California Delta Photo's

Eric(manyboats) said something once that resonated with me. Words to the effect that most of us never think to post photos of our local cruising grounds because we find nothing special about them.

As I'm on the Delta for the next few days with no schedule or plans figured why not post some random shots.

Some snaps from around my marina.

A pair of Nordic Tug 32's we passed on False River this afternoon. I kinda messed up the lead boat.

Craig these are the kind of pics I like .. in addition to boats. Geography lessons in pics. I would love to see what it's like where everybody lives. Thanks.

I love the crooked tree in the 1st pic. And of course any pic of a 32 Nordic is eye candy to me.

Benicia (east end of Carquinez Strait) commercial port facilities (photo taken from Amtrak train on Suisun Bridge, betwixt highway bridges):

Looking from the opposite direction at water level:

Pinniped on buoy at eastern end of Suisun Bay:

Pittsburg, CA



Angel Island





Mildred Island



The Brothers



Dutra Tower at Delta Farmer's Market



Prospect Slough



Napa



Petaluma

Potato Slough



Miner Slough



Sacramento River



Steamboat Slough


Rio Vista

Napa River looking north with the old Southern Pacific Railroad lift bridge:

Pelican, spinning waters, and Brothers:

Mark, Craig, Ray, Al, Jennifer,

Anything left of the ready reserve fleet?

Someone sent be a link about these guys who snuck out there and photographed the ships. As an armchair adventurer, I found it fascinating.

Inside the Ghost Ships of the Mothball Fleet | Beyond the Photos

Good photos they bring back good memories and I will miss cruising up into the Delta this summer and instead will be learning more than I want to know about "humidity" in MS and TN.

Mokelumne River swing bridge at high tide this morning.

View behind my berth as we prepare to depart this morning for the days adventure.

From in front of my berth looking about a mile down river. The boat houses are the marina that Pineapple Girl keeps her boat.

Baggiolini said:

Mark, Craig, Ray, Al, Jennifer,

Anything left of the ready reserve fleet?

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It's disappearing rapidly. Estimate the fleet has shrunk by at least half in the last couple of years. And it was much larger in previous decades. (In 1952 there were 340 ships.)

One of several rows of ships:

Nice photos and I love the sunshine.

I'd post some photos from the beautiful PNW but they would all be a light gray color because of the fog and constant rain we have been having this past month.

Ron

Some of the folks we share the water with.

The islands in these parts are agricultural in nature. They are well below water level and in fact we boat on some that where abandoned after levee breaches. They are criss crossed by drainage ditches to remove water and keep them dry.

Pumps are utilized to keep the islands dry and the pumps discharge the water into the surrounding sloughs and rivers. These pipes will be familiar to anyone cruising this area as there are literally hundreds of them. Sometimes they are used to discharge drainage, other times they are reversed to irrigate crops.

The CMA campus and training vessel Golden Bear at the Carquinez Straits, where I learned to handle slightly bigger boats.

Quiet little secluded cove we are anchored in now. Light rain that's made it all the more peaceful.

The training ship California Bear has left its berth for the annual training mission, this time to points south (Cabo San Lucas, and so on).

CPseudonym said:

Quiet little secluded cove we are anchored in now. Light rain that's made it all the more peaceful.

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Shhhhhhhhh...

markpierce said:

The training ship California Bear has left its berth for the annual training mission, this time to points south (Cabo San Lucas, and so on).

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I was in the lucky class that got to sail on the old steam turbine Golden Bear as a freshman and the one pictured as a Senior. Also did Cabo, Chile, Easter Island and Hawaii.

Anchored at Port Ludlow, WA. The orange marks 200 feet.

200' of water will not happen here in the Delta. This is skinny water cruising here. Went soft aground about an hour ago.

Al you notice I didn't give GPS coordinates.

Here's a shot of my harbor masters house as we where coming in today(just before grounding). The sailboat looks like a piece of furniture, the photo doesn't do it justice. And finally the view out our window as we eat dinner at the local eatery.

CP, that was 200 feet of chain in 40 feet of water. Still no risk of running aground though. Does the tide float you off or do you get help?

Neither in today's case. I was having issues today with my depth sounder locking up for an as yet unknown reason. I knew an uncharted shoal existed in the vicinity so was moving at idle speed. Low tide sure didn't help.

Just waited a minute for the current to spin my bow into deeper water, had the passengers grab the cooler and stern anchor and head up to the bow, gunned it a bit as soon as I felt the running gear break from the soft mud and we where off.

My only concern was watching water temp and flow from my exhaust tips. Neither was ever an issue.

I now know the shoal is longer than it was thought to be before so added to the local knowledge database if you will.

Funny part was I listened in on the VHF just an hour earlier as Vessel Assist was talking to someone who caught that same shoal in a 40' trawler. The price of skinny water boating, just a little extra adventure for the day. No big deal really.

CPseudonym said:

Funny part was I listened in on the VHF just an hour earlier as Vessel Assist was talking to someone who caught that same shoal in a 40' trawler. The price of skinny water boating, just a little extra adventure for the day. No big deal really.

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Not for me....I guess I'm a deep water sailor.