Blue Whale Spares Drei

Posted on 03/16/2015 by admin in Cruise, News | Comments Off

Bill Roberts is a regular charter customer of our Corsair 31 Drei in Mexico. He, his wife, and son Brock took the boat on a whale watching trip out of Puerto Escondido a couple of weeks ago and got more than they bargained for:

Bill writes:
On Saturday, the wind was intermittent, mostly light. That is when we had the near collision with a big Blue. Fortunately, he was a gentle beast and dove deeply to avoid a collision with DREI. Later in the day another big Blue swam under the boat and created a whirl pool that pulled DREI into it and changed her course by at least 30 degrees.

Holy shit!

Long Weekend at Lake Nacimiento

Posted on 03/13/2015 by admin in Cruise, Learn, Race | 1 Comment

A nice way to start the day at Lake Nacimiento as the fog lifted this morning. We took the Wetas out for some fun on the lake this afternoon, along with A little DeWitt sailing dinghy. Fresh water, warm weather, and good times.

Friday was fun day, spent sailing around the lake and enjoying the warm weather. On Saturday, the wind spent all afternoon gathering energy for a wonderful hour of double-digit wind speeds just in time for our short-course racing. Most of the crew left Sunday before noon, but Greg and Jared stuck around—and it was worth it! Hours of gentle breeze let us explore the whole lake from one end to the other before it was time to pack up the boats and head back to San Francisco.

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Thanks to Molly, Greg, and Bruce for making this such an enjoyable event! Next year we’re planning to take over nearby Lake San Antonio.

No Whales, Just Tall Ships

Posted on 01/27/2015 by admin in Cruise | Comments Off

Just back from a Sunday sail with a fun group of teacher/photographers from Moorpark.

Charterer Brad and I determined that given the flip-flopping wind (that blew up to 30kts the day before) it was not the right day for the islands.

Our new objective was local laps of Pierpont Bay and some Tall Ship fly-bys.

In highsight, the islands were looking really good. And very few boats were out enjoying the end of January loveliness.

I am not a photographer, but the low sun angles make for good lighting. Or maybe I just like the look of this rig no matter what the light!

There was some snake-waking going on!

Where are we??? Port Royal??

Looking forward to sailing with you again!

-paul

Weta Play Day (1/25/15)

Posted on 01/25/2015 by admin in Cruise, Learn, News | Comments Off

We had both boats out for Sunday’s Weta Play Day at Treasure Island’s Clipper Cove. What a great way to spend a balmy (for January in San Francisco) day on the Bay.

Jennifer Kroon captures the moment:
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New Year, New Boat

Posted on 01/21/2015 by admin in Cruise, News | 2 Comments

The last week of December 2014 was very busy with the purchase, commissioning and first charter of our new-to-us Beneteau First 40. We purchased this fabulous performance cruiser from the Sunsail/Moorings company. They had decided to not attempt establishing a charter base in San Francisco after the America’s Cup. Their fleet of 8 identical First 40’s sailed for a few months around the time of the Cup events and were then mothballed at Svendsen’s in Alameda.

By New Year’s Eve we were ready to relocate Vanishing Girl to her new home in Ventura. Mother Nature also approved of this 350 mile trip by providing clear conditions (albeit cold!) and moderate wind from the north and east. Perfect smooth water cruising with Captain Jared Brockway and Lt. Colonel Mark Sanders.

We stopped just once – for maybe 30 minutes – to take on fuel in Morro Bay. As the photos show, it was a lovely evening on the central coast. We even let the ‘Girl sail herself while we sat down for a warm dinner. Speaking of warm, one of the unique capabilities on this yacht is the forced air heating in the main salon and cabins. It works almost too well, even when its 40 degrees on deck!

We arrived in Ventura at 2pm on Saturday Jan 3. Total passage time of 50 hours. Not too shabby for a dead of winter coastal delivery on a new boat. Here’s to many more. Welcome to Ventura, Vanishing Girl… And to a long life of making customers smile while sailing the beautiful waters of the Channel Islands with us.

