Why Not Sail the South Forebay?

By Mark Barr

On Sunday, November 21st, with most of my yard work was done and the breeze calling to me, I just couldn't rake another leaf. The weather looked like an epic day for a sail. I called my old time catamaran buddy, Richard Silvera and prepared to beg him to come out with me. To my delight, I didn't have to beg at all. Richard, like me, had been working too long without a wind fix. We agreed to rendezvous at 12:30 at the south end of Chico.

My heart sank when we pulled into the Afterbay parking lot. The water level was so low, it looked doubtful that we could even get my Thistle in the water. The water was covered in white caps too. We were both itching to put in, but that place looked too shallow to be safe.

"How about the Forebay?" Richard suggested.

"I've had about as much Forebay sailing as I can stand", I replied. "Have you ever tried sailing the South Forebay?

After a quick discussion, we opted to try something new. I had sailed the South Forebay once on my Hobie 16 a couple years earlier, but I wasn't sure how good it would be. We took Grand Ave. about two miles west from highway 70 and turned up the narrow two lane road that climbs up and over the levee. The view of the lake was promising. There were white caps all over and the distance across the lake was about a mile. There was a concrete ramp and a nice aluminum dock to launch from. We paid our $9.00 day use fee and rigged in haste.

Richard and I took off anticipating a great day sailing. It was all that and more. Our speed upwind, on my handheld GPS unit, was around 6.5 mph. As soon as we cracked the sails off and pulled the board up, the boat cut loose and planed nicely. We reached back and forth, tight reaching up to the bridge bordering the west end of the North Forebay and broad reaching all the way back to the cove where the dock is located. Each time we sailed back to the dock, our speed jumped up to around 12 mph. In the biggest gusts we hit 13.9 mph, but I was too busy to watch the GPS display much. When our bow smacked a piece of chop just right, spray shot skyward and blew back in our faces. We were both soaked within minutes, but our foul weather gear and layers of fleece kept us toasty warm.

After an hour and forty minutes of this exercise, my legs were exhausted from hiking. We encountered several gusts of about 20 or so, that nearly took the boat over, even with maximum hiking effort and all sheets eased. We had to open our suction bailers to drain the water that was sloshing around in the bottom of the boat. We kept saying to each other, "one more reach". It was fun showing off for the four or five cars that stopped to watch us from the bridge that separates the North and South Forebays. I wondered what they must have thought of us. Were they muttering,"what a couple of idiots!" or was it, "Cool! Look at that sailboat go." I imagine that a little of both sentiments must have crossed their minds...

By the time we docked and put the boat back on the trailer, the sun was getting low in the sky. I took a couple photos in the brilliant afternoon sun. I swear, my Thistle even looked beautiful sitting at the dock (but maybe I'm biased). It had been quite a day. Richard and I sipped a malted beverage while we de rigged. We had intended to sip a beer while we sailed, but we never had the opportunity. I drove about 10 miles per hour slower going home than I had on our trip down from Chico. That frantic rush to get on the water had passed. You know that great feeling you have after a good day on the water? It's a feeling of satiation, satisfaction and of empowerment. Yep. I got my wind fix on Sunday. What do non-sailors do to get that feeling? I feel sorry for them.

Next time you have a north wind and you want a change of pace, try my secret sailing spot, the South Forebay. Just don't tell any non-sailors about it! MB

.