SFBA October Newsletter

End of the Season Party and AWIA Windsurfing Expo Saturday, October 14

SFBA's popular end of the season windsurfing party will be held on Saturday, October 14th in conjunction with the AWIA 11th Annual Trade Show. The trade show is taking place October 14-15 at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, with plenty of parking. The party will be held from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, during which time the Windsurf Expo will be open to the public. California Cup Racing awards will be given out promptly at 7:00 p.m., followed by great raffle prizes and fun for all.

Every manufacturer in the industry will be there to show off their latest products. The great reggae band, Born in the Hilts, will start at 8:00 right in the show hall and windsurfers are welcome to bring friends. Admission to the trade show is $10.00 and covers your ticket to the party. We will have special SFBA/AWIA Trade Show t-shirts for sale, with proceeds going to support the access and safety work of the SPBA.

The Trade Show will also be open to the public from noon to 4:00 PM on Sunday. There will be a "Windsurfing Show Tour."

Final Cal Cup Race and Barbecue

Saturday, September 30th

Join racers and fellow windsurfers for a beach BBQ following the final Cal Cup race at Crissy Field on Saturday, September 30. Sponsored by Cityfront Sailboards, Berkeley Boardsports and Boardsports Marin, the BBQ will start late afternoon after the racing.

Come windsurf, then join the fun. If there isn't much wind, we'll get right to the latter, with windsurfing simulators just outside Fort Mason and free simulator lessons offered to all.

Join 'as for a fantastic party and help show your support for the SFBA.

The Smart Pager: Sail Size & Sensor Reports, Custom Wind Forecasts

You can't trust them! It doesn't matter if wind sensor reports come via phone, pager or computer the problem is that the sensors are often inaccurate. What you really need is a phone call from a friend on the beach to report the sails sizes and what the water looks like. Next season the Smart Pager will use plain English (no cryptic codes) to bring you frequent on-site sail size & sensor reports from every sailing site, custom wind forecasts, and more.

Call 1-800-685-9463 for details.

Thanks for Your Support!

Thank you to all the members who not only renewed this year, but helped support our special projects (like Third Ave.) so generously. As a volunteer membership organization, our budgets are very tight and every dollar you sent counts.

Peninsula News:

Third Ave. Ramp Work on Hold "Till Next Season, Golf Course Underway, Parking Commentary

In the last newsletter, we asked if people would be willing to do another ramp improvement project this fall (noting that the Saturday low tides are not favorable, requiring an afternoon work session). Our informal e-mail poll indicates that people would rather wait fill next season, so the winter storms don't undo everything before we get to use it. So go to the party, catch the last wind of the season, then save your energy for a big work session next spring to fix the upwind ramp, finish the down-wind ramp, put down more gravel, etc.

By then the golf course nets will be up, so we may need to build a catapult to get out to the wind line on westerly days! How about a water rope tow to get out, and back when it dies, as it so often did this year? The upside to the golf course is that the parking area Is supposed to be paved and the access road realigned, including more over-flow parking. Hopefully this will also happen by next season. SFBA has written to the Foster City Planning Commission to encourage them to require the developer and contractor to schedule the work to avoid interfering with use ofthe bay access site.

While we are on the subject of parking, please be sure to park as close as possible while sailing at Third. The population explosion has really hit and we can no longer afford to have cars taking up 2 parking spaces. The lot is theoretically big enough for 60 cars. Thanks!

Randy Anderson and Bill Lennan

East Bay News

The Youth Windsurfing Program at the Lake Merritt Boating Center enjoyed it's second successful season. Over 130 youths from all over the San Francisco Bay Area participated in the week long camps and private group lessons. A special thanks goes out Luigi and ASD for their used wetsuit drive, Berkeley Board Sports, the City of Oakland and the program instructors, Clyde Sutliff and Peter Cams. The Boating Center is beginning to turn out some awesome junior sailors and we need to keep giving them new goals. Anyone interested in the program can call the Boating Center at (510) 444-3807.

Jayne Lecky

North Bay News

The North Bay continues to be the spot for beginners. Although some people think the season might be over, there will still be plenty' of good day's through October Check out the windsurfing shops in Marin if you know of people interested in beginner lessons at Larkspur.

Jeff Hickman

SFBA Web Site

Thanks to the efforts of Bob Indig, who did the coding, and Alan Schacter, our provider The Outdoor Network, the SFBA now has a Web Site. We will be working on the contents over the winter and hope to have a polished product by next spring. It is best viewed with Netscape 1.1 or better. Thanks again, Al, for providing us this valuable service free of charge. Check it out: http://www.sfba.org/sfba

Crissy Field Update

How slow can the Crissy Field Site Design Process go? Yep, molasses does come to mind.

First, by the time you read this, building demolition in the Crissy Field east end area should have begun, with removal of Bldg. 277 and its immediate neighbor to be scheduled last so as not to interfere with what's left of the '95 sailing season. Fingers crossed!

