Dodging Freighters & a Literary Quiz

The San Francisco Chronicle, online at www.sfgate.com, has moved some good sailing coverage in the last few months. In today's paper there's a story about two people (Nick Patz and his fiancée) who capsized in area of the SF Bay called the Carquinez Straits while day sailing their 14-foot boat to a bar in the town of Port Costa Saturday afternoon. According to the article they landed the boat on the beach and proceeded to the bar where they partied until 1:00 AM. On the return sail the boat began to fill with water, soon swamped and sank under the Carquinez Bridge. About 5 miles east in Martinez, a Greek-owned tanker called the Bow Prima had just picked up 100,000 barrels of diesel fuel from the Tesoro refinery and was outbound with two tugs, heading straight for the Patz and his unfortunate wife-to-be. Read on for the rest of the tale – as they say the truth can be stranger than fiction. And speaking of fiction, here’s a test of the sea going literary sort. What famous novel of the sea began with the hero in similar “straits” in the SF Bay? A hint, the equally famous author made his home in wine country...