Sep 7-10, San Francisco

[Jason Klein]

Was planning a trip to the gorge for last week, but the forecast there wasn't looking great. i decided last minute to head to San Francisco instead. roughly the same drive as to the gorge. left monday afternoon, slept in the middle of nevada that night and arrived at Sherman Island in time to kite tuesday. Kited there tuesday and wednesday, used the 10m and 14m both days. Water there is fresh, situated where two rivers come together, and this eventually runs into SF bay. It's close enough to the bay that it is effected by tides, and on the flood tide you have to work to stay upwind. Small chop, but no real waves. camping is right at the launch.

On thursday morning, i headed to SF bay, and this was probably the coolest place i've ever kited. I arrived around 2 to find the golden gate bridge still partially obscured by fog, and it was just a wall of fog beyond the bridge. Hung around a while as other kiters started to arrive and the fog retreated. Almost everyone has a race board or surfboard, very few twintips on the water. Rigged the 10m. just before i launched, i was standing at the water as another kiter headed out. about 20 ft out a seal pops up right in that kiter's wake and has a look around. Launched and headed out. The bridge is probably just over a mile upwind of the launch. There are strong currents thru the channel, and i was fortunate that it was an ebb tide (current heading upwind) both afternoons i was there. The current can be up to 5 knots, and on the ebb tide you just fly upwind without trying and you really have to work to get back downwind. Really easy to cover the mile plus upwind to the bridge. There are weird currents everywhere, some places it looks like it's bubbling like hot tub, other places crazy chop, nice rolling ramps here, and perfectly flat there. You also need to keep an eye out for ships. not boats, ships. Cruise ships, cargo container ships, tankers. Throw in the ferries and fishing boats for good measure. Really odd feeling kiting right under the bridge. I figured there was no way the kite could hit the bridge, but i was still pretty antsy about it as i passed underneath (i looked it up today and the roadway is 220 ft above the water). Still, pretty unsettling as i passed under the first time. Past the bridge, it's more like ocean conditions with big rolling waves. At one point, i look over and see a fin beak the surface. well i never heard of a shark attack there, so i chose to believe it was a dolphin (that's what i told myself, anyway). Had a few break the surface as close as 15 feet away. Getting back to the launch, which is downwind, but going against a 5 knot current, was a little tougher than i would have thought. you have to ride the board really flat and work the kite or progress is really slow. once back near the launch, though, its nice to be able to jump all you want and still be heading upwind. East (downwind) of the launch, you’ve got views of the city and alcatraz. Also, coming in that first night, the "local" races were going on. Had about 35 people doing a course race near the launch. When I arrived again on Friday, the fog was still thick a half a mile or so inside the bridge. Wind was still pretty light and I didn’t know if the fog would clear, so I rigged the 14 and just played around by the launch for an hour until the fog started to pull back. Came in switched to the 10 and had another great trip out to the bridge. When I got back to near the launch, the wind came up a bit stronger and I finally got to have a lit 10m session to close out the trip. Kited 4+ hours each day. Not a bad trip.

[MikE mAy]

Jason- sounds dreamy. glad you had fun. how is the camping at Sherman? DIY or campsites?

[Jason Klein]

Sheman is a park, maybe a state park. $5 day fee for entrance and another $12.50 to camp. There are pit toilets, no running water. There aren't any formal tent sites, but plenty of grassy areas to set up in. Most people staying there were in RV's, and I had my suv set up to sleep in the back, but I'm sure tents would be fine.

[Mark Johnson]

There are also some spots just off the road under the power lines that we set up a tent. It is real close and its free. You can't miss it on your way in to the state park its just before you get there. Not very glamorous but worked good for sleeping. It has a burm that blocks the wind and there was a porta potty set there. Not sure if this spot is still ok to camp. I liked it better than the state park, Also if you need to find a room there might be some in Stockton that would work good as this is the place to go and find a place to eat.

[Josh Shirley]

The bay is good. Here is some info off of iwindsurf concerning the bay area sharks:

"Often a parent shark is seen cruising for a meal with an immature shark. Let's call them father and son to make the description easy.

Upon approaching swimmers, the father shark tells the son (I'm not clear whether this is audible or body language) to circle the swimmers once and just show 2 to 3 inches of dorsal fin to get their attention.

On the second lap, the father tells the son to show about 5 inches of dorsal fin. That really gets their attention.

On the third lap, they show full dorsal and some tail fin,
then close in for the attack and meal.

Afterward, the son shark asks poppa shark, "That was great, but why do we have to do all that circling? Why don't we just close in and eat 'em."

Father shark, " They taste better that way."

Son shark, " Taste better?? Because we circle them? I don't get it."

Father shark, "Yeah, you always want to scare the poop out them first."