Gunkholing in the CA Delta

Codger2 said:

Al, I find the "wind sock" on the bow of Flywright interesting! Did you do it as a joke or did you do it to facilitate boat handling in close quarters? (Slip?)

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I had always used a burgee as a wind indicator but they wold eventually shred from waving in the wind. It started as a half irreverent joke to the yachtie types and half curiosity if it would be an improvement over the traditional burgee. As it turns out, it's a great improvement, albeit one that's about 3 inches too long. The windsock never flaps in the wind and never makes noise on the bow. I leave it up around the clock with no issues. It does tangle once in a while due to its length and less-than-perfect swivel attachment. The next one will eliminate those deficiencies.

CPseudonym said:

I prefer the Jet Fuel Only markers on the fuel tanks but the windsock on the pulpit is cool too.

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Like this?

FlyWright said:

Walt, that's where I was passing through yesterday. Today I'm in Sycamore Slough north of Terminous. Marinetraffic has not caught up with my slow boat! Boatbeacon has me spot on.

I'm turning off the pseudo-AIS to conceal the location of the Super Secret Cove. I'll be relocating to there in an hour or so. When I arrive, I plan to launch the dink for the first time this trip. I've got a Merc 2-stroke 15 that needs to be exercised. This'll be a great area to do that in.

Here are some videos I recorded yesterday on my lazy trip down Georgianna Slough while listening to some classical music.

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Nice Al. Class act.

Day 7 was a short run and a hot day! only traveled about 2.5 NM in 0:25.

I got into the Secret Cove as the Sea Scouts were leaving in the 95 footer. I tucked into the corner and was soon followed by a couple 40 ft daycruisers, a 30 ft day cruiser and a couple of Carvers, one a 57 footer.

I launched the dingy and mounted the 15 HP Mercury 2-stroke I have on loan from my buddy, Gene. It's the first time I used the motor since last summer. It had a whale tail on it that I removed this year to facilitate flushing. I found that the dink is more stable at speed without the whale tail. I think it was lifting too much at the stern and causing a lack of directional stability. Now it seems to track much better. Now I can cruise easily at 18-20K and generate my own breeze. And since it was a hot, still summer day, I did just that!

Cruising by the Tower Park Marina, I found lots of activity...boats filled with bikini-clad young ladies prepping for their day in the sun. As I passed downwind, the strong smell of sunscreen was almost overpowering! I had to smile...

I was cruising past the sheds of the marina and was met by friends Geoff and Janice Simcoe coming the opposite direction in their dink. We caught up for a for minutes while drifting in Little Potato Slough when along comes Dave Toms and family in his dink! We had a nice short impromptu rendezvous there before each heading out our separate ways. On my way back to the boat, I came upon this pontoon cruising the slough with the name Trixie Dust. The couple driving it were obviously relaxing in full delta mode. As I passed the 'toon, in my typical smart-ass fashion, I asked is that "Trixie Dust" or Trixie Bust"? We chuckled and joked, then continued on. I went to the general store to grab some paper plates and who joins me in the checkout line but the bikini-clad young lady on Trixie Dust! I said, "Trixie, I presume!" (Yes, her name was Trixie.) We had to laugh again. I told her about my travels and as we left the store, they agreed to pose for a picture for this report. Here they are, Jeff and Trixie! (photo in next post)

I proceeded back to my boat and as I approached, I saw their pontoon passing the mouth of the cove. They must have followed me here...so I invited them to raft up for a bit and have a beer. They came aboard for about an hour while we enjoyed a cold one or two and Jeff cast a few lures into the weed line surrounding the boat. They took off and I went on another dink ride in search of a breeze. Damn if I didn't see them again along the way once anchored in a slough and again at the bar by the general store!

When I returned, I decided to stoke some fun in the cove and invited all boaters to a spot light duel at 9PM. Bring whatever you've got....flashlight, generator powered lantern or vessel spot light. I assured them I'd just use a handheld flashlight. At 9 PM, the spots started to show on the trees surrounding us. I waited for the all to appear before turning on my light. The brightness, focus and the 'whiteness' blew their largest spot away. Even the 57 Carver with his mounted spotlight went down in flames. Gotta love a bright torch!

