July 18 St Jorge Winery Tasting Tour

Vern Vierra, owner of St. Jorge Winery and fellow TF member (aka Barqueiro), has invited all Trawler Forum members to enjoy an afternoon at the St. Jorge Winery. TFers and family members are welcome for lunch, a winery tour and tasting and a tour of his newly acquired 43 Stephens on the property.

We plan to meet on July 18, 2016 at the St. Jorge Winery in Lodi, CA. Directions are at the website link on this post. Please post on this thread if you are able to attend and the number in your party.

Hope to see you there.

Address:
22769 North Bender Road
Acampo, CA 95220




Attendance list:

Markpierce+1
FlyWright+1
Giggitoni+2
Delta JimS+1

I would like to add

Vern produces excellent wine, in a gorgeous setting. This is a chance to experience some of the best wines the country.

I'll be there with Meg. (2)

I would very much like to attend if Katie is up for it.

Looks like a good time. Mark and Perla (the "Coots") will come.

Vickie, Jenny, and I will attend (3).

OK, both of us are planning to attend.

hey count me in

FlyWright said:

Vern Vierra, owner of St. Jorge Winery and fellow TF member (aka Barqueiro), has invited all Trawler Forum members to enjoy an afternoon at the St. Jorge Winery. TFers and family members are welcome for lunch, a winery tour and tasting and a tour of his newly acquired 43 Stephens on the property.

We plan to meet on July 18, 2016 at the St. Jorge Winery in Lodi, CA. Directions are at the website link on this post. Please post on this thread if you are able to attend and the number in your party.

Hope to see you there.

Address:
22769 North Bender Road
Acampo, CA 95220

Attendance list:

Markpierce+1
FlyWright+1
Giggitoni+2
Delta JimS+1

Click to expand...

hey count me in

Scary said:

hey count me in

Click to expand...

I hope that's "count me in for 2".

Remind me to wash off the 3000 miles of bugs from my land vehicle accumulated during the last two weeks.

Yes

FlyWright said:

I hope that's "count me in for 2".

Click to expand...

Do you think I could attend something like this without Patty. By the way Patty is sporting a new knee. This meant three weeks of home support by yours truly. Patty has replace two hips which in comparison were almost non events. This knee rehab is no joke. I don't think I will be doing one anytime soon.

Great to hear, Steve. I hope Patty's road to full recovery is smooth and straight. I'll put you down for 2...daughters welcome, too!!

What time are we expecting to congregate for this event?

We'll plan to arrive by 1100 unless otherwise advised.

The tentative time is noon, but I'll speak with Vern this week to confirm for Saturday's time.

OK, we're all set for a noon arrival at St. Jorge Winery. Vern is hosting the tri-tip lunch and wine. We'll enjoy a tour of the winery and Vern's 43 Stephens floating on site.

Post #1 has the latest list of TF participants. We will also be joined by Bill and Sue Wells and Capt. Pat Carson, writers with the Bay and Delta Yachtsman magazine. If anyone else would like to attend, please post on this thread or contact me directly by PM.

I look forward to seeing you all there for an afternoon of wine and boats.

Wow wish I was little closer

let us know how it goes and what wines are the dry ones

Al,

Is your list up-to-date?
What about Steve and Patty?

Delta_JimS said:

Al,

Is your list up-to-date?
What about Steve and Patty?

Click to expand...

Yes, it's up to date. Steve and Patty will not be able to join us.

We arrived around noon to the beautiful St. Jorge Winery, reminiscent of a Tuscan Winery. We were met by our hosts Vern and Jenise Vierra and invited in for some wine tasting of Vern's excellent wines. My favorites were the Tempranillo and the Old Vine Zinfandel. All were pleasant on the palate, but somehow I missed the Syrah. Guess I'll have to go back at a later date.

We were joined by local dignitaries CA Assemblyman Rusty Areias and Bay and Delta Yachtsman Assistant Editor, Writer and CA Delta Watchdog Bill Wells and his lovely wife, Sue. Both Rusty and Bill are owners of Stephens Yachts and members of the Classic Yacht Association. We enjoyed a delicious tri-tip lunch while discussing Stephens boats.



After lunch we were led to the piece de resistance floating in Vern's front yard, right next to the vineyard, a 1931 43 Stephens cruiser.



Vern has taken ownership of this vessel to restore it as close as feasible to its original, as-delivered condition. To preserve its replanked hull, he dug a hole in his front yard to float it while it gets restored. Soon the restoration starts. It will be fascinating to follow its progress.

Hopefully some of the other TFers in attendance got some better pics of the day to add.

Thanks to Vern and Jenise Vierra for a wonderful afternoon of wine and boats at St. Jorge Winery.

Vern recounting the acquisition of his Stephens:





The Stephens folding sink:





Its helm position (note the wild-looking compass):





The boat came with fancy lace curtains:





On the way home, some trawler demanded the swing bridge be opened, delaying our return by nearly ten minutes:

Here's another shot of the kerosene compass. Note the kerosene lamps on the sides.





She's even got a fair bit of bow flair.



...but the name's gonna go!

Some pics from Delta JimS:

Sorry I missed this

Looks like I really missed out. Unfortunately my two Daughters had planned a surprise fathers day present that we couldn't change the date of. Of Note Rusty often keeps one of his two, did I say two, very nice Stevens yachts just across the river from my boat. It is always nice to have one these two gorgeous boats to look at. I'm glad to see Vern has his boat sitting in water. When I visited earlier last month I was very impressed by the beautiful condition of the 1931 Stevens hull keeping her tight will go a long way towards restoration. I glad everyone got a chance to taste some of Vern's excellent wine.

Thanks for coming everyone

I really enjoyed meeting (in person) Trawler Forum Members. I thought about starting the restoration (gutting) a couple of weeks ago. But then our group could not appreciate what needed to be done and what the previous owner was trying to accomplish (which I do not want). When a boat gets this old it should go back to almost to it's original build. Rusty Areias has the same idea with his Stephens projects.
This boat has been covered with tarps since it arrived here. Next week we will build the enclosure (cover). My finish carpenter (marine experience) wants a cozy environment.
Again everyone is invited to our winery just mention the Stephens and our crew will show the way.
So we picked the Stephens up with a 70 ton crane with all of the counter weights, spreader bars and flat straps. It creaked and moaned from setting dry for month and a half but it made it. I have video some where. I was pumping probably 200-300gpm until I found that the rudder shaft packing fell out sometime during the truck ride and I had a major gusher.
We dove under the hull and packed it with mastic, No leaks now!
I plan on keeping you informed of the progress.
So long for now.

Please keep us informed. We're here to follow the progress!

Thank YOU, Vern! We had a great time. Your hospitality is unparalleled!

We opened a bottle of your Vinho Cor de Rosa tonight. It'll become one of our favorites. Sea ya'!

I'm sorry for missing such a great time. We will have to come by and tour the facility at a future date.

Sue and I had a great time! Thank you! Great photos Al! I look forward to reporting on the progress of this beautiful boat! Bill

Bill Wells said:

Sue and I had a great time! Thank you! Great photos Al! I look forward to reporting on the progress of this beautiful boat! Bill

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Bill, Really great to see you here on Trawler Forum. We'll set up a Stephens Boats-Classic Yachts Section in the Builders Forums for you Stephens owners to share your wisdom.

Welcome aboard!!