What I Saw

[Intermission]

Instinct says taking the ebb home is the smart thing to do returning from the Delta.

Experience says fighting a little flood in San Pablo bay, while staying in the shallower water south of the restricted lane, is the drier thing to do.

I keep safety goggles aboard.

 

[Philpott]

West Wight Potters in the Delta

On Saturday October 28 while most sailors in the SF Bay were donning their foul weather gear and collecting pumpkins in the fog, I drove up to visit with the Potter Yachters in Rio Vista. It was a beautiful, sunny day there, not too hot, not too cold, late morning requiring no jacket at all.

The Potter Yachters are singlehanded sailors, although there were a few doublehanded in the crowd. They own these tiny little boats and they go everywhere. I mean, everywhere. West Wight Potters can be towed behind a small car. The 15’ Potter with trailer weighs 900 lbs and the 19’ Potter weighs 1900 lbs. Seriously.

On Saturday the crowd was sailing together from Rio Vista to the Ox Bow Marina in Isleton. About fifteen of ‘em pulled their little boats to the Rio Vista Municipal Boat Ramp, launched them, then sailed ‘round the corner to the Rio Vista Marina where they all tied up and spent the night. They ate dinner in town, which is a nice way to support small business in a sleepy little Delta town. Next morning? They walked up a few blocks to 150 Main Street and ate at the Rio Vista Bakery and Café, like I did.

A family runs the Rio Vista Bakery and Café, complete with a young son at the cash register. Pastries, croissants, lattes, espressos and plain ordinary coffee or tea for the thirsty sailor. They also serve Dreyers ice cream any time of the day. What’s not to like? But I digress.

This particular outing took the intrepid sailors along the ebb to the Three Mile Slough Bridge. These boats are so light that they really get washed along in an ebb or flood. They are built with a huge degree of flotation, and bob like duckies on the water. This outing was the final outing of the year for the Potter Yachters. Once they sailed through the Bridge they continued on down Three Mile Slough to the San Joachin River, then to the Mokelumne River where they stopped at Moore’s River Boat for lunch. After lunch they sailed under the Mokelumne River Swing Bridge, entered Georgiana Slough and thence to the Ox Bow Marina for the evening.

The next morning they all continued what is called The Delta Loop, which took them through four more bridges: the Tyler Island Swing Bridge, the Georgiana Slough Bridge, the Isleton Bascule Bridge and the Rio Vista Lift Bridge. They call this little jaunt the Delta Bridges Sail and Overnight. How adventurous is this? Way cool! Next year I’m inviting myself along.

In September of this year fifteen of the Potter Yachters pulled their boats up to Bellingham, Washington. They launched and sailed in the San Juan and Gulf Islands for ten days. After the Corinthian Race I chatted with Chuck Hooper on his Contessa 33 Warwhoop. Chuck told me how he really wanted to sail up in the San Juans, but he didn’t want to sail up the coast. So he paid a lot of money to have Warwhoop trucked there and had a wonderful time. Lived aboard. Stayed for months. Well, this is another way to do that, albeit in more compact accommodations. Certainly for less money.

Earlier in 2017 the Potter Yachters sailed in Bolinas Bay, and earlier still they towed their boats down to Monterey. These people love to be on the water sailing. And yes, I interviewed some of them. Stay tuned for more about all that. They are an interesting crowd and very welcoming.

Where are these places and how do you get there? Well, get out an old fashioned map and take a looksee. If you want a diminished view, charge up your cell phone if you must. Better still, next time you are on your boat, mark waypoints on your chart plotter and “g’ow on!” And stay tuned for the video.

https://www.westwightpotter.com/faq

 

[mike cunningham]

That's a cool report on the Potters and the Delta.

Regarding the currents on the Delta. This is an interesting topic I have been pondering for nigh on 18 years since I had a slip at the Stockton Sailing Club. The tide at the Golden Gate is 8 hours out of sync with the tide in Stockton. It is about 60 nautical miles distant (on the river) so I have assumed there is a bubble of max current which travels from the gate to Stockton at about 7.5 Kts. When there is a good breeze and I catch the tide just right, I can get on that bubble and ride it almost all the way home. It saves me almost two hours. I have seen almost 10Kts SOG going through the Carquinez Strait. That's fast for my boat. Now, if I catch it just wrong, well, I drop the anchor and drink beer.

 

[AZ Sailor]

The Potter Yachters are singlehanded sailors, although there were a few doublehanded in the crowd. They own these tiny little boats and they go everywhere. I mean, everywhere.

