markpierce
Master and Commander
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2010
- Messages
- 12,557
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Carquinez Coot
- Vessel Make
- penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
Took my usual boating venture up and back the Carqunez Strait this afternoon. While the waters are familiar, events are never the same. Like today, no ocean-going vessels in transit were observed. Moving commercial traffic consisted of a couple of dredging barges with tugs. Here are some of the sights.
Tug "on the hard" at Mare Island:
"Double egg beaters" flying over; they did it several times:
Benicia ferry landing: as a child I recall taking the ferry between Benicia and Martinez, but it was replaced by a bridge in the 1960s.
Looking eastward toward the Benicia bridges. There are three. The oldest (and lowest) is a double-tracked railroad bridge built around 1930, making the world's largest railroad ferries obsolete, and two highway bridges.
Fast-swimming pinniped near Benicia. Saw one earlier swimming in Mare Island Strait, and later resting/barking on a buoy in the strait.
From the Benicia bridge westward, followed this houseboat, complete with spiral staircase. They chose a good time to transit the waters: it was very calm (and warm) today. They continued on to the then-still waters of San Pablo Bay while we turned north up Mare Island Strait to home port. (Docked Panamanian freighter and C&H sugar plant in background.)
My transient neighbor's bird Captain Bligh.
Well, another interesting day on the Coot's home waters.
Tug "on the hard" at Mare Island:
"Double egg beaters" flying over; they did it several times:
Benicia ferry landing: as a child I recall taking the ferry between Benicia and Martinez, but it was replaced by a bridge in the 1960s.
Looking eastward toward the Benicia bridges. There are three. The oldest (and lowest) is a double-tracked railroad bridge built around 1930, making the world's largest railroad ferries obsolete, and two highway bridges.
Fast-swimming pinniped near Benicia. Saw one earlier swimming in Mare Island Strait, and later resting/barking on a buoy in the strait.
From the Benicia bridge westward, followed this houseboat, complete with spiral staircase. They chose a good time to transit the waters: it was very calm (and warm) today. They continued on to the then-still waters of San Pablo Bay while we turned north up Mare Island Strait to home port. (Docked Panamanian freighter and C&H sugar plant in background.)
My transient neighbor's bird Captain Bligh.
Well, another interesting day on the Coot's home waters.
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