- Joined
- Apr 15, 2008
- Messages
- 13,731
- Location
- California Delta
- Vessel Name
- FlyWright
- Vessel Make
- 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
I had the chance to spend a whole week on the water from the Saturday before July 4 until the Sunday after, so I jumped on it. The weather was forecast to be a perfect mid-80s to low 90s during the day and as low as 60 at night!
First day on the water was spent in my favorite ‘secret’ lagoon with the Admiral and my best friend, Gene, aboard. He had just purchased an 11 ft Boston Whaler with a lightly used Merc 15, so we dragged it along for a test day on the water. We had fun with that boat until the filter clogged with debris from the bottom of the gas tank. No worries…a new tank, hose and fuel filter solved that.
Sunday found us dropping Gene off at the marina and loading his new dingy onto a trailer for a run home to clean her up and get her ready for more time on the water later in the month.
A quick run to the store past the Delta Farmer’s market for some forgotten items…
…then Meg and I set sail for the summer party mecca of the California Delta, Mandeville Point for the Barron Hilton-sponsored fireworks on 7/3.
We cruised through the gauntlet two days before the fireworks to look for friends, get a feel for the turnout and check out the available anchorages. We found a roomy spot near the north end of the crowd where the boats are not densely rafted. We decided to grab it now and enjoy the show over the next couple of days. We set the bow anchor, launched the dingy and then set the small danforth stern anchor. After a little stern anchor drag on night one, we set a large danforth as our second stern anchor and never moved for the rest of the 3-day stay. We were close enough to the mayhem and our friends to be a short dingy ride away, but far enough back to avoid the late-night revelry and rap music!
We knew before leaving that Mark Pierce and Perla would be unable to join us in Carquinez Coot. We were disappointed but hoped Giggatoni would be joining us in his 42 Grand Banks. A first day late departure and next day hose failure combined to send Ray and Vicki back to their starting gate in Vallejo, so we never got to see them either. But they made the best of it with the Coots watching the Mare Island fireworks from their home slips. Judging from the food pics they sent me, they didn’t go hungry either!
Over the 3 days at Mandeville, we enjoyed spending time with old friends and fellow TFers.
We quickly found Mark and Cindy (Dswizzler) and their 58 Vantare. We had fun running around with them in their new-to-them 14’ Boston Whaler dingy with new ‘church pews’ by Mark and upholstery and bimini by Cindy.
We swung by Three River Reach and caught Matt and Jennifer of Pineapple Girl fame heading out for their own dingy adventure. We came upon SCary of Cary’d Away as we motored along and introduced ourselves. Steve also came by Delta Swizzler for a visit and we planned a later rendezvous, but were never able to coordinate another get together due to conflicting schedules. I got some shots of his beautiful 48 Hatteras though during one of our drive-bys.
(more to follow due to our 6 image limit)
First day on the water was spent in my favorite ‘secret’ lagoon with the Admiral and my best friend, Gene, aboard. He had just purchased an 11 ft Boston Whaler with a lightly used Merc 15, so we dragged it along for a test day on the water. We had fun with that boat until the filter clogged with debris from the bottom of the gas tank. No worries…a new tank, hose and fuel filter solved that.
Sunday found us dropping Gene off at the marina and loading his new dingy onto a trailer for a run home to clean her up and get her ready for more time on the water later in the month.
A quick run to the store past the Delta Farmer’s market for some forgotten items…
…then Meg and I set sail for the summer party mecca of the California Delta, Mandeville Point for the Barron Hilton-sponsored fireworks on 7/3.
We cruised through the gauntlet two days before the fireworks to look for friends, get a feel for the turnout and check out the available anchorages. We found a roomy spot near the north end of the crowd where the boats are not densely rafted. We decided to grab it now and enjoy the show over the next couple of days. We set the bow anchor, launched the dingy and then set the small danforth stern anchor. After a little stern anchor drag on night one, we set a large danforth as our second stern anchor and never moved for the rest of the 3-day stay. We were close enough to the mayhem and our friends to be a short dingy ride away, but far enough back to avoid the late-night revelry and rap music!
We knew before leaving that Mark Pierce and Perla would be unable to join us in Carquinez Coot. We were disappointed but hoped Giggatoni would be joining us in his 42 Grand Banks. A first day late departure and next day hose failure combined to send Ray and Vicki back to their starting gate in Vallejo, so we never got to see them either. But they made the best of it with the Coots watching the Mare Island fireworks from their home slips. Judging from the food pics they sent me, they didn’t go hungry either!
Over the 3 days at Mandeville, we enjoyed spending time with old friends and fellow TFers.
We quickly found Mark and Cindy (Dswizzler) and their 58 Vantare. We had fun running around with them in their new-to-them 14’ Boston Whaler dingy with new ‘church pews’ by Mark and upholstery and bimini by Cindy.
We swung by Three River Reach and caught Matt and Jennifer of Pineapple Girl fame heading out for their own dingy adventure. We came upon SCary of Cary’d Away as we motored along and introduced ourselves. Steve also came by Delta Swizzler for a visit and we planned a later rendezvous, but were never able to coordinate another get together due to conflicting schedules. I got some shots of his beautiful 48 Hatteras though during one of our drive-bys.
(more to follow due to our 6 image limit)