A Foggy Thanksgiving Weekend on the CA Delta

I was out last weekend fishing near Chain Island and got a lot of use out of my Fogmate fog horn. It was as low as 1/4 mile visibility at times and, as far as I know, aside from the big boys, we were the only ones sounding our horn while underway.










Shortly after the sun set, the fog rolled in with a vengeance.* The fog flowed over the bow and flybridge as if it was water, cascading into the cockpit and surrounding waters.* I've never seen it quite like this before!* These pictures don't do it justice, but here are some cool shots of the fog rolling in at night...








Some final shots...








-- Edited by FlyWright on Wednesday 30th of November 2011 07:48:56 PM

Could also title this thread "Why I(me personally) can't wait to get my family on the Delta". Thanks for sharing.

Had fog in the Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay last weekend, but perhaps not as thick.* Used*the Kahlenberg controller for about half an hour during the worse part.





*

Al, is that the Antioch Bridge in your photos?


-- Edited by markpierce on Thursday 1st of December 2011 01:12:10 AM

Yes, that's the Antioch Bridge as we passed eastbound going home. The pictures don't show it, but the San Joaquin River was filled in parts by floating islands of hyacinth. It's normally pretty bad this time of year, but seems worse this year.

Sunday morning, November 27, 2011: Richmond Yacht Club member(s) on sailboat*returning to Pt. Richmond.* Picture taken looking west, immediately south of the Benicia Marina on Carquinez Strait.* We're viewing from*the Coot's stern, with one of the mast stays in view.

Hmmmh.* White boats don't show up too well in fog, do they.* Time to show lights.* Come to think about it.* I was the only one showing lights in my range of vision.


-- Edited by markpierce on Saturday 3rd of December 2011 12:36:08 AM

A Maine "Pea Souper":

"Snotty" day in San Diego.

Picking our way through limited visibility along the SE Florida Coast in the Gulf Stream.

We're now back to bright and shiny in Carquinez Strait, so I needn't be jealous of SD or FL.

*

Zero visability and dead calm for 1 1/2 days on Lake Huron.* Navigating through shipping lanes*and fishing areas*with the chart plotter, radar, running lights and horn. This was a great learning experience!

When it gets real thick like that, I find the autopilot invaluable to allow me to concentrate more on the radar and chartplotter and less on having to steer a precise course. I tried watching the marinetraffic.com site on my smartphone, but the big boys near us didn't appear on the screen. I foresee AIS in my future.

On Carquinez Strait, anchored in the direction of Mount Diablo on a typical, fog-free day:



*


-- Edited by markpierce on Wednesday 7th of December 2011 09:20:33 PM

First of all, Mark I swear, any chance you get you post pictures of your boat.

Second, Al did you catch any fish?* I missed it if you already said.*

and third Al, is it foggy the whole fall - winter or just on occasion?*

Pineapple Girl wrote:
First of all, Mark I swear, any chance you get you post pictures of your boat.

Click to expand...

* * * ** He does & I, for one, love it!!!

SeaHorse II wrote:Pineapple Girl wrote:
First of all, Mark I swear, any chance you get you post pictures of your boat.

Click to expand...

* * * ** He does & I, for one, love it!!!

*Love pictures of the Coot and even the old Coot every notw and then. *Jennifer, you need to post some more pictures.

Pineapple Girl wrote:
First of all, Mark I swear, any chance you get you post pictures of your boat.

Click to expand...

*Why not???

But I post lots and lots of pictures.* And not just of my boat.

*

markpierce wrote:

Click to expand...

Why not???

Click to expand...

But I post lots and lots of pictures.* And not just of my boat.

*

Click to expand...

*That is a great looking boat, thanks for sharing

Quack, quack.* Mallards almost always come in pairs.* Isn't that sweet?

I like to post pics of other peoples' boats, too. Like this...



and this...



and this...



and this...



And sometimes I like the gratuitous FlyWright shot...



We caught 5 stripers, but not big ones. This was the biggest.

This morning I saw the last part of Sam Peckinpah's 1975 film The Killer Elite starring James Caan and Robert Duvall.**It's an awful*movie.

Anyway, the ending scenes take place on a staysail ketch and the reserve/mothball fleet in Suisun Bay.* There are various "sailing" scenes, views of bay bridges, as well as the fleet.* That part was worth watching.* It's obvious the mothball fleet has since*been rotated/recycled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suisun_Bay_Reserve_Fleet


-- Edited by markpierce on Saturday 10th of December 2011 02:43:15 PM

PG, The fog moves in and out throughout the winter on the delta, depending on cloud cover, temp, winds and rain.

Yesterday we arrived at the boat at noon with no fog. We enjoyed the Delta Loop Lighted Boat Parade from our boat tied up at the Moore's Riverboat Restaurant dock. We enjoyed another great dinner at the restaurant ($17 excellent Prime Rib dinner!!), then to an impromptu marina party with the Shed A party crowd!

After a cold clear night, this morning I woke up to a thick fog. (...the weather, not my head...) Then we walked back across the parking lot to Moore's Riverboat for breakfast of Prime Rib and eggs & Lobster Omelet!! Gotta love that delta food!!

By the time we started our drive home at 11AM, the fog had burned off.

markpierce wrote:Pineapple Girl wrote:
First of all, Mark I swear, any chance you get you post pictures of your boat.

Click to expand...

*Why not???

But I post lots and lots of pictures.* And not just of my boat.

Just sayin', not criticizing!

We should have a rendezvous in the delta next year; Moore's Riverboat?* We have a lot of members in the general vicinity.* We hope to have the boat up there April -August.

I'm planning to come out your way from Oct 3-14, 2012 for Fleet Week and the following week. Will probably berth at Brickyard Cove in Richmond where our friends have their boat. We should rendezvous there, too! How about it, Coot? Ray? Mark and Cindy? Jlamb15? Anyone in the Bay/Delta area? (Maybe this should be its own separate thread...)

We're all in!

Yeah!

Read mixed reviews of Moore's, but I'm game.

So Al, how many boats will be able to raft at your Pt. Richmond friend's dock?

*

"Hung laundry" today:

Let's go, gang!

(Here are four of about twelve coots spotted at K dock today.)

I shifted the Fleet Week Rendezvous discussion to this thread.

markpierce wrote:
Let's go, gang!

(Here are four of about twelve coots spotted at K dock today.)

Click to expand...

*Mark, which one is your Coot?


-- Edited by Moonstruck on Monday 12th of December 2011 09:33:35 AM

Around here those are called "poule d' eau", pronounced pool doo.
Steve W.