Bay Bash

[admin]

We spent Saturday night in Antioch Marina, which always gives us a warm welcome. We made an 0730 getaway on Sunday morning to get through Suisun Bay before any weather built. At first, we encountered some waves and wind, but it really smoothed out by Port Chicago. We stopped in Benicia for gas and coffee. Still nice in the Carquinez Strait, but boy, once we got into San Pablo Bay, it was really intolerable. Jonathan was miserably wet and fearing for our jury-rigged outboard. I told him that I was willing to sacrifice a day at the office if that was the only thing keeping us from turning around.

We turned back to Vallejo YC, not the first in our fleet to do so. The club were as hospitable as can be, and we were entertained by our friends Robbie and Ruben, who had not made the rally. I called the office and told them that although I was not stuck in Lodi again, I was stuck in Vallejo.

We tried San Pablo Bay again on Monday morning, and although the wind was only at about 15 knots, the sea state was just as bad and we slammed on every wave. Back to Vallejo! The Vallejo ferry got us to our truck in SF.

Ruben recommended Vallejo Boat Works, so Jonathan is hauling out the boat today to see if he can fix the saildrive engine.

How was your 'Bay Bash'?

Christine Weaver, Doodette
Stink Eye, Laser 28

[bobwalden]

Wow Christine, sounds bad!

We left Stockton late-ish on Saturday, 930 or so, and didn't see much wind until after New York Slough. Maybe 15 on the nose. Did no sailing that day--just motored into the dying flood. It was ebbing well by the time we got to Carquinez around 4:45. And the wind was up to around 20, and the waves were big. We went into Vallejo and got lucky, got a spot at the yacht club. Had a tour of Ruben and Robbie's new-to-them Brewer 46 (envy!) and a great dinner. The wind was gusting to the high 20's in the harbor, and COLD!

On Sunday we left a little after low tide at about 930 again (just can't seem to get going before then!), and set the 1st reef in the channel. I planned to sail for a bit then start motor-sailing, but we came around Mare Island and legged out on port, pretty much laying China Camp, and then did a few tacks up to the bridge. It was bouncy at times, saw mid-20's, but not too uncomfortable. A few extra tons of boat make a lot of difference when its choppy. We got into Point Richmond at 2:30 after a boisterous sail.

Jack London once said the hardest passage he ever endured was from San Francisco to Vallejo. :)

Bob and Lori
Cal 39-2 "Sea Star"

[HapaDad]

Since we cheated and had to leave early - I think we caught the weather just right.

We motored out to Pittsburg Thursday eve with a couple other Doo Dah'ers.  We had to stop there as they were forecasting gusts to 45 in the straights. It was nice at Pittsburg at 8pm, but by 11 was blowing very hard.  The next morning -we waited for the fuel dock to open - then boogied out at 8:30am.  They were still forecasting high winds at the straits, but was supposed to slacken, then develop into a strong westerly.  Was a bit bumpy at first - but moderated and I don't think we saw anything more than 15 all the way to RYC.

[iliohale]

Odyssey & the 'iliohale departed Stockton YC at 5:15 AM on Saturday. We had a nice motor trip going with the tide all the way to Pittsburg were we stopped for a pump out at around 10:30. The trip across Susiun was not too bad with really pretty mild conditions on a flood with at times 25 kts on the nose. We pulled into Benicia at around 3 PM for the night. Once we got off the bottom mud in Benicia harbor, we departed at around 10:30 AM on Sunday. San Pablo was in it's full glory between the Carquinez Bridge and Point Pinole with a very nasty short chop and a 25 kt SW wind. We were loving the dodger on that stretch. We motored sailed under main until Pt. Pinole against a 1+ kt flood. Once we got past Pt. Pinole, we rolled out the jib, double reefed the main and cut the engine for the balance of the trip into Sausalito. It was cold, foggy, and nasty most of the way. We had a few gusts in the low 30's off Angel Island but at that point we had a nice ebb helping us along. We tied up at Clipper YH at 3:30 PM. All in all, the trip back was well worth the great week we had doing the Doo Dah. No regrets.

[scwideman]