Since it's the weekend and I'm settled in here on the Cove, I think I'll stay another night. My cove neighbors are already beginning to pull anchor and depart. I'll take advantage of the weekend activities to sample more of the Delta experiences and maybe even enjoy the night solo in the cove.

Cheers!

Here are some pics from Day 7.

Status of my 14 day tank challenge...

Fresh water tank still indicates full on its reset day 4. (I had to refill on day 3 due to a loose hose.)

Holding tank is 1/2 on day 7. So far, so good.

Woke up to 78% battery SOC. I'm pleased with that. I've been running the Honda generator for the past hour while making breakfast and coffee and it's now sitting at 83%.

Sea scouts launch

Detroit Diesel, I presume...

Al I regret not being able to take advantage of your generous offer. Love the trip report and photo montage.

Day 7

I awoke today to Jack, Jim and Pat of Moore's Riverboat fame calling my name from their dink circling FlyWright! If you've ever woken up near a big guy with a great, booming voice named Jack, you know that's not always a real pleasant awakening! But fortunately today, it was a fun one! It was great seeing my old friends but they turned down the offer of coffee. They were planning to strafe the Sacramento Bayliner Club raftup next, so they moved on.

Later in the day I took my dink out for a good run. It was the first long trip this year with Merc 15 motor. I normally run with the Honda 2HP so this is just lots of fun! Mark Miller of Delta Swizzler fame gave me an old Garmin 176 last year and it's become my dink chartplotter. I'll post a pic later this week of the dingy rigged for cruising. It's got a lot going for it in a small package. Navigation, communication and safety gear, cooler, backpack, horn, nav lights, sunscreen and a touch of speed. Wish I had a GoPro so I could do a video tour. Maybe next year...

I went to Bedroom 3 where my friends in the Sacramento Bayliner Club were rafted up. It was probably 5-6 miles round trip. It was fun seeing the SBC skallywags. These are the same folks whose club burgee was flown upside-down by yours truly from Scary's Cary'd Away flybridge last year. Apparently they have forgiven...or just plain forgotten! In either event, they invited me aboard with open arms. After about 30 minutes, they began prepping to break apart the remaining members of the raft up so I departed. That was as close to work as I'd like to get this trip.

Today's visitors

Meanwhile, I've been busy with old-age health tests. Perhaps there is an opportunity to meet you in the western Delta while returning to home base?

FlyWright said:

Holding tank is 1/2 on day 7. So far, so good.

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Thank God! :lol:

markpierce said:

Meanwhile, I've been busy with old-age health tests. Perhaps there is an opportunity to meet you in the western Delta while returning to home base?

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That's a possibility, but plans are beginning to formulate that may allow a continuation of this adventure over Labor Day weekend. Ray (Giggitoni) was going to join me for this week starting today or tomorrow but got called out of town for work. If we reschedule our trip to LD, I may leave the boat here in a marina for a week, bum a ride home and return via Ray's boat.

You could join us then if you want to take that trip to Guisti's or we could meet on the last night in Monte Sl.

Day 9:

I'm having such a great time here in the cove, so I'm sticking around longer. Last night the Sandpiper came for a short stop and ended up spending the night.

As it turns out, Ray and I met the owner a couple years ago at Tower Park marina. The place was packed and we needed to drop some trash and leave. Mel invited us to tie to his boat, walk thru the boat with our trash bags and access the dock. What generous guy!

Had a cocktail with them and shared stories and news of common friends from our Riverboat Marina days. It's interesting how lives and acquaintances sometimes cross several times in one's life. I love this Delta community!

Took a 20 mile dink ride today. Went up to Wimpy's and saw Cpseudonym's old boat there 'under cover'. It was a great day for a dink ride and I got there in time for the last lunch special of Prime Rib and grilled onion sliders. I resisted the offer of dessert or a milkshake to go.

I got the dink running better now that I've removed the whale tail from the Merc. With my CG properly set, I can cruise comfortably in the mid-high teens. In benign conditions like I had today with light wind and just that perfect ripple on the water, 20K (WOT) was a hoot and very stable.