Some years ago someone sailed a Potter 19 from Berkley to Hilo: http://potter-yachters.org/stories/teplow_to_hawaii.htm

Someone would probably have entered the SHTP in one if the minimum LOD was 19' instead of 20'.

 

[Philpott]

Back in June of 2015 I read a post on Skip Allan's NewBoat4Sled thread about the first R2AK (Race to Alaska) up in Port Townsend, Washington. The video was by turns bucolic and violent. What a combination! I was hooked.

Took a little three day vacation up to Bainbridge Island last year, inching my way up the coast. Now I'm in Port Townsend to look around and learn more about the place, the race and the people involved.

One of the more intriguing people up here is Ashlyn Brown. She and her husband run a business, PT Watercraft. Something to do with boat design. They plan to do the R2AK together in June of this year. I hope to talk with her about the race, sailing and living in Port Townsend.

When I mentioned that I planned to come up here both Skip and Brian Boschma told me that I really should look up Ashlyn. She is incredibly nice, they both said, and besides, she created the logo for the Pelagic autopilot, my very favorite bombproof autopilot. The plastic guts of my previous tiller pilot stripped right out sailing north from Monterey two years ago. Cursed thing. But I digress.

How to gain access to this elusive woman? Since everybody wants a Pelagic I asked Brian whether she might like one.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact," he informed me, "she has ordered one and I was about to ship it to her. But I am too sick to go to the post office."

So I drove down the peninsula and collected the autopilot from Brian. I considered carefully whether or not I should try to stash it in my carry-on luggage when I went through security at SFO. Unfortunately the Pelagic tiller wand looks like a weapon and the electronic piece at the other end of the unit has bare wires sticking out. I decided that I should call Ruth at the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) to see what she thought about the situation. Did you know that you can call the TSA if you have a question? More to the point, did you know that someone will answer the phone? Well, it's true.

Ruth at TSA has the friendliest voice. She sounds like what my Aunt Terri would sound like if she were from Texas. I explained to Ruth that I wanted to carry on a steering device for a sailboat. Did she think I could carry it on?

"Oh, my!" she said. "Now that is a question that I have never before been asked." I added that the device in question has a tube that extends in an out of a stainless steel mechanism, and is attached to the boat's electrical system. Did she think the TSA people at SFO security would flag it?

Ruth's reply? She exhibited perfect Texan hospitality. "Well, you sound like a nice lady and I'm sure you don't mean anyone any harm with your steering mechanism. But I can't say what the TSA representatives at the airport gate would think, and they have the final say. I would recommend that you include it in your checked bag."

I thanked Ruth for her advice, she thanked me for calling TSA and we both hung up satisfied with the other.
So I packed the Pelagic in my suitcase, cushioned between my running shoes and wool socks, wrapped the brain in my long underwear and checked it at the baggage counter. As a precaution I included the Pelagic brochure so Ruth would know what it was when she saw it.

So here we are, the Pelagic and me, in Port Townsend for the next few days. This place is very cool. And there are boats EVERYWHERE!

 

[skatzman]

You made the right choice putting the Pelagic in your checked baggage. The picture you posted makes the Pelagic look like a bomb. It looks like the stuff of nightmares to a TSA screener. SDK

 

[brianb]

Hey Jackie, Thanks for the delivery service. Be sure to wander around the boat yard and dock and notice a few transplanted boats from SF that are prepping for the R2AK. I spend a recent weekend with a gentlemen who had done the race on s/v Libra, a local Express 27. It sounds so much like fun. A week in dry suit, occasional hypothermia, discovering drysuits are not dry as the sweat never leaves, and lastly getting stuck in the suit to the point of having to empty one's bladder into ones woolies. Russell Brown's boat is an awesome vessel for this race.

 

[Intermission]

. . . to the point of having to empty one's bladder into ones woolies. . . .

In concert with hypothermia, that might be a good thing.

 

[Philpott]

You made the right choice putting the Pelagic in your checked baggage. The picture you posted makes the Pelagic look like a bomb. It looks like the stuff of nightmares to a TSA screener. SDK

Yeah, huh? I included a copy of my boarding pass in the suitcase. When they came to arrest me I wanted them to at least know my name ;-) "Ms Philpott? Come this way, please. The officer will hold your library book while we put the cuffs on."

 

[skatzman]

Yeah, when they x-rayed your hold baggage it probably caused alarm. We'll have a party to make your bail money!

 

[AlanH]

There's a totally thrashed potter 14...the original potter, sans mast for sale on CL right now for a few nickels. I think they would be generally deadly to sail, but I have a 15 foot stout aluminum tube and a lugsail and now that the skerry has been sold, it's vaguely tempting.