Rich and I were out of Stockton at 6:05 a.m.  Flat, nice motor down river.  Passed "Sizzle", exchanged greetings, and soon came up to about 5 minutes behind Moor'ea, Rigel and Gitana Vela.  They were going into False River and told us that they would let us know about depth.  They called very soon and told us 1 1/2 feet under their keel.  We opted for the main channel, which by the way took us at 6.5 knots 1 hr, 15 minutes, going with the ebb, up and around to the other side of False River.  Started down toward Antioch and "Goose" flew by us with his sails up.  Didn't see much of him for the rest of the day.  Man, that bird can fly.  Not bad motor through NY Slough, a little windy in Suisun, but mostly flat, watched a regatta of Wiley Rabbit's with Spinaker's going up river and pulled into a very calm and warm Benecia at 3:15.  We were going to stay there, had a reservation and everything, but decided after fueling up that we would go for it.  Left at 3:45 in relatively good conditions.  Until Port Chicago.  Kept going for a while and were thinking of turning around but again decided to stick it out.  We watched enviously as a few boats came under the bridge and headed toward Vallejo.  Conditions got worse, 30 knots, big chop, no dodger, but kept going.  We put our jib up, headed for China Camp and made good time, for about an hour.  Finally got under the Richmond Bridge with the very dark and cold fog rolling in.  Went down to put on the running light's and they wouldn't stay on.  After a few more try's they still would not work. So, no lights coming down Raccoon Straights and into the Harbor.  Made it back to the docks in near dark at 8:30.  Had an Irish coffee, went to bed (bunk) and got up late the next morning and started the unloading process.  The running lights worked the next morning.  Go Figure.  Listened to Moor'ea, Rigel, Gitana Vela, No Agenda and Ebenezer II, and a few others, coming down from Pt. Pinole on Sunday morning. 

Oh well.  Ya gotta do it.  Hopefully, if we can do it next year, we will have a dodger, light warm winds, and calm waters in Suisun and San Pablo.  I can dream, can't I.

Anyway, Rich and I had a blast, made great friends, met wonderful people and are still rocking a little bit from being on the boat for 8 days. 

See ya.

Shawn and Rich Wideman, Bumpy, C&C 40       

[Brian F]

Here's my story, as one of the two single-handers. 

After my fiancee Lisa suprised me by showing up at the party at Stockton (after giving me a story about going dancing with her friends), I left Stockton pretty much on schedule at 9:15.  Motored pretty much all the way to Pittsburg YC where I spent the night.  (Should have stayed at the marina where several other Doo-dahers were-I got a 'who's he?' at the yacht club.)  Left Pittsburg at 6:30, following Moorea, Gitana Vela, Carousel, and Pretty Penny.  Soon Moorea's engine quit and got a tow from Gitana.  (They ended up towing all the way to Sausalito!)  Got through 'hell' (i.e., Port Chicago/Middle Ground) in record time (two hours) with a good ebb.  Motorsailing with a reefed main help smooth the rough ride.  (Which smoothed out past Port Chicago and through to Carquinez Bridge.)  Got to Vallejo while the ebb was still going, and the chop was horrible.  Again, motorsailing helped, also sticking to the south side in 15 feet of water helped too.  (Carousel was motoring straight into the chop and looked like they were having a hell of a ride.  (I'm pretty sure their deck was pretty clean after that!)  Finally put up the jib somewhere along the way to Point Pinole and sailed towards China Camp.  After tacking many times, I thought about forgetting about sailing and going back to motoring, but I stuck it out and arrived in the Raccoon Straights to drizzle!  What a contrast to the warmth of the Delta!

But overall, what a great time!  Definitely my best trip to the Delta!

Brian
No Agenda     

[Duende]

Saturday afternoon in San Pablo bay was no picknic. easily the worst weather of the 40 something bashes I/we've done, Wind on the nose around 30 knots. My guess is that down wind would have been a blast. I have not been that wet in a long time. Spent the night in Richmond. Best shower I've had in 40 something trips.

Very nice Delta trip, Thanks for including us.
Danny

[LaDonna]

Silent Sun stayed at Stockton SC Saturday night, which ended up being a necessity as I slipped off the cockpit seat and sprained my ankle! It's a mild sprain but at least I had a really good excuse to just lie around. :-) Moved back to Potato Slough (Bedroom 1 - really, 1.5) Sunday, mainly so we could try the Doo Dah-famous clam chowder at the Lighthouse restaurant on the Mokelumne. Let me say first that the food was really excellent, and the clam chowder really is all that. But the service? I've rarely experienced such crazy bad service. At least they weren't rude, but my goodness - not a single part of our order, with the exception of the chowder, was right. Crazy! Then, on our way back, we ran out of gas. Now this wasn't really unexpected, since we have about an hour's worth of motoring time in our little OB, but it sorta sucked as the wind had really perked up while we were at the restaurant (waiting for them to get our orders right!). It was a loooooooooooong row home, arriving just as dusk was settling in. Phwew!

We left around 7 Monday morning to a decent breeze on the nose - 15 kts or thereabouts. No biggie...till we poked our nose out of NY Slough. BAM! But we really wanted to make it to Benicia so we, too, could visit with Robbie and Ruben. It started getting a little bumpy, then bumpier, then bumpier. Poor Fred lost his breakfast and was thoroughly miserable. Rob suggested we try the Suisun Cutoff around Ryer Island and down past the Ghost Fleet to avoid the seas. We'd never done it before and it was blowing like stink, so we were extra vigilant in watching the depth sounder. Running aground would have been ugly. But we made it just fine, and the seas calmed so it was a good call. By the time we got past the fleet, the whole river was calm, though it was still blowing. They're dredging the channel into Benicia, and the barge smack in the middle looked sketchy but it was plenty roomy.

