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Cruise Out 2020
- Thread starter Philpott
- Start date
Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Correction and additional information from Charlie: I always reach the Mare Island Causeway Bridge operators on VHF Channel 13 and that is what they have posted on their sign. Their phone number, which is actually the City of Vallejo operator who takes the call and transfers you, is 707-648-4313.
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Thanks to a timely link from Latitude 38, I found this hydrographic survey of the lower Napa River, completed in March by the Corps of Engineers:
Hydrographic Survey
Charlie's house is on sheet 14 (page 9 of the PDF). The subsequent pages show the surveyed Federal Navigation Channel all the way down to Napa River Light 3 off Vallejo, on sheet 25 (page 20 of the PDF).
We stuffed FUGU in the mud in the pink shoal area, one survey bar to the right (south) of the Brazos Drawbridge - and a couple of other spots (give light 7 a wide berth, just like it shows in the survey).
Any comments/observations?
.
Hydrographic Survey
Charlie's house is on sheet 14 (page 9 of the PDF). The subsequent pages show the surveyed Federal Navigation Channel all the way down to Napa River Light 3 off Vallejo, on sheet 25 (page 20 of the PDF).
We stuffed FUGU in the mud in the pink shoal area, one survey bar to the right (south) of the Brazos Drawbridge - and a couple of other spots (give light 7 a wide berth, just like it shows in the survey).
Any comments/observations?
.
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Tony, in case you are thinking of continuing on upriver: Last year when we went all the way to downtown Napa it was shallow just opposite the downtown dock. Pivoting from the dock Dura Mater bumped up and over a sandbar. That said, I didn't make a note regarding whether it was low or high tide @ 6 am. DM draws 4.5'
A year back RYC had a cruise out to Napa Valley Yacht Club. One 42 footer (Allison and Jerry) with a big rig had to come thru at low tide to avoid getting too close to the bridge (think their masthead crane was at near 61 feet off the water). They also drew 7 feet - and had no problem. That said... note "the outside of the bends" in the river are deeper then the "inside corners" as the tide flushes out the silt on the outside of the bends. And do not get within 5 feet of the marked edges of the channel... there are a few spots where the last dredge a few years back left a "mud shelf" a few feet "inside the channel". So... be slightly "outside" of the center of the marked channel and you will be good. And take it slow... 3k's... as its only mud and you can easily back off if you touch bottom. Last... don't go past Napa Valley Yacht Club in anything less then mid tide... there are some 4 foot depths between the yacht club and downtown Napa. I fish in my inflatable in this upper part of the river... and even the inflatable can run aground near downtown at low tide... 
Oh... is it okay if one drives or bikes in? Is there a street address (though I suspect I can find it using Google Maps )? And if anyone needs a bed to crash in Saturday night (on land) let me know... I live 10 minutes from Charlie's and have a guest house you can isolate in.
)? And if anyone needs a bed to crash in Saturday night (on land) let me know... I live 10 minutes from Charlie's and have a guest house you can isolate in. Yeah I think we will skip going under that bridge. We are 61 feet to the masthead and another 3 feet for the whip. I have no desire to test those measurements! But if we can get our act together to get the dinghy blown up we might run up in it! Looking at Charlie's dock, it looks like the water may be pretty shallow there. Anyone know?
Wine tasting?
Depending on the number of boats and people… and how folks feel about isolation… and where people decide to spend the night…
We would host a gathering (wine tasting?) at our Napa house (530pmish after getting back from seeing Whittal)… guessing we would have enough room to give people enough “air space” if no more than 10 to 12 or so people.
And our two toilets would be “open for business”.
Any guess how many people might show up at Charlie’s/Napa?
We could run a bit of a shuttle between Charlie’s and our house (or folks walk from NVYC).
And maybe this doesn’t work… but putting it out there!
Depending on the number of boats and people… and how folks feel about isolation… and where people decide to spend the night…
We would host a gathering (wine tasting?) at our Napa house (530pmish after getting back from seeing Whittal)… guessing we would have enough room to give people enough “air space” if no more than 10 to 12 or so people.
And our two toilets would be “open for business”.
Any guess how many people might show up at Charlie’s/Napa?
We could run a bit of a shuttle between Charlie’s and our house (or folks walk from NVYC).
And maybe this doesn’t work… but putting it out there!
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Bummer Tony - I was planning to follow Circe up the river!
Wine tasting sounds nice - thanks for the offer Jim. I'll wear a mask and bring a munchie. I guess we need an address or walking directions from Charlie's place (edit: I re-read the posts and it sounds like that may not work. We'll wait and see what develops.)