 

[Philpott]

Port Townsend is a beautiful town with a boat yard at each end and a maritime identity that is palpable. I've been here since Saturday afternoon and have only seen three dinghies on the water, two kids on each, learning how to tack with a chase boat nearby.

There are boats everywhere, lots of blue-water sailboats and everything in between. Skip sent me over to introduce myself to his friend Alex Spear who owns Vito Dumas, but Alex is in Baja for the Winter. His dock neighbor, David, was touching up some varnish on his Kettenburg and we had a nice chat. David told me that Port Townsend has a thriving sailing community during the summer months. That said, he defined the months as July through September.

It's 44 degrees here and the sun still hasn't come out. The people I've met have been incredibly nice and responsive. They are proud of their town and its maritime heritage. But did I mention already? It's cold here and the sun still hasn't come out.

If Kynntana decides to head back this way after the Singlehanded Transpac, here are a few places that might interest her: SeaJay's restaurant (eggs, hashbrowns and your choice of toast+coffee= $6.00) and the dive store across the road.

 

[BobJ]

Now that you've delivered the Pelagic AP and there's space in your steamer trunk, if you could toss in a PT Spear kit (with sail rig) and bring it back, I'd be much obliged.

 

[Philpott]

Now that you've delivered the Pelagic AP and there's space in your steamer trunk, if you could toss in a PT Spear kit (with sail rig) and bring it back, I'd be much obliged.

Oh my gosh, Bob! I visited the PT Watercraft workspace here in Port Townsend. It's out a ways, not right in town, almost seems to be countryside. Turn left through a lovely gate and down a gravel road to a collection of small outbuildings surrounded by gardens. Apparently it used to be a seed farm, and lookee there! "Eggs for sale": advertised on an old faded sign.

Skip said Russell works in an old chicken coop. Well, I guess they make boats up here the same way they used to do in Santa Cruz. If this is a chicken coop, though, it is immaculately clean and organized. One of those little nesting dinghies was there right where the chickens probably used to sit on their eggs, under the working table. Russell had just created a batch of carbon fiber doohickeys. He broke them out of the mold right in front of me. Little hatchling carbon fiber doohickeys! He was so proud of them. I had no idea what he was talking about, but they have something to do with those beautiful dinghies.

I lived in Manhattan all through the 1980s, when Judith Lieber clutches were all the rage at Nieman Marcus. People thought they were works of art plus you got to use 'em. What is a Judith Lieber clutch? Well, google the phrase and consider this: I saw a PT Watercraft nesting dinghy right in front of me. I knelt down and ran my fingers down its perfectly smooth, gorgeous curves in total appreciation. I can tell you that Judith ain't got nothin on PT Watercraft for sheer loveliness. And just think of it this way: For one clutch you could buy three or four dinghies. So get your order in. There's a bit of a wait.

 

[BobJ]

The one on the left is a Spear. It's the same as the PT-11 on the right but non-nesting, so a bit lighter. It sails wonderfully (both do) and would be just fine as Rags' dinghy.

 

[Wylieguy]

For Rag's dinghy I'd suggest a high-speed launch equipped with a Roman galley-style ram. The better to keep other boats away from that beautiful blue hull.

 

[Philpott]

The one on the left is a Spear. It's the same as the PT-11 on the right but non-nesting, so a bit lighter. It sails wonderfully (both do) and would be just fine as Rags' dinghy.

So there I was, meandering around the countryside in my rented muscle car, when I saw a sign for the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock. And upon what should my wondering eyes alight? A PT-11 being finished for a client who didn't want to do it himself/herself. Is there a story behind this pretty little fledgling dinghy? Why, of course there is. Just not today.

 

[brianb]

The only one on the Saks web site that looked seaworthy enough for Dura Mater was the Alexander McQueen.

 

[Wylieguy]

For Rag's dinghy I'd suggest a high-speed launch equipped with a Roman galley-style ram. The better to keep other boats away from that beautiful blue hull.

Bob, I withdraw my jest. I realize how distressed you are and hope the repairs are coming along. I saw the Express coming in on port and fell off a little to let him pass. From the movement onboard I though they were going to tack between us. There was plenty of room for doing that. I was busy hauling the mainsheet back in and steering with my knee when it became apparent they weren't. All I could do was mutter "Oh, shit!"

I won't be at tonight's meeting. Being an active Grandfather means gong to "Grandkid" activities and there's one late this afternoon. -- Pat

 

[AlanH]

I'm sorry to hear that Rags took a bad hit, Bob. I hope she'll be OK.