“If everything seems under control, you are not going fast enough” ~ Author unknown
Life is always about balance. Like for example, taking a break from motorcycles and switching gears to the water. My water propulsion device today is a 2022 Yamaha FXHO and my friend Roberto rides a 2023 Seadoo FISH PRO.
Today I christened my lime green watercraft the M/V Guacamole. Roberto’s Seadoo I christened the M/V Agua Con Gas. Normally that’s how he orders his water. M/V stands for motor vessel.
We launched at Coyote Point near San Francisco into near flat and windless seas. The air temperatures were in the low sixties and the water temperature was colder.
Up above a line of airplanes were on final approach to the San Francisco Airport. To say that Coyote Point is a veteran and senior friendly launch ramp is an understatement. The launch ramp fee options are for a vehicle and a boat $6.25. The machine next asks you if you are a veteran or a Senior? Why of course I checked the veterans option. Thank you. Now here’s your free ticket.
Roberto rides a 2023 Seadoo Fish Pro model that has just recently been broken in. It’s such a marvelous piece of design and engineering that yesterday it took us about eight hours to change its oil. Parts of it were our fault like for example finding the correct external female E8 torx that the manufacturer called for. Wrong. It took an E10. And then we couldn’t fit the hose into the dipstick to suck out the used oil. Two or was it three trips later to Home Depot and we finally got the correct sized hose. The other challenge was getting the filter back on and fully seated. I didn’t know that my friend Roberto was such a stickler for the details. When the manual says to run the engine for xyz amount of time. He insisted on doing it by the book. Thank goodness we found a flashlight or else we never would’ve gotten done.
The definition of an optimistic person is one who is inclined to be hopeful and to always expect good outcomes. That accurately summarizes my friend Roberto. When the San Francisco PD was in high pursuit of us for approaching its city less than the 1200 feet limit imposed for watercraft I stopped for a selfie.
When you’re on the water there’s forces that either work with you or against you. Captain Ron in the movie portrayed by Kurt Russell has some quirky line’s that just stay with you.
Like for example, every time he gets lost or something happens out there it’s always; “It’s the tides, I tell you. They’re either with you or against you.”
Well today that too was my line with the PD. You would think that if you have a line like that constantly running through your head, you might actually pay attention to the tides.
Well, we didn’t but, in the end it didn’t matter. Other than the large ships and ferry traffic we nearly had the bay to ourselves.
Our all powerful machines today overcame every force imaginable. We ripped past Alcatraz and out the Golden Gate Bridge while waving at tourists high up above. Then we hugged the coast and out into the Pacific Ocean. We had calm lake like waters that we rode at between 45 and 55 mph. And then we encountered some large boat traffic that quickly turned those tidal surge forces into some spray induced waves. And then like anytime that you’re on the water. We got hungry. So we punched in Sam’s in Tiburon for lunch. We found a perfect place with a boat dock to park our watercraft and then walk up onto their patio.
Diaz served us immediately and took good care of us. He highly recommended the chioppino.
Was this a new life changing experience for either one of us? The chioppino was for me and the waters of San Francisco Bay were for my friend Roberto.
There are two rivers now that lead us into the beginnings of the California wine country, the Petaluma and the Napa. We didn’t take either one today but, there’s always tomorrow or the next day.
Sometimes the beginning and the ending parts are the best parts of a new trip or experience. Today it’s the middle parts that made it all worthwhile.
Trawlercat Chronicles 