I'm bringing a dinghy (row only) in case I need to anchor off the dock a ways, or other folks do. The lower of the low tides is at 1:10 AM Sat night/Sun morning and only .13' above MLLW, so it would be good to know the depth off Charlie's dock.
I pulled a tape up Surprise!'s mast and added everything up - her air draft is 55' so I could fit under the fixed bridge (it's 60'). But I may chicken out on going on up into Napa.
.
Wine tasting sounds nice - thanks for the offer Jim. I'll wear a mask and bring a munchie. I guess we need an address or walking directions from Charlie's place (edit: I re-read the posts and it sounds like that may not work. We'll wait and see what develops.)
I'm bringing a dinghy (row only) in case I need to anchor off the dock a ways, or other folks do. The lower of the low tides is at 1:10 AM Sat night/Sun morning and only .13' above MLLW, so it would be good to know the depth off Charlie's dock.
I pulled a tape up Surprise!'s mast and added everything up - her air draft is 55' so I could fit under the fixed bridge (it's 60'). But I may chicken out on going on up into Napa.
.
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Cruise-Out 2020 part one of two
Yes, of course it was fun. It's always fun.
We reconnoitered between Southampton Shoal and the entrance to Potrero Reach at high noon. Four boats showed up: Nathalie and two “non sailors” aboard Envolee, Romain and Frederic aboard Rom’s new Archibauld 30 Alchimiste, Bob on Surprise! and Dura Mater with me aboard.
There was a nice little breeze right from the get go, and it carried us all across San Pablo Bay. Surprise! and Dura Mater sailed wing on wing, Alchimiste was trying all sorts of sail combinations back there. Envolee just lollygagged until she lost patience with our togetherness and took off.
We clumped together at the Mare Island Causeway Bridge so the operator only had to open once, then we followed Surprise! up the Napa. Bob said he had three different chart plotters so we let him be the leader and besides, it was getting cold and dark so we all went below to get warm clothes on. Besides, if Surprise! led the way we all avoided the responsibility of keeping to the channel.
As we motor sailed below the Brazos Bridge
we saw that Jacqueline the boat was already tied up at Charlie’s dock, which was lit up like a Christmas tree with lights! Mike Cunningham stood beside Charlie and the two of them helped us raft up: Five sailboats rafted up along Charlie’s 36’ dock.
It was really cold Saturday night, but of course we practiced safe distancing anyway, so Nathalie and her two friends stayed aboard Envolee and Bob stayed aboard Surprise!.
Then Charlie got hungry for peanuts, after a couple of glasses of really good red wine Rom and Frederic came aboard, Mike stepped aboard from Jacqueline because he wanted some of Bob’s little cheese squares, and I had to leave Dura Mater in order to distribute the prizes. Did we all wear masks? Well, of course we did. To have done otherwise would just have been wrong.
This was the sixth year of the Cruise-Out and the prizes were the same as always, but the participants always change so it doesn’t seem to ever matter.
Nathalie won the friends and family award, Mike travelled the furthest, so he won that award, Charlie won the Best-Ever host award, Bob won for the oldest SSS shirt and Rom won as the youngest crew even though he was the captain. The prizes for the Cruise-Out are very forgiving.
Turns out, Rom learned how to race from Max Crittenden, and he’ll try to get Max to come up from southern California if the SSS ever sponsors another race.
Sunday morning we woke up to find a Mr Coffee maker on the dock full of … you guessed it – coffee!!! After a bit of breakfast aboard our boats Alchimiste and Envolee prepared to leave. After discussion with Mr Zavarin, the ZYC namesake, Nathalie promises to advise regarding her annual un-sponsored and irresponsible singlehanded tour of the Lightship.
Envolee and Alchimiste were off. Here is Nathalie’s description of Envolee’s return to South Beach Harbor from the Napa River:
Nathalie Criou
Sun, Nov 8, 8:41 PM (2 days ago)
to me, gilles
Gilles and Claire loved the cruise back today.
We had anywhere between 2 and 29 knots on the way back, from 29 awa to super downwind and anything in-between, sun, rain, hail, thunder and ultimate becalmed by treasure island, having to motor home.
The heeling, the banging on waves, the freezing your wet butt on deck was lovely. So much so that Claire found the bunk actually more comfortable and spent the trip below.
Gilles enjoyed playing with the VHF talking with Romain and Frederic in French.
Now gilles had a cut on a finger from not sure which maneuver and Claire cannot bend her back after spending too much time on the deck.
But ultimately the meringues saved the day.
Thank you for organizing!
The frenchies
Yes, of course it was fun. It's always fun.
We reconnoitered between Southampton Shoal and the entrance to Potrero Reach at high noon. Four boats showed up: Nathalie and two “non sailors” aboard Envolee, Romain and Frederic aboard Rom’s new Archibauld 30 Alchimiste, Bob on Surprise! and Dura Mater with me aboard.