In the next video, I was only going about 12 kts when I hit the waves rounding the corner, but it looks like much more to me in the video. I did speed up entering the cove, though.

The Secret Cove


...now you can see why I don't want to leave.

Jennifer and I fell head over heels for Sandpiper when it was docked at Perry's for a while. Jennifer even picked out deck table and chairs for it. That may have been where he bought it before going to Riverboat as I heard a rumor it was for sale but before I could confirm it was gone. Good to see Bliss, he sounded like he was going to really enjoy her.

Al

Trying to get away and meet up with you. We had a wonderful time last year at Giusti's with you and Ray.

Barqueiro said:

Al

Trying to get away and meet up with you. We had a wonderful time last year at Giusti's with you and Ray.

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Coordinates sent.

Day 11:

Systems updates

Water: My 75 gallon water tank was refilled on Day 3 after losing a hose connection. Today, 8 days later, my profile water tank monitor is still reading 3/4 full. I expect it to tick down to 1/2 before the end of the day. I have consumed 13 of my 25 gals of bottled water over the past 11 days that I carry for daily coffee, tea and drinking water. It appears that I will have no problem with lasting 14 days with 75 gallons of tank water and 25 gallons of bottled water.

Holding tank:

My 40 gallon holding tank has been sitting on 3/4 for a couple days and just ticked over to full this morning but without the FULL red warning light. I suspect I still have a day or two to go (pun intended) before the tank is actually full.

What I'm now experiencing is the 'enhanced aromatic experience' one gets when flushing into a tank with 11 days of contents baking on 90-100 degree days. While I'm tempted to continue to the finish line with the contents onboard, out of mercy to those who will be joining me in the Secret Cove today, I'll reposition to Tower Park Marina midday and pump out. Vern and Bob, you can thank me later!!

Electrical:

Today marks my 5th day since my last engine run. It's hard to believe I've been here in Secret Cove for 5 days! My new 620AH house bank has held up admirably on the trip. I typically run the Honda for a couple hours in the morning and an hour or so during dinner prep in the evening. Last night I went to bed at 80% SOC and woke to 75%.

I've run the charger for a couple hours this morning while making coffee, cooking and reading the news. I'm now back to 87% with the bank accepting only 20A of charge, so I'm shutting down the Honda generator. As noted below, yesterday was an unusually high electrical use day.

Nova Kool refrigerator:

Yesterday I noticed the temps starting to creep up into the low 40s in the fridge so I figured it was time to defrost. Sure enough...I had about 1/4 inch of frost on the freezer plates. I fired up the countertop fridge which has only been used sporadically this trip to keep some watermelon and corn on the cob cool. This time, I needed to get her cooled down to accommodate the contents of the Nova Kool during the defrosting operation.

After dinner, I transferred the fridge and freezer contents to the countertop fridge and opened the Nova Kool to defrost. It seemed like such a waste of cooling but oh well...it needed to be done. After about 90 minutes the defrosting was complete and the NK was fired up to precool before the final food transfer. That took about an hour or so, then it was mission complete. Even with all that electrical load, I was pleased that I still had a nice 80% SOC at bedtime.

Weather:

My weather has continued to be near perfect! Daytime highs hit 92-97* around 5PM (30-39% humidity) and the nights cool to a low of 58*. By 9 or 10 PM, I'm typically wearing a shirt for warmth. Winds have been light to moderate on the outside of the cove (5-10K) during the day, but a bit more still here in the protection of S Cove. In the evenings, the cool breeze hits about 10K and feels perfectly comfortable.

With the low humidity, my towels have no problem air drying before their next use. Yesterday I showered around 3PM, then tackled a couple of other jobs. By 5PM, I jumped back in for a cool down shower. My bath towel was almost completely dry from the shower I had taken only 2 1/2 hrs before!

My cabin doors and ports stay open much of the day except when

1. The Honda generator is running on the port bow. Then 3 port side windows and port side aft door are closed. The aft door closure eliminates the station wagon effect of fumes coming back into the cabin from behind.

