Mouette in her slip, G-400, at the Berkeley Marina, June 2004
Meet Mouette, a 1960 Tripp 30' sailboat (hull #15 for those of you keeping track), my lovely floating home-away-from-home. She's a very early fiberglass boat (I think the first ones were made in '57 or '58), with a cut-away full keel, designed by Bill Tripp Jr. and built in Utrecht, Netherlands, then imported to the U.S. by Seafarer Yachts. She lives at the Berkeley Marina, and we're just starting out on what I feel is going to be a long and joyous adventure together. If you have any comments, questions, or just want to go for a sail, please write me & let me know!
And PARTICULARLY get in touch if you have any info about other Tripp-30s -- I'm trying to compile as much history as I can (so far know the whereabouts of three others, scattered across the US), and will make a "clearinghouse" of the design's story here if/when I gather enough. I'm very curious to know how many were built, and where they've ended up...
Mouette in her slip, G-400, at the Berkeley Marina, June 2004
I officially purchased Mouette on June 19, 2004 (having sold Catana the day before -- here Hana Hou the dinghy can be seen guarding the empty-for-only-a-day slip), and spent the morning going through all her systems with Wayne, the previous owner for over 30 years (!) -- me trying to take notes on everything & keep a lid on the sense of overwhelm that was quickly building (hence no photos from the delivery trip). We then motored her across the Bay from Sausalito to Berkeley, to get her batteries good and charged, as she'd been sitting idle for quite a while. Then got her settled into her slip, moved some stuff aboard, and sat around pinching myself -- I still can't believe the universe aligned itself so that I get to spend time with such a lovely boat!
Appropriately, considering how much he sailed with me and Catana last fall, the First Official Guest to visit Mouette was Joerg, who brought champagne on his bike -- and we were soon joined by Cissie and Lora, who ALSO brought champagne (see it there on the fold-down table, which has a 1962 chart of the Bay on it, so cool), as well as cherry pie (my favorite) and shark-shaped cookies. How awesome is that -- a downright party for her first night in Berkeley! And once we'd eaten all the goodies & folks had trundled off down the docks, I stayed behind and spent the night, already feeling very at home with Mouette.
Sunday was the summer solstice, but Mouette and I stayed put and spent the day hanging out, getting stuff organized etc. But monday the 21st was my half-birthday, and what better day to go on Mouette's first sail as my boat? So I skipped work, and since he had the day off, insisted that Bryan join me, as he was so instrumental as the key counselor in my boat-shopping endeavors. It was an absolutely perfect morning, warm with a rare south wind, so we headed out with both sails flying proudly along the Berkeley Pier pointed straight toward the Golden Gate -- would that we could have just headed on out! Here I am admiring her graceful lines, especially the beautiful wood spars (and note her hull number on the main sail!). She actually sails faster than I'd expected, and so smooth! Bryan even tried to rig up some self-steering so we could be extra-lazy. We lost the wind near the western side of Treasure Island, and so turned back toward Berkeley, circled around the marina several times (and buzzed Bryan's coworkers on the Hornblower docks) so I could get more used to how she handles, and eventually sailed into the slip. What an amazing day! I then took a nap, and finally struggled to put Mouette's crazy full boat cover on (doesn't Hana Hou looks sort of puzzled by all the fuss?) and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset before finally heading home. Feel SO lucky to have found this truly fantastic boat!
Her details: well, you can read some of it yourself on her builder's plate, at the back of the cockpit. And here's the original catalog listing for the boat, in case you really want ALL the specifics. She's 30' 4" in length, but her waterline is only 20' -- long overhangs, lots of heeling! -- designed for the old CCA racing rules in the early '60s. Despite looking so light and graceful, she weighs 9000 lbs, much of which is boat (her ballast is only 3000 lbs) -- lots of wood trim, including a Sitka spruce mast and boom (and spinnaker pole, which isn't rigged yet), but otherwise she's made of beefy, heavy fiberglass, very solid and strong. She was repowered a few years ago with a (still shiny!) Yanmar diesel, but otherwise has a lot of her original gear. Here's the main cabin looking aft and forward -- very spacious, with 6'1" headroom, and yet cozy, especially up in the v-berth. Who could need anything more?