There was a nice little breeze right from the get go, and it carried us all across San Pablo Bay. Surprise! and Dura Mater sailed wing on wing, Alchimiste was trying all sorts of sail combinations back there. Envolee just lollygagged until she lost patience with our togetherness and took off.
We clumped together at the Mare Island Causeway Bridge so the operator only had to open once, then we followed Surprise! up the Napa. Bob said he had three different chart plotters so we let him be the leader and besides, it was getting cold and dark so we all went below to get warm clothes on. Besides, if Surprise! led the way we all avoided the responsibility of keeping to the channel.
As we motor sailed below the Brazos Bridge
we saw that Jacqueline the boat was already tied up at Charlie’s dock, which was lit up like a Christmas tree with lights! Mike Cunningham stood beside Charlie and the two of them helped us raft up: Five sailboats rafted up along Charlie’s 36’ dock.
It was really cold Saturday night, but of course we practiced safe distancing anyway, so Nathalie and her two friends stayed aboard Envolee and Bob stayed aboard Surprise!.
Then Charlie got hungry for peanuts, after a couple of glasses of really good red wine Rom and Frederic came aboard, Mike stepped aboard from Jacqueline because he wanted some of Bob’s little cheese squares, and I had to leave Dura Mater in order to distribute the prizes. Did we all wear masks? Well, of course we did. To have done otherwise would just have been wrong.
This was the sixth year of the Cruise-Out and the prizes were the same as always, but the participants always change so it doesn’t seem to ever matter.
Nathalie won the friends and family award, Mike travelled the furthest, so he won that award, Charlie won the Best-Ever host award, Bob won for the oldest SSS shirt and Rom won as the youngest crew even though he was the captain. The prizes for the Cruise-Out are very forgiving.
Turns out, Rom learned how to race from Max Crittenden, and he’ll try to get Max to come up from southern California if the SSS ever sponsors another race.
Sunday morning we woke up to find a Mr Coffee maker on the dock full of … you guessed it – coffee!!! After a bit of breakfast aboard our boats Alchimiste and Envolee prepared to leave. After discussion with Mr Zavarin, the ZYC namesake, Nathalie promises to advise regarding her annual un-sponsored and irresponsible singlehanded tour of the Lightship.
Envolee and Alchimiste were off. Here is Nathalie’s description of Envolee’s return to South Beach Harbor from the Napa River:
Nathalie Criou
Sun, Nov 8, 8:41 PM (2 days ago)
to me, gilles
Gilles and Claire loved the cruise back today.
We had anywhere between 2 and 29 knots on the way back, from 29 awa to super downwind and anything in-between, sun, rain, hail, thunder and ultimate becalmed by treasure island, having to motor home.
The heeling, the banging on waves, the freezing your wet butt on deck was lovely. So much so that Claire found the bunk actually more comfortable and spent the trip below.
Gilles enjoyed playing with the VHF talking with Romain and Frederic in French.
Now gilles had a cut on a finger from not sure which maneuver and Claire cannot bend her back after spending too much time on the deck.
But ultimately the meringues saved the day.
Thank you for organizing!
The frenchies
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Cruise-Out 2020 Part two of two
Then it was Mike’s turn to leave for home in Discovery Bay.
Mike said he planned to stop off in his favorite anchorages along the way, and he also promised to send me the coordinates. But he hasn’t yet. People are protective of their favorite places in the Delta.
Monday morning Charlie’s wife, Barbara, invited me to join her and her friend Penny for their morning walk. So we left Charlie and Bob sitting in Surprise!’s cockpit talking boats and we walked for two hours across the levees behind their home. Very beautiful. White pelicans and swans and tons of cormarants drying their wings on a log in the middle of the watershed behind their home. When we returned from the walk Bob and Charlie were still sitting in Surprise!’s cockpit talking boats.
Dura Mater and I had planned to continue upriver to downtown Napa and Bob wanted to do the trip, too, but Charlie wasn’t sure Surprise! would fit under the bridge between his dock and downtown, and I was pretty sure her draft was too deep to make it all the way without dragging in the mud. Bob didn’t want to get dismasted and he didn’t want to drag in the mud, but he was happy for Dura Mater to drag in some mud, so Bob came aboard DM and we headed upriver.
We dragged through some mud there at the entrance to the downtown dock, but that’s okay because we don’t mind mud and besides, we have BoatUS. We were what I call “prepared”.
Napa is a nice town and it has a great pastry shop. But it was getting late in the afternoon, so we stepped aboard again after a bit, and headed back to Charlie’s dock. What was this? A north wind meant that it was behind us. What an opportunity! So we raised DM’s spinnaker without a pole and zig zagged all the way back downriver to Charlie’s as the sun set.
