This is a good example of how expereinces vary. Here, the wind is equally likely to come from any dirrection, something you always check as you make your approach. And the tidal current as well. Docking a 2-4 knot cross current can be a real eye opener; you either find a bulkhead or wait until slack tide, which may only last 10 minutes.
Just wondering why you would even carry spare fuel, you have at least a 50 gal tank which could keep you running for 2 days straight from full, do you venture that far from port? do you rotate the stored diesel with fresh? Is your filler in the same place as ours starboard transom very awkward to access from the boat?I was not out of available diesel, but not taking the chance of retrieval. I do have a few friends.
When I lived and sailed in FL I used to tell my buddies that the wind could arrive from any direction, and at just about anytime and at any speed. I recall more than one race on a "triangular course" where I swear we were heading upwind every leg. Not so in Southern California. In summer, the wind is easterly, or viable and light, in the morning, gradually veering to SW, maybe reaching fully W, in the afternoon, increasing from a few knots to 15 kt, then dies off in the early evening and night. Most sail races here start at 1200 or 1300; earlier there is too little wind to bother with. Nearly every day the same. In fact, the same diel pattern pretty much holds all along the North American coast, as well as inland a couple hundred miles. So, an upwind slip is one that you enter heading west or southwest. It changes only infrequently, usually in winter/spring where some south and southeast wind of the morning persists into the afternoon.