So, the trouble with buying a boat in June, is then you're just getting comfortable with her in July, the weirdest month to sail on the SF Bay -- a lot of the local racing series actually STOP during July, because the fog and wind get so strange. But I of course couldn't wait for easy conditions: set out on July 5 (after a postponed trip July 3 with Bill) with my friend Thomas -- but we made the mistake of heading north, trying to get away from the wind, without checking the tidebooks first. After a lovely afternoon riding a flood tide under the Richmond Bridge and up to Point Pinole, we then had to sail back home: UPwind, UPcurrent, in the biggest chop I've seen in the Bay, and hitting the leading edge of fog creeping over the Tiburon hills just as we came back under the construction-cluttered bridge. I'm not sure I've been more challenged while sailing than this day -- we got our butts kicked. But it was also exciting, and good to put Mouette through her paces, and me through mine too! There aren't many pictures, as I was too busy *sailing*, but near the end of the day I did stop to take a few of the gorgeous late-afternoon sun on the water, and the spectacular fog rolling through Raccoon Strait. And as we limped back in to Berkeley, I managed to turn back & catch one of the best pictures I've taken in a while, sunset under fog -- it's moments like these that keep me returning to the water, even after such hard sailing.And of course, after such a rough outing, what's needed is some quiet evenings in the marina! (see picture above left -- go figure it was clear and calm THAT day...) I often stay on the boat overnight, even when I haven't been sailing, just to enjoy this amazing place. Sundowns are of course gorgeous, with golden light everywhere -- perfect time to open a beer and get caught up in my journal. The best time is right at dusk, when the lights are just coming on, and the ducks are getting ready for sleep... Doesn't Mouette look cozy? Here's her and Hana Hou as night falls, and later her mast lit up by my flash... And then the next morning, getting up right at sunrise, facing first east and then west, with dew all over the boat. I just love being here, close to the water.
But eventually one MUST return to the sea -- no more loafing around the marina! I managed to avoid the rest of July (other than a 2-hour jib-only sail one saturday with Stephen, no photos I'm afraid), after that one rough day, but on August 1st fellow Fotologger (mine is here) Yarrow joined me and Mouette for a lovely daysail. Our course took us past all the construction for the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge -- both of us constantly snapping photos, of course. Sailed under, noticing several cool bells at the bases of the support towers -- ??? Yarrow also made great efforts to photograph seagulls flying past -- here he's pointing at one that he just missed with his camera. We continued south, away from the bridge, as fog began to roll in over Hunters Point & the wind picked up. Even tried out my new self-steering system -- seemed to work pretty well, if a bit low-tech -- look, no one on the helm! We sailed all day with a reef in the main, but as we turned back north around Candlestick Point we put a second in -- best to be prepared! Things got a bit rough and wet, but it was worth it to get the most spectacular perspective on the bridge and clouds as we came back under the western span -- the setting sun behind the fog making everything all sparkly and dramatic. We passed Alcatraz and got one last glimmer of light near Angel Island as we headed back toward Berkeley, sailed into the slip, and then headed over to my favorite Lanesplitters to demolish a pizza and slurp some red wine and/or IPA. A most wonderful day, and most wonderful crew!
And the following saturday (August 7), after some electrical upgrades (thanks, Nick!) and finally re-attaching the mast's windex (thanks, Chris!), Mouette and I set out again, this time with my marina neighbor Becky as crew -- smile! Becky is part of an ocean-going collective that's been working on their 55-foot monster boat for months, but are leaving soon for the high seas, and she wanted some extra sailing practice before becoming a full-time pirate. And we got a good day for adventures! Most of the Bay south of the bridge was clear and sunny -- but notice the low fog that had oozed in across the central bay, not very thick vertically, but incredibly dense. Later in the afternoon it was just barely creeping over Mount Sutro in SF, but looked like a solid wall of cotton on the water. Which made for a weird sensation of the universe being slightly out-of-order -- wait, aren't the clouds supposed to be ABOVE the bridge, not below? We had our usual splashy time heading up to the Bay Bridge, although once we got close, the wind actually lightened, letting us drift a bit toward the city & take more pictures of the gorgeous scene of bridge and sun and fog. We actually had to start the engine to get under the bridge without drifting into one of the tower footings! As always, sailing along the edge of the city is such a strange contrast -- the densely built city, but us out on our own on our little boat, independent and quiet and apart. We enjoyed a truly amazing sunset, the last bits of sun gleaming on the bridge and casting a warm glow across the water. It also seemed to inspire the pelicans, who were flying around in large flocks, more than I think I've ever seen at once on the bay, plus lots of seagulls & diving terns making quite a ruckus. But once the sun went down, we were still faced with sailing home through the fog -- here's Mouette bravely heading in as the wind picked up again -- and that's where the photos end, as it was nothing but grey sky and grey water the rest of the way, and got dark very quickly. Thank goodness for the newly-installed windex and 12-volt socket for my GPS, as we'd have been incredibly lost without them. Managed to keep ourselves on a pretty straight course to Berkeley, despite needing to gybe a number of times to avoid hitting Treasure Island, the Berkeley pier, and a Hornblower cruiser heading in -- but eventually sailed into the slip, very tired but proud of ourselves. Quite an adventure!
| Back to Laura's homepage |