My understanding is that Bob J has raised a spinnaker during some windy conditions in his day, but he didn’t seem to enjoy himself Monday night on the Napa River. I don’t know why. He said it was because we were “oscillating”. Fooey. I don’t remember it that way at all. Besides, as I pointed out, if we crashed port or starboard, we would only end up in a mudbank, not a seawall or a dock. Right?
The sun set red to starboard back of the eucalyptus trees and then it was time to pull down the spinnaker anyway. We ended up back at Charlie’s dock in the deepest dark of the Napa countryside. And Surprise! was still there.
It was still real cold Monday night. How cold? Down sleeping bag, long underwear and wool hat sleeping conditions. And upon our return to the San Pablo Bay there were white caps in Mare Island Strait and significant wind. But when we exited below the Carquinez Bridge it was into flat water and we rode the ebb effortlessly all the way back to the RYC harbor.
Then it was Mike’s turn to leave for home in Discovery Bay.
Mike said he planned to stop off in his favorite anchorages along the way, and he also promised to send me the coordinates. But he hasn’t yet. People are protective of their favorite places in the Delta.
Monday morning Charlie’s wife, Barbara, invited me to join her and her friend Penny for their morning walk. So we left Charlie and Bob sitting in Surprise!’s cockpit talking boats and we walked for two hours across the levees behind their home. Very beautiful. White pelicans and swans and tons of cormarants drying their wings on a log in the middle of the watershed behind their home. When we returned from the walk Bob and Charlie were still sitting in Surprise!’s cockpit talking boats.
Dura Mater and I had planned to continue upriver to downtown Napa and Bob wanted to do the trip, too, but Charlie wasn’t sure Surprise! would fit under the bridge between his dock and downtown, and I was pretty sure her draft was too deep to make it all the way without dragging in the mud. Bob didn’t want to get dismasted and he didn’t want to drag in the mud, but he was happy for Dura Mater to drag in some mud, so Bob came aboard DM and we headed upriver.
We dragged through some mud there at the entrance to the downtown dock, but that’s okay because we don’t mind mud and besides, we have BoatUS. We were what I call “prepared”.
Napa is a nice town and it has a great pastry shop. But it was getting late in the afternoon, so we stepped aboard again after a bit, and headed back to Charlie’s dock. What was this? A north wind meant that it was behind us. What an opportunity! So we raised DM’s spinnaker without a pole and zig zagged all the way back downriver to Charlie’s as the sun set.
My understanding is that Bob J has raised a spinnaker during some windy conditions in his day, but he didn’t seem to enjoy himself Monday night on the Napa River. I don’t know why. He said it was because we were “oscillating”. Fooey. I don’t remember it that way at all. Besides, as I pointed out, if we crashed port or starboard, we would only end up in a mudbank, not a seawall or a dock. Right?
The sun set red to starboard back of the eucalyptus trees and then it was time to pull down the spinnaker anyway. We ended up back at Charlie’s dock in the deepest dark of the Napa countryside. And Surprise! was still there.
It was still real cold Monday night. How cold? Down sleeping bag, long underwear and wool hat sleeping conditions. And upon our return to the San Pablo Bay there were white caps in Mare Island Strait and significant wind. But when we exited below the Carquinez Bridge it was into flat water and we rode the ebb effortlessly all the way back to the RYC harbor.
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Great photos and writing! It was all quite fun.
The spinnaker... Jackie likes to fly DM's spinnaker, anywhere, anytime. So as soon as she realized the wind was aft of the beam, up it went. But without a pole or offsetting main to stabilize it, DM's over-sized masthead kite oscillated in the gusts. A narrow, winding channel, variable wind all afternoon, my own memories of epic round-downs... then she pointed out that if we crashed port or starboard, we would only end up in a mudbank, not a seawall or a dock. Well, THAT was reassuring!
But what a great weekend. Thanks to Jackie for setting this up, to Charlie Jeremias for being an enthusiastic host and to all the other folks who came.
.
The spinnaker... Jackie likes to fly DM's spinnaker, anywhere, anytime. So as soon as she realized the wind was aft of the beam, up it went. But without a pole or offsetting main to stabilize it, DM's over-sized masthead kite oscillated in the gusts. A narrow, winding channel, variable wind all afternoon, my own memories of epic round-downs... then she pointed out that if we crashed port or starboard, we would only end up in a mudbank, not a seawall or a dock. Well, THAT was reassuring!
But what a great weekend. Thanks to Jackie for setting this up, to Charlie Jeremias for being an enthusiastic host and to all the other folks who came.
.
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