Ditte Goes For A Hike on Tamalpias

Ditte came to SF and either wanted to sail on the bay or go for a hike. Coincidentally it was the first race of our annual Mid Winter Series which I never do. But if Ditte is coming and wants to sail, who am I to say no to crew like her? Or maybe I would just crew for her! Whatever. She brought a bottle of this mentholated infused vodka... wow. I think I have found what goes in my flask next time I go snowboarding. (I'm almost out already, anybody coming over wanna bring me a bottle of this? I'll take you sailing)
Just in time, my crew Kurt Hemmingsen has made me appreciate the finer things in life and perhaps a bit too often. This was needed as we often toasted a bullet with a shot... it was a very good season too.
Anyway, we decided to take a hike on Tam as we have already done the sailing thing on the bay before, but taking my friends who have never been up on our local hill is a real joy for me. So, we got out our hiking boots and took a 2 hour loop we know around the scenic Mt.Tamalpias. Good times, good times... we saw a coyote and the usual squirrel, birds and babbling brooks... pretty good weather for November, huh? It was in the mid 60's with a light breeze... two days earlier it was in the mid 70's! Gotta love Cali in the Fall.

After the hike we went down to the club to watch the last legs of the race. At first we were quite pleased with our decision... no wind and the ebb was beginning to suck the boats out the gate. But then the wind kicked in for the last 30 minutes of the race and the boats were able to finish. It would have been fun to go sail, but I think in the end we made the right call.... mid winter sailing here is possible, just not always very much fun. It's either an anchor drill until the tide changes or blowing like stink and stormy. I don't think I'll ever develop the patients for light wind sailing.