Getting caught in bad weather isn't fun. It has happened to all of us at one time or another. When the winds blow up from the south, which is our regular winter storm pattern, it makes for a lousy ride home, especially the three-mile stretch from Hunters Point to our channel markers. The waves have the entire south bay, all the way from Alviso, to build. It's not unusual to bury the bow in conditions like that.

The Divine Esther got caught in a winter storm last year. She and her friend, Sherry, had planned to take her CHB 34, Meri Mate, to Sausalito for a holiday party. The ladies left the dock around 10 a.m. in calm conditions. By the time they reached the Bay Bridge, the wind had kicked up and fog had rolled in thick and wet through the Golden Gate.

Esther put Sherry in a life jacket and asked her to keep watch on the bow. If you have ever traveled in thick fog, you know that the more eyes and ears you have, the better your chances are of hearing oncoming vessel traffic. The choppy conditions soon had Sherry soaked through to the skin, even on the high flared bow of the little CHB, but she stood by her post.

The ladies arrived safely at Schoonmaker Marina in Sausalito a little worse for wear, but they closed up the boat and headed off to their party.

The storm arrived in earnest during the night, and unfortunately, Sherry came down with a terrible sore throat from her wet ride on the bow, incapacitating her for the ride home the following day. Esther was on her own and the bay was a monster. Big, frothy topped rollers were coming through the Gate.

With Sherry tucked warmly in her bunk down below, Esther made herself a thermos of tea, put on her PFD and took her position on the flying bridge. She pushed off into the choppy water.

Esther is a capable boater. She knows her boat well and what to expect from it in all kinds of conditions. Because of this, she wasn't too upset by the constant rolling as she crossed in front of Alcatraz. Trawlers do best if they are tacked, like a sailboat, through waves or large wakes.

The tide was flooding, and when she reached the Bay Bridge, with the wind blowing hard from the south, she knew she was in for a bumpy ride. She was now taking the big, breaking rollers on the bow. By the time she reached Hunters Point, the waves were breaking over the bow pulpit as the boat slammed into the next trough. Pound, slam, slosh, pound, slam, slosh. It was slow going and it doesn't get much worse than this. The big, muddy rollers were nonstop all the way home. With only a few miles to go, Esther persevered. Whoever said boating was supposed to be fun?

Meri Mate finally made the turn into the Brisbane/Oyster Cove channel. Once she was safely behind the office park, the wind and water smoothed out. Esther was in the home stretch. With concerned neighbors waiting to help with the dock lines, she pulled into her slip without incident. There was evidence of salt water all the way to the flying bridge.

Esther and Sherry were lucky, although a bit worse for wear. When they headed over to Oyster Point Yacht Club for a medicinal libation later that afternoon, one of the bar regulars said they'd just been talking about how awful the weather was and how they wouldn't be caught out there for anything when they noticed the Meri Mate heading up the channel.

"Well shoot, here comes Esther!" the regulars exclaimed.

Be safe out there. Wear your PFD's and stay put if you have to. They may not believe you at work, but it will make for a great story....