Weta Play Day (11/30/14)

Posted on 12/02/2014 by admin in Learn | Comments Off

The PPS Trailer

Weather for November’s Weta Play Day started out wet. Very wet. Wet enough that most people who were planning to come canceled. Too bad, because just as we were rigging the boats, the clouds broke up and the rain stopped, leaving us with a nice afternoon of light-wind sailing.

What is a Weta Play Day? It’s a day when our Wetas get some exercise, and you get the chance to sail on one. We have two or three boats on the water in a sheltered environment, with plenty of experienced sailors around to share tips and tricks.

Stay tuned for next month’s Weta Play Day, and hope for sunny skies.

The Pierpont Girls Winter in SF Bay

Posted on 10/31/2014 by admin in News | 2 Comments

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They’re baaa-aack! Our two Wetas, Ginger and Mary Ann, are back in San Francisco for the winter. They will be staying at Treasure Island where the wind is good, the seas are flat, and any destination on the Bay is near. We also have a demo Weta from West Coast Sailing available there–three’s company!

Come check them out! We have pricing posted for day and weekend rental rates.

SoCal Ta-Ta 2014

Posted on 09/14/2014 by admin in Cruise, Learn | 1 Comment

After taking a year off for the America’s Cup, the SoCal Ta-Ta was back in 2014 with another week of as-good-as-it-gets sailing. Charter guests Scott, Mark, Charlie, and Simon enjoyed a week of spinnaker runs between the SoCal coast and the Channel Islands while polishing their downwind driving skills.

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The travel plan alternated between half-day reaches between destinations (usually 20-25 miles) and days spent enjoying SoCal’s harbors and island anchorages while socializing with the rest of the Ta-Ta fleet. This year’s itinerary in a nutshell:

Mon 9/8: Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz Island
Tue: Lay day exploring Santa Cruz Island
Wed: Sail to Channel Islands Harbor; evening party
Thu: Sail to Paradise Cove in Malibu
Fri: Sail to Catalina Island
Sat: Lay day and pot-luck BBQ in Catalina

This is one of the finest sailing experiences around—just look at the smile on Charlie’s face!

You won’t want to miss next year’s Ta-Ta.

More Ta-Ta photos

-Jared

Wine and Roses Regatta

Posted on 08/17/2014 by admin in Race | Comments Off

The Pierpont girls and six other Wetas gathered in Santa Barbara for this year’s Wine and Roses Regatta, hosted by the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. Dan Wilson chartered one of the Pierpont Wetas for the event, and PPS’s own Paul Martson sailed the other.

Historically a regatta for beach cats, the organizers were excited to have our new breed of small multis attend. Quite a few youth sailors attend, and several got their first ride on Wetas.

Video footage courtesy of Weta class president Bruce Fleming, who also captured the whole
play-by-play on wetamarine.com. Thanks Bruce!

2nd Annual Weta Training Camp

Posted on 06/23/2014 by admin in Learn, Race | Comments Off

Our second-annual Weta Training Camp was a big hit, with Wetas coming from all along the California Coast. The weather in Ventura was great (again), which we able to make the most of because of the long summer solstice days.
Day one started off with a meet-and-greet, then we finished rigging the boats and set out for a harbor sail before parking the boats on the beach for lunch.

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The afternoon was some fun-sailing, boat-for-boat tuning, and capsize practice.
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How hard is it to capsize a Weta? It takes some effort! Here’s Jared hiking out to leeward with the sheets in tight, and still can’t overcome the boat’s stability.

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Day two started off with a whiteboard session on racing tactics given by local ace Mike Hopper, then it was time to hit the water for some short-course racing. We ran eight races in the afternoon, focusing on start tactics and optimizing boat speed both upwind and downwind.

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Thanks to all who participated, and we’ll see you again for next year’s event!

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