1001 Tips and Secrets for Cruising in the Delta...and Beyond ! ! !

[Sophia]

How's about we start a list of our favorite... "best of the best"... fast and easy improvements for cruising in the Delta...and beyond.  Share that secret "widget" that makes life on board easier and more fun....that recipe that always wows the crowd at coctail or dinner time...that modification to the cockpit that turns it into your favorite place for leisure time...

I posted a couple of ideas under the Topic "...speaking of mosquitos"...and thought that it would be great to have a spot to go to to share cruising tips....I look forward to everyone's favorites...

Doin the Doo Dah Loca

Sophia
Galadriel

[iliohale]

We have experience in warm weather gunk holing, just not in the delta. For us I think the luxury items that we have added to our boat that we would not want to part with are as follows:

A workable shower
Good fans
A sky chair
Screens
Shade

Gary & Nancy
iliohale

[LaDonna]

There are a ton of tips in the Delta article in this month's Latitude as well.

I did forget to include a solar shower though!

[admin]

Shade! Very important.
Warm blankets/sleeping bags and some form of heat in case it's cold at night. On our boat one of those little hanging brass oil lamps does just fine. Turn it off when you go to sleep.
Layers of clothing. It could get very hot, but it could also be cold, especially at night and returning to the Bay Area. Lightweight long sleeves/long pants in case you get burnt.
Do we have to even mention sunscreen? But a full-brimmed hat too. I use a cowboy hat I got at REI; Jonathan uses a lifeguard hat.
Screens, at least on your ports.
Plenty of water and ice to keep it cold. Sure, a cold beer or two is nice, but drink lots of water too.
On the topic of booze, some wine to share with new friends. We like Bota Boxes, available at Bev'Mo.
You might think me a sissy, but I'm bringing a shorty wetsuit in case the water's a bit too cold for my liking.

Stink Eye, Laser 28

[admin]

Forgot to mention anchoring lights. We got some of those solar landscaping lights. When we anchor, like in Franks Tract, we stick one in the flag pole holder on the stern and attach one to the end of the boom. We tuck in pretty close to shore, but bass fishermen come along at dawn, going kind of fast, and this helps them to see us. By the way, the bass fishermen in general are good neighbors.

Wow, I'm really digging this forum. I better shut up and get some work done.

Stink Eye, Laser 28

[bccodyssey]

All great tips for what to bring.  We would like to emphasize the comfort provided at night by a simple fan to move air if it is hot.  We have a couple of battery operated fans that we got from West Marine a while back that have been great.  They run on 4 D-cell batteries and will last for 4-5 nights on one set of batteries.  They can be placed anywhere and are about 6 x 6 x 2 inches.  Another alternative is a wind scoop, but if it turns hot with absolutely no wind, the little fans are the answer.
Wayne and Karen
BCC Odyssey

[Sophia]

Here's a great tip so you'll have cold water to drink for at least four days or so....and as a secondary benefit...it'll keep your fridge colder for longer as well. We freeze solid (4) one-gallon plastic continers of bottled water...be sure to use the kind with screw tops.  Remove a little water before freezing to accomodate the expansion as the water freezes. When we begin our sail we put these in our icebox (you could use a portable ice chest as well) along with frozen and fresh food for the trip. As the ice melts in the containers....voila....we have cold water.  I'm also trying out an experiment this week.  I bought a 5 gallon Thermos container that has a beverage delivery spout near the bottom.  I will buy a block of ice and a bag or two of cubes and fill up this container with ice alone....same story...as the ice melts you have cold water...and if you need a few pieces for your martini or Margharita...you're set there too.  By using the seperate container to use as a cold water dispenser...you'll prevent heating up the ice box every time you open it looking for a cold drinka H2O.  Oh by the way....in case you couldn't tell...I'm a junkie for a cold drinka something while on a cruise.   I spent five years sailing to the Med and back....without refrigeration of any sort....and boy....the thing I missed most while at sea....was a long...cool...drink ! ! 

Also, it's great to do some cooking ahead of time so that you can freeze meals/steaks etc.... and have them last longer in the fridge. And speaking of cooking.  Be sure to bring along that barbie so you can do some grilling on in the cockpit...the galley will probably be a pretty warm spot already (it was 80 degrees in the Delta this weekend )...and any cooking you can do topsides will keep it more comfortable down below.  In fact....when in the delta we will bring along a two burner propane camp stove...so that I can do most ALL of the cooking up top.

[Merlin]

I love all these great ideas, so I want to share!  For all cold drink junkies - here's a cold flash (as opposed to a hot flash, as that's another forum).  Safeway sells dry ice now, usually in a large blue container near the exit.  We tried it out last year by putting it in the bottom of a large cooler to see how long it would last.  We piled ice on top of the dry ice container, and then put beer on top of that.  The ice got so cold we had to put something between it and the beer, so the beer wouldn't freeze.  It lasted at least 5 days with some dry ice left over, but we were going home and had to empty our cooler.

Also, a word to the wise on using dry ice to freeze alcoholic drinks -   We tried it one year with Mai Tai's - it makes a cool effect in an open bowl with "smoke" curling off the liquid, but it froze everything except the alcohol, and blitzed everyone out.  Not the effect you want if you want a party to last or your guests to be safe on the water!   

Merlin

[admin]

A good chart is indispensable in the Delta.