2. When I've got all the house lights up for housekeeping tasks after dark, I shut the doors to minimize the bugs.

Normally at night, my LED lights are set to red and the doors and ports are left open. In this configuration, the bugs are not attracted to the inside of the boat. Unfortunately, it looks more like a brothel than a trawler!

Time for a new update Al. I'm stuck at work but enjoying watching you enjoy your vacation! I can't wait to get up there myself. It will be my first trip to the Delta so I appreciate all you have posted so far.
Dallas

Today is Day 15 of my 14 day Delta Huck Finn Adventure. I guess it's true...everything slows down here in the California Delta. It'll take me 16 days to squeeze in my full 14 day trip! Fortunately by food supplies are holding out! This was my dinner from Day 11 - marinated Tri Tip, homemade sweet and spicy baked beans, supersweet Dixon white corn, guacamole with homemade pico de gallo and white corn chips.

I had the time of my life at the Secret Cove with fellow TF friends Vern (Barqueirra) and Bob (remwines). Vern and Jenise and family dog, Bear, showed up on Thursay in St. Jorge II, a 47 Ponderosa Sundeck Trawler. He brought his Kawasaki 3-person jetski as his dink. Bob and Lori with their spawn Morgan and Liam arrived on Friday in their recently reengined 40 DeFever. it was Bob's shakedown cruise in Down East Yankee after completing his engine change from this thread. Bob brought his Alumacraft for fishing and water fun with the kids. I hear it also works well for hitting the local bars but I'm sworn to secrecy.

As Vern was inbound, he discovered the shoal on Little Potato Slough where it meets Potato Sl. No shame there...I and other experienced friends from the Delta have also parked there temporarily. It's a nice place on the flood tide. After departing his shoal, he found his port starter wouldn't engage in a problem that had been intermittent until then...unrelated to the grounding. So Vern continued to the Cove on his stbd engine only. No problem...he just slid into the corner of the Cove and I used my dink to push him around like a tug as he set anchors. When leaving on Saturday, we coordinated the maneuvers and he exited as smoothly as he entered, but this time, he had to fit between Bob's 40 DeFever and a raftup of small boats that joined us in "our" cove for the day. He made it through like a Steph Curry jump shot..."nothing but net!"

When Bob arrived, I had placed buoys out reserving space and marking good points for his stern and bow anchor. Bob pulled right in, dropped the stern, pulled forward to the bow buoy and dropped it, then backed up a bit to place Down East Yankee between the two.

I found myself at Tower Park Marina on a regular basis...not that I always needed something, but it made for a great short boat ride to cool off while dumping trash, buying gasoline or misc supplies. They also have a bar and restaurant there, but I didn't partake. I did enjoy getting my picture taken wit Yogi Bear. In July (I think), KOA sold the Marina/resort/campground to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp resorts. Now they're going through the facelift and rebranding. The place is looking good and the employees seem very happy. It's a nice place to visit.

I've been asked in the past about my sun-filtering window coverings that snap to the outside of the windows. Here's a shot of what they look like from inside during the day. The camera adds the funky lines that aren't there in real life, but you get the idea. They work very well at keeping the heat down. I've tried something new this summer. I've added accordion-fold, foil-lined insulated car window shades under the windshield cover on the outside of the glass. These have made a significant improvement in keeping the heat out during the hottest part of our day, late afternoon. Then when the sun sets. I can remove the foil panels and see out through the windshield screens.

Fixed Pic 1:

Fixed Pic 2:

I stayed in the Secret Cove for 9 of my 16 nights. While I was there, my dinghy was deployed and available. I used it each night for a sunset cruise around the island and local 'neighborhood'. Each night was a quiet time to count my blessings and survey my surroundings. They usually just lasted 10-15 minutes and served as an after dinner cool-down cruise.

Saturday night, Vern left his Jetski with me as he returned home single engine with the plan to return Sunday AM to retrieve it. He told me to take her for a spin, so my Saturday sunset cruise was more fun than most others! I backed off the throttle when the speedo hit 50 MPH. Vern assures me it would have hit 54! I couldn't resist a victory lap around the cove while no one else was there. Just as I completed it, Bob returned with his family from their tube rides. That was fun!!

