Team O'Neill

Started: 2025-10-21 20:10:11

Submitted: 2025-10-21 22:11:16

Visibility: World-readable

Sailing out of Santa Cruz

For my birthday I booked an excursion on one of the sailing charters operating out of the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. I picked Team O'Neill because it's a sailing catamaran, which I figured would be more stable on the water than a single-hulled boat.

Team O'Neill is docked on the east side of the Small Craft Harbor. From where we live in Santa Cruz, the easiest way to get there would normally be to drive to Seabright then take the Murray Street Bridge over the harbor. But the bridge is in the midst of a multi-year reconstruction. Both lanes are currently closed until sometime next year; then the current plan is to reopen the eastbound traffic lane (and bike lane) for a year before closing it again.

We boarded the boat at the designated time, walking past smaller sailboats on either side of the dock to the larger boat moored at the end. It was the largest boat in the Small Craft Harbor, towering over the other boats. The crew gave a safety briefing and cast off, then executed an awkward turn in the middle of the harbor to head out the entrance channel, past the Walton Lighthouse into Monterey Bay.

We cruised out of the harbor on motor power. Once the boat was out in the water in front of Seabright Beach the crew raised the main sail and lowered the daggerboards in each hull.

Before heading out further into the bay we sailed past Seabright Beach towards Main Beach. I saw the other sailing charter operating out of the Small Craft Harbor, Chardonnay II, sailing between us and the Beach Boardwalk.

Our course took us around the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf, recently truncated by a winter storm.

As I held my camera to my eye to take a picture the wind caught my California State Parks hat (which I bought when I found myself at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park without a hat) and lifted it off my head. It skittered on the deck for a brief moment, just long enough for me to think that it might be recoverable, before it slid under the railing at the edge of the deck and fell into the water below.

We left the anchorage surrounding the wharf and turned to the east, letting the wind push us towards Capitola. The boat's sail plan featured a large main sail behind the mast and a smaller triangular jib in front. The main sail stayed up the whole time were were out on the water, but the jib spent some of the the time rolled up on its line. I didn't know enough about sailing to know why one would choose to use the jib or not.

We sailed as far as Pleasure Point (not quite close enough to Seacliff Beach to see the concrete ship) then turned into the wind and began tacking back and forth in a zig-zag pattern. The day was perfect for sailing: it was bright and sunny with a brisk wind out of the west and modest swells. A few times the waves were just right that they splashed through the mesh deck between the twin hulls; but most of the time the water stayed where it was supposed to be under the boat.

The captain stood at the helm at the back of the boat, looking forward over the cabin tucked between and into the twin hulls. (I never actually went into the cabin; I was happy to stay up on deck enjoying the sun and the wind and the salt spray.) Team O'Neill is a modern mechanized sailboat; we sailed with only three crew. Most of the time the captain could manage the boat by himself, operating the helm and controlling the winches that adjusted the position of the sails.

At the end of each zig-zag segment he'd swing the wheel to turn and adjust the winches and the sail would deflate as the boat spun into the wind then inflate again on the opposite side, swinging as far as the line would let it. The captain would make some adjustments to the winches and we'd continue on a new course, ninety degrees from the old course, tacking into the wind.

We got a family picture on the deck; which is one of the few pictures we've taken this year that isn't a selfie so it'll probably make it into our holiday letter.

The wind was brisk enough that there were kite surfers out on the water, sometimes jumping tens of feet into the air, held aloft by the wind before landing on the water again.

We made our way back towards Santa Cruz, tacking back and forth in the bay off the coast.

The sailing portion of the trip ended off Main Beach. The crew took down the main sail and raised the daggerboards and we cruised back into the Small Craft Harbor on motor power. The two-hour cruise was just the right length to get enough time on the water, and it was a great way to spend my birthday.

I took more pictures sailing on Team O'Neill on Monterey Bay at Photos on 2025-09-07.