Had a great dinner with Robbie, Ruben and Ben on Mirage, then left around 10 yesterday. Had plenty of water heading out and caught the last of the ebb, but we were getting really slammed by the wind. Had the jib and a reefed main up, but stuff was still flying around the cabin. (Please keep in mind that we just got done with a several-month refit and some of the cubby doors aren't latching right after being re-installed - good stuff to find out now.) When Fred took a direct hit from a hard object, I put my foot down. Down came the jib and on came the motor. The seas weren't bad, but the winds were cranking. Finally, Rob put in a 2nd reef which calmed things down a bit. Thank goodness it was warm as Rob got totally soaked from spray. We were in shorts & tshirts when we started out, and I'd gone below to comfort Fred. Rob said just to stay down as it was getting wetter, so I obliged. About halfway to China Camp, he came dripping downstairs where I ordered him to strip and threw him a towel. A fresh batch of clothes and his foul weather gear were next. He said that made the rest of the very wet trip much better! It was blowing sustained 35-40, with higher gusts, from the time we cleared the Vallejo breakwater to when we dropped anchor at China Camp. I can recall uglier trips across San Pablo, but none that honking.

Got up early this a.m. to get me to the office in time for 'Lectronic. 15 knots on the nose and drizzly. Gah! Why did we leave the Delta again?!

Thanks again everyone for sharing such a great week with us! Can't wait to do it again!!

LaDonna Bubak
Silent Sun
Crealock 37

[admin]

From Jeanne MacDonald, SV Time and A Half, O'Day 35
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had a wonderful time dawdling in the Delta -- the sunrises and sunsets were beautiful.  Temperatures were perfect - warm days and cool nights.  The only rough patch of our trip was during the last four hours on Saturday afternoon, motoring from the Carquinez bridge to Emery Cove.

We left Stockton Sailing Club at 5:50am, and motored by Pittsburg about 10am.  We had tentatively planned to stay in Pittsburg on Saturday night, but decided to keep going, perhaps staying in Martinez or Vallejo instead.  We continued to make good time, motoring by Benecia at noon.  Jay suggested that we stop for a lunch break, but I wanted to keep going.

After passing Rodeo and enduring 30 minutes of nasty chop and wind, Jay (wisely) suggested returning to Benecia to wait for the winds to calm down, but I was still gung-ho and wanted to keep going.  Well, I should have listened to Jay, who knew from previous experience racing J-24's back from Vallejo just how nasty it could be...

For some reason I thought conditions would moderate after passing Red Rock, but it got even worse.  The winds by then were steady at over 25 with gusts to 35, and we were motoring against the ebb.  Confused waves, with occasional waves breaking completely over our boat.  We had run two short jacklines from our dog Bella's lifejacket to the cabin ladder.  However, Bella decided that must be some other location on the boat that didn't go pitch, crash, bang -- so she kept trying to crawl out of her life jacket to see if perhaps the foredeck was calmer.

I wanted to partially deploy the jib, and Jay tried to accomodate me, but the foot and leach of the sail ripped, so we rolled the jib back up again.  Then one of the cotter pins holding down the bimini frame broke.  I managed to reinsert the broken cotter pin and tie-down the frame with Jay's help, but trying to hold on to Bella at the same time caused me to do some kind of twist and sudden bang with my knee.  Oops.

The winds increased when we passed Angel Island on our way to Emery Cove.  I think at that point, the winds from the gate were steady at 30 with gusts over 40.  I hadn't seen conditions like this very often on the bay, and was happy that we were on such a sturdy steady boat, diesel engine purring steadily along.  We arrived at Emery Cove about 5pm.  I asked our Coast Guard Auxillary dock neighbors what they thought of the conditions -- they had been out for the day, and said they had never seen such nasty conditions in all their years on the bay!

On Sunday Jay took me to the Kaiser minor injury clinic, and now I have crutches and a knee brace that I get to wear for awhile.  Well, I learned so many things on the Delta Doo Dah!  Next time we head to the delta, we'll have a working depth sounder and a dinghy for doggy doo runs.  And most important, I'm going to listen to Jay when he wants to stop for a lunch break or an overnight to wait for calmer seas...

Cheers & fair sailing,

Jeanne MacDonald
SV Time and A Half, O'Day 35

[Brian F]

Isn't this amazing?!  We all seem to have tales of miserable conditions, and/or breakdowns, and yet we all had a great time and want to go back!!!

I guess we'll all crazy!

Brian Forster
No Agenda

[LaDonna]

Well, if by 'crazy' you mean 'lusting for sun and willing to go to great lengths to soak up just a little of the stuff', well...then call me nuts! ;-)