During this whole trip, there hasn't been a cloud in the sky. On Sunday, my last night in the Cove, I was blessed with a tremendous sunset that the camera just can't capture. I put the shot up anyway so you can enjoy part of the experience. Of course, I have to throw in a couple gratuitous FlyWright photos while I'm at it...

The stern shot shows my revised prototype cockpit cover. I'll discuss it in a later post about significant improvements that made a difference on this trip, but here's a shot anyway. It's a reverse sliding cover - the frame is stationary and the shade fabric slides aft to open access to the flybridge. This position also promotes ventilation and limits 'station wagon effect' while underway. When it's secured on the fwd edge, it looks like any other cockpit shade. Note the lack of vertical supports which allows for unimpeded fishing.

Sunday started with a post-coffee Jetski ride around the island to give Bob's 12 yr old son, Liam, a ride. It was wet and cool, but we had fun! Then, Bob assisted me as I dropped Vern's ski off at Tower Park. Bob also had Vern's stern anchor that he retrieved upon Vern's departure. When we returned, Scary (Steve Cary) showed up on a jet ski and visited for a couple hours. During that time, Bob pulled anchor and headed for home.

I had been contemplating leaving my boat in the Delta so Giggitoni (Ray) and I could pick up in a couple of weeks when he gets off his current job site. I already had a slip arranged at Tower Park (Thanks, Janice!!) and took FlyWright into it to verify she'd fit. For a number of reasons, I have decided that I'd take my boat home to her slip in Vallejo (about 7 hrs run time) over Monday and Tuesday. I can restock the IPA, water and food there and have my car for ease of travel. Then, when we decide when we're able to make the next delta trip, I'll be ready and we can travel together as buddy boats. Also, I learned I have a family member with health issues so if I need to travel or postpone boating plans, it's easier with the boat in her home slip.

So today is Day 15 (of 14) and I'm anchored back in a new spot in Montezuma Slough. I headed out of the Cove this morning at the crack of nine. I knew the winds would be kicking up in the afternoon and the tide currents were most favorable from 0900-1300. By the time I reached the San Joaquin River, the sheep were already showing with steep 2-3 ft wind waves against the ebb tide.

I got a little bit of spray on the windshield, but the boat handled it all as if it was nothing. I had initially been planning to turn up 3-mile Slough, passing Brannan Island State Park and then Decker Island on the Sacramento River...both good anchorages in the SW wind. If all was going well, I could continue to my planned destination of Montezuma Slough where there are plenty of wind breaks.

I changed plans as I approached 3-mile Sl in favor of staying on the main river to Antioch to grab a few gallons of their 'cheap' diesel at $2.85/gallon. Then I took Broad Slough up past Chain Island and ducked into Monte just as the winds were peaking at 30K! Just in time!

Now I'm sitting on anchor on a N-S leg with terrific wind protection to my west from a long line of trees. The bottom pic shows the localized wind protection I'm getting from the tree line. I had 2 ft wind waves passing about 20-30 ft behind the transom but nothing in my current position. My weather station tells me it's blowing about 6-10K out there. No worries! I've got my line in the water waiting for the trip's first sturgeon to join me.

Tomorrow morning, I'll run the remainder of Monte Sl, exiting into Suisun Bay NE of the Mothball Fleet (MBF). Once past there, I'll pass under the Benicia/680 bridge, through Carquinez Strait, hang a stbd at Mare Island Causeway/Napa River mouth and it's a short 20 minute ride home.

I have an opportunity to time it tomorrow so I can ride a significant tide through C Strait on the tail end of the ebb. There's a delay in the currents through the narrows on the ebb so when San Pablo Bay turns to a flood, the flood continues up Mare Isl/Napa R. The delayed ebb in C Strait allows me to benefit from both as I surf my way home.

Today I surfed pretty well. Day 15 totals:

31NM in 3.8 hrs. Yes....that's right...an average speed of over 8.1 Kts out of this pig! And that includes a 5 minute bridge delay and a fuel stop.