The site design process has produced two final alternatives or schemes, a DRY Scheme and a WET Scheme. DRY equates to no wetlands and least capital/O&M costs; a rolling meadow would be created between windsurfer staging at the east end and restoration of the historic airfield at the west end (see previous newsletter description of the meadow alternatives). WET means the creation of a viable or "self-sustainable" wetlands, vs. a meadow in the center area. WET also equates to significant capital outlay; not sure about O&M costs. One detractor of the WET scheme is that it would push parking at least 100 feet farther to the east than presently exists. Our incorr1gible friends at the Sierra Club continue to press hard for a very large wetlands area despite significant opposition, and SFBA remains determined to ensure a balance exists between any wet- lands development and recreational use.

As this newsletter goes to press, Golden Gate National Park Association (GGNPA) has not released the most recent graphics for publication. Understandably, modifications continue to be made and the decision-making bodies have yet to give their OK on the specifics of the two alternatives. In other words, they're not ready for prime time, public scrutiny just yet.

So if you remember Johnny Carson as "Carnack," here's my best guess of what to expect over the next six months or so: Preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) of the two alternatives should begin in October, with an estimated time-frame of one month to initial draft completion, and a final draft In two, maybe three months. NPS and GGNPA will use the WA in some draft form to make a recommendation(s) to the Citizen's Advisory Committee, which will then make a recommendation(s) back to NPS & GGNPA. At some point during this "recommendation" dance the general public will be invited to the floor. Given the holidays, I'll guess the next public session will occur at the earliest either between Thanksgiving and mid-December, or shortly after the first of the year.

A couple notes of forward movement: to-date SFBA and GONPA have worked-out specific alternatives for staging (parking, rigging, etc.) and traffic flow/access needs for both schemes. Once the site design process gets past the DRY v.5. WET decision, we should be ready to address hard-core facilities design such as plot plans and schematics of showers, restrooms equipment rinse facilities, etc. We intend to fully include all SFBA members in this "facilities" design. In fact, should you accept, here's your assignment during the next couple months: Assume that the existing pavement and parking grid remains the same and provide me with any specific facilities ideas you might have. For the greatest impact, put your ideas down on paper, preferably in both graphic and description form. My address is 1230 Clay St., #203, San Francisco, CA 94108. I can be reached at (4~5) 883-4357 during the evenings.

Bill Robberson, Crissy Field Committee

Safety Reminder

The end of the season is almost here, and it is parflcular ly important to remember safety precautions. Knowledge of local conditions and safety measures is vital, especially if you plan to sail during winter storms. Remember to: 1) Use a, buddy system - never sail alone, 2) wear a wet,suit (4, mil) or dry suit, 3) carry safety equipment (strobe light, flares, whistle, tow line, mast leash), 4)check your equipment for wear, and 5) know the local sailing conditions and currents.

If you call in an emergency rescue to 9-1-1 or the Coast Guard at (415) 5Sf;~21O3, give complete information and iden- tify yourself and your number for possible follow up. If you break down and are rescued by a sailboat or another wind- surfer, let the Coast Guard know you are safe. Just last month, there was an incident at Crissy where a windsurfer was reported down and going out the gate. Even though she was apparently later rescued by a sailboat, the Coast Guard had to continue searching with helicopters into the night because they could not confirm the windsurfer's safety.

For more complete safety information, look for the SFBA Safety Citide at your local shop, or request one directly from 5FBA. Have fun and sail safe!

CORRECTION

Boy did we make a lot of mistakes last time. Chris IClackle (Pronounced KI, 'long a', ckle) is an ardent supporter of the SFBA. We regret the misspelling of both his first and last name in the last newsletter.

The article "Salt Ponds Convert to Sailing Sites" in the last newsletter was a fictional story disguised as a real article.

Salt Pond Windsurfing Deal Falls Through

Here is a follow up, fictional article from the Union City Gazette, 8/20/1995

Pacific Salt Company's plans for creating a wlndsurf ing mecca at the mineral evaporation ponds in Union City suffered a major blow today', as Larry FaIk, a researcher at the University of Santa Clara, published a technical report declar ing the ponds 'environmentally unsuitable for high-speed sailing activities.' Falk produced the report after witnessing Jerome ~aBIatte's attempt to break the world sailing speed record at thL' site. LaBlatte sailed into a landing flock of egrets, causing havoc and panic among them. Because of the stress, the flock appafently moved out of the ponds before they could feed properly. In a possibly related development, several Napa Valley wineries have reported to local authorities that a large number of egrets are eating their grapes. Martin Fisher of the Pacific Salt Company stated he is 'surprised and disappointed by the finding, especially considering we had financed Falk's research. Scientists in such positions should be a bit 'note sensible about their results.' Lablatte was also disappointed, but admitted that it wasn't going to work anyhow. We windsurfrrs spend enough time as it is rigging and unrigging and fixing and cleaning. It certainly doesn't help if you have to spend an extra hour removing egret guano from your sail.'

Name witheld to protect the innocent.

Updated - 11/8/95