Home	Opening Day on the Bay 4/28/24

Thanks to Commodore Egan's valiant efforts, one by one we had interest build, then fade as the sunny forecast got a little dicey for the Opening Day On The Bay Parade on Sunday, April 28th.

Early on, Luna Sea, Dan Knox, and Vanishing Animal, Rick Van Mell, said they were game -- if the weather was OK. Bob DaPrato's Bella Luna was a fence sitter, until he managed to get a ride on the parade-leading St. Francis fireboat, no less! Kevin Cerini (Blondie), and Mark Irwin (Full Circle) piped up too.

On Saturday the 28th, Rick looked at the Marine forecast and made his decision:

"Well, when I started to parse this morning's Marine Forecast, I was encouraged to see "10 - 15" knots north of the Bay Bridge for Sunday.
However, I was stopped cold when I read the South Bay forecast:

PZZ531-280415-
San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge-
829 AM PDT Sat Apr 27 2024
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...
.TODAY...W winds 5 to 10 knots...increasing to 15 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots this afternoon.
.TONIGHT...W winds 15 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots.
.SUN...W winds 15 to 20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots.
.SUN NIGHT...W winds 15 to 25 knots with gusts up to 30 knots.
In short, not just afternoon winds, but all day with some gusts nearing the 30 knot range.
I don't think it is prudent to risk my cast (Thumb surgery) to the kinds of forces that 20+ knots all day will bring, so I am sadly going to nix Vanishing Animal participation for tomorrow.

Here's what the wind did that day at SFO (a close approximation for the conditions in front of Rick's marina):


Shortly thereafter, Dan nixed Luna Sea as his daughter had just come into town and he would be spending the day with her. That left Bob DaPrato on the fireboat, and Keven and Mark.

Keven, aboard Blondie, got some nice pics of the day. along with regular crew Alan and Anthony.

I-36 at Coit Tower	East of Angel I.	Nice sailing
Angel astern ...	City Front astern ...	At Mariposa YC for a margarita

But certainly the best story and pics of the day came from Bob Daprato. Here's his story:

My neighbor, who is a fire department captain and accomplished surf and rescue person as well as multiple other certifications, invited me for Opening Day as he has sailed on Bella Luna!
At 11:00 am I met with the captain and crew of the St. Francis fireboat which is stationed at the Emparcadero and the new floating fire station.
The St. Francis is the newest of three fire boats and is a complete and self-contained fire station for any and all emergencies along the San Fransicco waterfront.
The personnel needed to run this vessel include: a captain, navigator, engineer, paramedic, and boson's mate.
The irony of the story is that there was an emergency call prior to the Bleesing fo the fleet appearance which necessitated a rescue operation before leading the Parade.



And here she is in all her glory leading the parade: