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until the tide started to turn. As we approached the San Rafael Bridge, progress slowed, and the #11 channel marker was a site for sore eyes --- literally!!! By this time, the wind was blowing 25 to 30 kts. on our beam, and we were running down the line of channel pole markers. Then we turned 90 degrees, and surfed towards the lee-shore entrance of the Loch Lomand marina. Once we cleared the concrete-walled entrance, we put her 'hard over', and rounded up into the wind, and tied off at the fuel dock. Whew!! We almost kissed the dock we were so happy to have survived our first lee-shore entrance! We almost forgot to refuel we were so 'out of it'! Then we checked in with the marina office and went to our assigned slip.
Fri. Aug. 4 We woke up, filled up two water tanks and went off to meet our new friends Tim and Darlene for breakfast. They have an Islander Freeport 36 at Loch Lomand Marina, and Tim's sister is my dental patient in Kingman Az. Tim had been e-mailing me info. about the Bay. After eating, Tim suggested that we call Schoonmaker Marina and make reservations for the weekend, since it was high tourist season and slips fill up fast. Good advice!! Tim also suggested we check out the local supermarket, and we left Tim and Darlene to "scratch teak" while we went to Bruno's Market. This market was so 'upscale', we couldn't believe our eyes --- no wonder the locals don't go to town very often -- it's all right there at the marina!! They had gourmet pre-prepared meals, an incredible wine selection, and freshly baked bread. What a treat for us small country folk.
Sat., Aug 5 We left Loch Lomand early at high tide and motored until we cleared Racoon Strait, then hoisted the double reefed main and the 100% working jib and sailed past Yellow Bluffs and out towards the Golden Gate , but the fog got so thick we couldn't see the bridge, so we jibed around and sailed back into Richardson Bay to Schoonmaker Cove Marina in Sausalito. When we pulled into our quest slip, we were next to a beautiful new Shannon 52 ft. ketch. Dave, the owner came over to help us with our docklines, and he wanted to know if our boat was a Nor'Sea 27. Naturally we said yes, then he proceeded to tell us that he almost bought one several years before and really liked them. As it turns out, Kneshia & I almost bought a Shannon 27, but decided on the Nor'Sea because of the trailerability and the fact that we could lower the mast ourselves. Both boats had excellent workmanship and it was nice to see the beautiful quality of Shannon continuing on, as this ketch was magnificent. Then we showed Dave and Cathy our boat, and they were amazed at the amount of storage we had in a much smaller boat! Earlier that day, we had a treat when Greg and Jill Delezynski ate lunch with us at a fine restaurant near West Marine. They had driven 42 miles one way just to visit , meet Kneshia, and see "Poco Anitra"! We talked boats, and they gave us pointers on how to seal over the fuel tank and how to check
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