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What I Saw

Wild Card in the R2AK

Walking along the docks in Port Townsend, I noticed a pretty little aqua boat - looked familiar. A fiberglass Fast is Fun boat from Santa Cruz calmly sitting among all the double-enders and wooden boats of the Pacific Northwest! Who ARE these guys? So I pulled out my iphone and interviewed them. Very nice. Mike Descheemaeker (sitting in the cockpit) will be coming down the coast with his family in the fall on their way to Mexico. In their bigger boat. Of course. Wild Card is saved for the Inner Passage.

Here's what they had to say: https://vimeo.com/276355143
 
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Hanalei Bay Retrospect

Being in Hanalei Bay as part of the Race Committee for the 2018 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race was great fun. On the airplane coming home I sat next to a real nice woman and her teenage daughter from Poipu, Kauai. They taught me a few important things about Hawaiian culture, such as the concept of ‘malama pono’, which is to take care of the land, ‘makai’: to help or good in general, and ‘pono’, which is the aloha spirit of Hawaii. I suppose I have just butchered the meaning of these words, but it was sure a pleasant conversation. They were on their way to Disneyland, and will call me next time they come to San Francisco for a sail on Dura Mater.

National Guardsmen.JPG

I showed them this photo of my new friends in the Hawaiian National 29 Infantry Brigade, Alex (rank=E5), Sargent Allan (rank=E5) and Command Sargent Major James, who taught me how to do the shaka. They were lovely young men, every one, and they were very patient as I mangled the gesture. They told me that the shaka means “I love you”, which is just fine by me.

jackie learning the shaka.jpeg [thank you to Dennis Maggard for the photo of me with my new friends]

This from Wikipedia: “The shaka sign, sometimes known as "hang loose" by outsiders also used to say awesome, is a gesture of friendly intent often associated with Hawaii, and surf culture. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the hand may be rotated back and forth for emphasis. The shaka sign was adopted from local Hawaiian culture and customs[citation needed] by visiting surfers in the 1960s, and its use has spread around the world. It is primarily used as a greeting gesture or one to express thanks, acknowledgement, or even praise from one individual to another.”
 
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Hanalei Retrospect

When Don Martin arrived in Hanalei Bay after completing the 2018 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race he was mighty tired. After a shower, however, we offered him an Official SSS Mai Tai and he perked right up. He had three. Here he is, talking with David Herrigel, Philippe Jamotte, Al Germain and the rest of us:

https://vimeo.com/280007381
 
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Mixing up the Medicine

Shortly after the race started the RC received this message deep in the bowels of the Word Press site:

Hi, I’m Dennis on s/v Pamela, the little Pacific Seacraft 37 on Hanalei bay. I sailed in from SF a month ago. I’m looking forward to watching the fleet roll into the bay very soon. Where’s ‘command central’ — one of the houses on Weke Rd I presume? I’d like to come by sometime and say hi!

Dennis Maggard did come by, and he may have rued the day, because he spent the next eleven days playing ferryman for the Singlehanded Sailing Society. The River was washed out in the recent floods, so we really appreciated Dennis and Rob Macfarlane, who both put in innumerable hours taking people back and forth to their boats. Between collecting sailors arriving, and taking them back and forth with provisions, both men were incredibly helpful.

As a three time Transpac participant, Rob is a member of the tribe and as such his generosity is more understandable. But Dennis? He's now an official member of the race committee. Maybe he'll join the 2020 race? Here he is in the kitchen with Synthia, mixing up the medicine.

https://vimeo.com/280102650
 
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IN THE DELTA AGAIN

081218 Today's float plan was to sail up the south fork of the Mokulemne River. Or down the south fork. But before I go there's that nice run along the levee road of Seven Mile Slough, to Channel marker 41. The lizards skitter off the gravel trail into grasses that are so dry they sound like burnt pieces of paper rattling.

What do I see sitting up there on top of the marker but a huge blue heron. It's not blue but grey although it's called a blue heron. In the Delta words can be mysterious. You think you're sailing down river when you're really sailing up river, and the sloughs have so many twists and turns that after awhile you have to keep looking at your compass in order to determine whether you're sailing north or south or east or west.

