun facts: the speed limit for big ships in the Bay is 15 knots. “Only fuel tankers with over 5,000 metric tons of petroleum cargo are required to have a tug escort.” Container ships and passenger ships will generally use at least one tug for berthing.

One listener, perhaps thinking of the Cosco Busan incident, asked “Don’t you to have a lookout on the bow of the boat?” The answer is yes, “But you have to realized there is a considerable language barrier sometimes.” The time aspect of getting any information from the guy on the bow can be difficult, as too many steps are involved.

Captain Gates added that he seldom has close encounters with sailboats. “You guys are pretty good.” He looks ahead and sometimes alters course a few degrees to stay clear. “We’re probably more problem for you than you are for us.”

SF Bar Pilot hats and cups were given out for correct answers to questions regarding the restricted areas on the Three Bridge Fiasco course.

After the program portion, the SSS made some announcements regarding next Saturday’s race. The TBF starts in front of Golden Gate YC. It’s a pursuit race with the first warning at 9:20. After the first start, no more time signals will be given, and everyone should start at the time specified on the instructions. Anyone OCS will incur a 20-minute penalty - there’s no turning around. It’s called a fiasco because boats can start and finish in either direction and take the marks (Blackaller buoy, Yerba Buena, and Red Rock) in any order. Racers who DNF should call in, unless they want Search and Rescue out looking for them.

The basics were followed by a strategy talk with Greg Nelsen. “The earliest starters are your windvanes.” He suggests taking Blackaller first whether you plan to go clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Pat Broderick and Laura Paul from the Yacht Racing Association were on hand to take sign-ups for their races too. Broderick announced that the YRA’s new Party Circuit will add a shorthanded division this year, in which racers will be allowed to use autopilots and double headsails as in the SSS. The Party Circuit dates do not conflict with any SSS dates.

Will the 2008 Three Bridge Fiasco be as big as last year’s? Race Information Officer Thom Davis tells us he has roughly 265 entries as of tonight (Monday night), and expects more before the cutoff of 4:00 pm this Wednesday the 23rd. You can sign up online, and you don’t have to be a member of SSS to enter. See www.sfbaysss.org for details.

The trophy meeting will be on Wednesday, February 6, 7:00 pm at Oakland YC. We’ll have coverage here by Tuesday, January 29, and we’re working on a video as well, which may take a bit longer. Hope to see you out there!

Love,

Windy