Don't know if I mentioned this, but I love my boat!!

Good Job!

Al,
Glad you had a good trip. You packed a lot into 14 days. Like the shade improvements you made and the understated red brothel lights.....

Cheers,
Captain Mike

Love, love, love the picture with Yogi. You two make a great looking couple.

Looks like an awesome trip! Nothing better than puttering around the CA Delta.

I made the trip to Vallejo Marina on Tuesday (Day 16 of 14), surfing my way into the slip. Like Day 15, I covered 31NM in 3.8 hrs. I got about a 2.5 kt push through Carquinez Strait and another push of 0.8 kt up the Mare Island Causeway. It was a wet ride through Suisun Bay and the westerly stretch of C Str with winds gusting to the mid-20s opposite a strong ebb tide. I saw consistent 3 footers with an occasional 4 footer thrown in for fun. Got my anchor washed well with spray on one of those.

As I approached the Vallejo marina, I saw a couple of interesting boats sitting there. The Spirit of Sacramento paddle wheel boat is of the same name as the boat owned by John Wayne and featured in the movie, Blood Alley. Here's the story of the original Spirit of Sacramento, but the first paragraph of FINAL WORDS discusses what I believe is this vessel.

Near the fuel dock is a river boat that reminds me of Swampu's vessel. She has real character!

I arrived at my slip around 1315 and arrived home by 1730. As I drove home, I sensed a bit of jaw pain, but didn't think much of it. By the next morning, I had notable tooth pain on a back molar that grew through the day into full blown mind-numbing pain. The only way for me to control it was to immediately drink ice water. That would calm the pain within 2 seconds and last for about 2 minutes. The dentist couldn't fit me in until the next morning, so it was a loooong night of drinking ice water every 2 minutes. I was so glad this didn't occur on the boat in the middle of the Delta! By 0900, I was feeling no pain after a few shots. A few hours later, my root canal was done. Whew!!!

My final numbers for the trip:

153 NM, 21:29 hours underway, 7 anchorages, 16 days, 9 nights in Secret Cove.

I feel like this trip was the first real-world trial of all the new systems upgrades on FlyWright over the past 9 years. They all came together and functioned as I had planned. Electrical upgrades, Honda generator, Battery SOC meter, fresh water system, holding and FW tank monitors, anchoring/windlass/ground tackle, raw water washdowns (fore and aft), navigation, lighting, sanitation, Nova Kool refrigeration, cockpit cover, solar lights, weather station, ER cameras and temp monitoring, dink/motor/dink net, cockpit deck mats, sunscreens and windshield heat screens, Breeze Booster and 12V fans, galley systems...everything worked as planned and allowed me to live unplugged for 2 weeks with just a courtesy pumpout on Day 11 for the aromatic benefit of my friends. After refilling water on Day 11 when I was still indicating 1/2, I returned home with more than 3/4 water and didn't skimp on cleaning or daily showers. I went through 18 gallons of bottled drinking water for coffee, ice tea and tooth brushing.

I carried a great quantity and variety of IPAs for this trip. I did not run out! All were winners, IMO. Here's the variety I had onboard:

Lagunitas IPA
Sierra Nevada (SN) Pale Ale
SN 11.5* Plato
SN IPA Hop Hunter
SN Nooner
SN Hoppy Lager
SN Summerfest
Hop Valley Citrus Mistress
Bear Republic Pace Car Racer

My Huck Finn adventure is now in the books. I'm looking forward to more of the same in the near future!

Al, is the current Spirit of Sacramento a pseudo-paddle-wheeler with propellers for propulsion? ... I remember taking a dinner cruise out of St. Louis and was highly disappointed the supposed paddle-powered boat was a fake.

Dunno, Mark. I just drove by it and snapped that shot out the stbd door at 8.3K.

I've felt the same disappointment on a similar vessel. It had twin screws and a fake free wheeling 'paddlewheel'.

FlyWright said:

My Huck Finn adventure is now in the books. I'm looking forward to more of the same in the near future!

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Wonderful trip and a very thorough shakedown! (I'm envious as hell!)