My garmin handheld is useless here. It doesn't take land into account. Once it wanted to send me straight over a levee except that I saw a freighter plowing forward. Just in time I realized that it was travelling down the Stockton deep water channel. Next thing you know, you see what looks like a sailboat moving through the hayfields. There are illusions in the Delta.

Across the slough the sun is rising, deep orange against the brown fields. There are already fishing boats on the San Joaquin and I can tell the day will be another warm one.

Although my sail plan was to go up (or down) the Mokulemne River to Georgiana Slough, I make an executive decision and turn to starboard as I exit Seven Mile Slough. Dura Mater has a slip at Owl Harbor again this summer. Dave Cowell s/v Mas Tiempo gives DM a shove off the dock and she and I are off, sailing very slowly in a very gentle breeze. It's not ten o'clock yet.

Randy of San Andreas Cove Yacht Club motors past us and I call out, "Where are you going?" He responds with a big smile and a gesture to the great sailing territory beyond, "Out there!"

As I approach the exit of Seven Mile Slough I see the Blue Heron again, waiting for me on top of that sunken houseboat with the orange fender that marks its demise. I sail close to the creature and it turns to look at me. Blinks once and then lifts itself away, flapping huge powerful wings, honking in annoyance. Stupid human.

At the intersection with the San Joaquin River there are whole small islands of water hyacinth floating past in the strong ebb. They remind me of the kelp beds off Half Moon Bay that strangled the entrance down there in big swell two years ago.

It takes me until 12:20 to approach Three Mile Slough, which would be embarrassing if I were racing. But I'm not, and there was a little burst of wind for a couple of minutes just off Bradford Island that was kind of exciting for about five minutes.

As I turn to starboard to enter Three Mile Slough I raise my Secret Weapon, my pretty blue and yellow drifter. I thought we would be on a beam reach so I had it all ready to go, but the wind isn't cooperating and my executive decision to change the day's float plan has messed up my sense of direction. Will we be approaching the Bridge from the north or the south? I want to sound like I know what I'm doing when I hail the Bridge Operator! I call to see whether anyone is there to open the Bridge for us, so I hail Channel 9. Sure enough, there's a person waiting in an air conditioned office, responding in that courteous Delta manner people have up here. Or down here.

I tell him that I'm coming, but that I'm sailing and there isn't much wind. He says, "Well, okay then. I'll be looking for you." So I feel better about things but it's still damned hot. I pour a bottle of water over my head and we slog along until I finally take the drifter down as we approach the Outrigger Marina and Cafe at 1:10.
Last summer Chris Weaver was hopeful about this little cafe, but it looks sad today, all boarded up with its docks sagging.

Outrigger.jpg

I overheard someone say to someone else that the bank had taken it. It's hard to make a living in the Delta.

The Outrigger Cafe is at the corner, and once we turn to port 90 degrees I see the boat launches of Brannan Island Recreation Area. It's a busy day today, with half a dozen wave runners in formation opposite the launches, lots of squealing by women who think the fellas are going too fast. Old fashioned feminine behavior and everybody's having a good time.

Just past the boat launches there is a little protected cove with boat slips. They look new and so do the docks, with an accessible aluminum walkway leading down to them. But the entrance to the cove is roped off so I don't know what's going on there. The boat slips look perfect for sailboats. Dura Mater would fit in there nicely.

Cove at Brannan Island.jpg

Well, onward and upward. Or downward. Around another corner, to starboard and there is the Three Mile Slough Bridge, which has to open for us to get to the Sacramento River. So I call the Bridge Operator and he remembers us and raises the bridge. It's like a miracle, picking up the radio, hailing channel 9 and a huge bridge rises and falls for little DM and me. I thank the operator, he says "You're welcome" and hangs out the window to wave. That's the Delta for you.

So now Dura Mater and I are on the wide wide Sacramento River, in a building flood. And the wind is behind us so I raise our Secret Weapon again because I'm too hot to run more lines or go forward to attach the topping lift. This time it's perfect, the huge Blue and Yellow drifter performs its role as jib to my main and we're sailing wing on wing, the only sailboat on that big big river. Whooeee!

DM on the Sacramento River.jpg

All along the Sacramento river to our portside are dozens upon dozens of families, each with its own sandy beach, approximately every 50 feet or so. The parents are passing out food from picnic baskets and everybody is sitting under brightly colored cabanas and umbrellas and even a large parasol, happy as clams as they watch their little kids bobbing around in rubber floaties and inner tubes. It's a hot Sunday in August along the Sacramento and this is a very appealing and free pastime for lots of folks. I know for a fact that the water is fresh and warm and it must feel cool and wonderful. I think seriously about jumping off Dura Mater but the flood is just too strong and that wing on wing business is working mighty fine.

Lickety split we're at Delta Marina, where I tie up at the Point Restaurant and stagger into the air conditioning. Iced tea! My kingdom for an iced tea! So they bring it, and a crab louie salad, too.

So here we are, Dura Mater and I, tied up for the night in this very protected marina with electricity and excellent wifi, after a hot shower. $27 for the night @ $1/foot, thank you very much. I have done my best to contribute to the Rio Vista economy. Tomorrow night it will be noodles and cheese to average out the extravagance.
 
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Thirty plus years ago, I would leave my boat at the Outrigger.
The place was funky even then; but they had water under their docks, and was a reasonable drive back to the bay area.
They had fuel and ice and a cafe.
There were separate pumps for "pre-mix, 50-1" two cycle fuel, since two cycle engines outnumbered four cycle by a wide margin.
There was a bar looking out through all those boarded up windows, and the bartender would hit a button if anyone came by too fast activating a rotating beacon on the roof with a loud siren, which would slow most passer-bys real quick.
Around the corner, those slips at Brannon island were something on the order of .25 cents a foot, or about $6.50 a night for my 26' sloop.
Earlier this summer on a short trip to the Delta, I had wanted to go there, but heat, time and weather prevented me from going in deeper, and now after seeing these pictures, I'm glad I didn't.
 
One of the things I like about the Delta is the occasional abandonment one comes across. Abandoned docks and homes and buildings and whole islands are out there. Somehow these artifacts spark my imagination. What was it like, who owned them, what happend? I used to be a memeber of the Stockton Sailing Club and had a slip at the marina at Buckley Cove. On my way down there from the Bay I would pass by a place on the North side of the Stockton deepwater channel at the West end of Morrison Island. The owner had a delta shack on piers over the water with a big whaleboat style lifeboat out front - no power, no water, just a wooden shack. It looked cool as hell but definately had some Huck Finn design input. Despite the look of the place there was always a fresh crisp American flag flying on a pole out front. Years ago there was a big fire that burned the whole thing down. The ruins can still be seen, it was never rebuilt.
 
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That's a sweet little dink.
Did you see the video of the woman who rowed one in the 70/48? !!

Yes, I was there when she finished. Russell and Ashlyn were there waiting w a crowd of very enthusiastic supporters. They sort of enveloped her. PT Watercraft has a serious following in that town. It's as if it belongs to the town, like a child.
 
Here’s that pretty nesting dinghy I saw tucked away in the PT Watercraft workroom back when I visited Port Townsend in March of this year. At the time Russell and Ashlyn were preparing for the R2AK (which Russell crushed single handed, btw). Here he is floating around and then sailing one of their signature dinghies. What a little beauty, huh?

https://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/pt-11-nesting-sailing-dinghy/

Yeah, that's the PT 11. Pretty darned sweet little boat.
 
Vallejo 1-2 photos

Here are some photos from the weekend trek to Vallejo and back. Certainly there was time to take more, but it was so pretty both days that I sorta forgot.

Here are photos of Duende on Saturday. I think that might be Sobrante behind. Not bad considering the difference in waterline. Of course Cal 40s ARE heavier than Alerion 28s ;-)

I had the chance to talk with Philip Lavelle early Sunday morning on the deck of the Vallejo Yacht Club. We watched as his son, Pepe, emerged sleepy eyed from the cabin. According to his father, Pepe is Duende's autopilot, which may explain how they were able to finish the race with time to spare. A fine reason to have children.

IMG-4038.JPG

and here:

IMG-4039.JPG

Here is Greg Ashby s/v Nightmare photographing me photographing him:

Rick photographing me.JPG

Below is Daniel on Galaxsea with Big Red up:

Daniel w Big Red up.JPG

I recognize Sweet Pea and Rainbow here:

Rainbow and Sweet Pea.JPG

and then I sat back and ate my lunch.



l
 
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