RIVER RATS AND LOVING IT

June 21, 2016

First off, I have to tell you that Jim and I feel like we’re licking the cream off the top of the milk jug! We’ve been cruising in the Sacramento River Delta for almost two weeks now and we LOVE it.   We are so blessed!  Cruising on inland waters is pretty much heaven.  Picture this…a warm gentle breeze from behind with a positive two knot current sweeping you forward under headsail alone.

Apparent wind is 5 knots and we’re moving forward at 4.5 knots. What could be better! For at least half of our time in the delta we’ve been downwind sailing in 5 – 15 knots of wind under these perfect conditions. The other half of the time we’ve been motoring upwind, sometimes against the current but that’s fine because we have to charge the batteries anyway.  This ratio of sailing to motoring is far greater than anything we’ve ever experienced ‘outside’ and a real treat.  Even when we’re motoring into headwinds and current, it’s not a big deal since there are no oceangoing swells or waves crashing over the bow.  We were in 31 knots of wind off of Rio Vista on the Sacramento River last Wednesday and only took a few splashes over the bow.  It’s a completely different experience for us!

Looking at the bridge and industry in Antioch, taken from Potato Slough

I can't help it...I love sunset shots!

Three Mile Slough bridge was raised for us.  We always hold our
breath until we make it to the other side.  So far...so good!

The days are flying by; we only left Sacramento last Tuesday after reluctantly saying goodbye to our four friends Bobbi, Tom, Dan and Deb late Monday evening.  Though we’ve only known them since last December we definitely have a connection and know we’ll stay in touch and hopefully see each other again in the not-too-distant future.

Because of current, we couldn’t leave Sacramento until early afternoon last Tuesday, June 14 so we spent the morning walking a few miles along the Sacramento River on a well maintained paved path til noon before untying our lines.  The wind was against us all afternoon but the current was with us so we motored and made good time getting back to Walnut Grove, arriving five hours later.

A cacti flower...hadn't seen that one before

Or this bloom, which was on a tree.

After a lovely quiet evening at Walnut Grove’s public dock (only $30 US a night) we explored Locke, the only rural Chinatown left in the US.   It was a short half mile walk from Walnut Grove to Locke, which was established in 1915 after the Chinese housing district in Walnut Grove was destroyed in a fire.

Currently a Chinese restaurant, this is an overgrown century old building.

Someone decorated their porch with colourful paint brushes.  Great idea!

The Chinese labourers who lived in Locke were recently recognized for their extraordinary efforts in developing agriculture in California.  In its heyday the autonomous island of Chinese culture housed 600 full time and 1000 seasonal workers.  They supported four restaurants, numerous farm markets, dry goods stores, brothels, a post office, canneries and more. Today we found tiny Locke’s layout much as it would have been 100 years ago. A handful of shops, galleries and restaurants are still housed in the old buildings, while others sag under the weight of a century.

Hmmm...it's leaning a bit, isn't it?

This was the theatre entrance in 1915.

The oranges were falling on the ground!  A crime!!!

A peaceful place near the church.

Many of the stores were closed. When we went into an open second hand store, the shopkeeper told us it Wednesday, a quiet business day, so most closed. None-the-less, we enjoyed meandering along the two blocks of streets, envisioning what a beehive of activity it would have looked like 100 years before.

Wednesday June 15 was blustery (we must keep it in context) and cool all day but we left Walnut Grove with positive current mid afternoon anyway.  We experienced higher winds on our nose going further down river, maxing out at 31 knots.  However, 31 knots in the Sacramento River with one foot high waves instead of 10 foot high swells made travelling so easy. Even anchoring was way easier in 31 knots than being on the undulating foredeck in 28 knots when we anchored at Punta Colonet south of Ensenada, Mexico.

We can see why the wind surfers and kite boarders gather regularly near Rio Vista, a weekend hangout easily accessible by roads.

On the previous weekend the beach was full boarders taking it easy, trailers, campers and tents nestled in the tree line.

A large private yacht motors past Potato Slough where we were anchored.

The front of the dodger is unzipped to let a cool breeze blow through.

Though many of the smaller twisting channels provide isolated anchorages, we encountered a couple of spots where a handful of houseboats and even a couple of sailboats have established a ‘community’ of sorts.  All have small speedboats tied to their watercraft, an easy way to reach Rio Vista, only five miles away.  So it’s possible to live off the grid but still have the ability to go to town when you need to.  Hummm…nice idea and a very inexpensive way to live!

A river family

Are there any leaves to eat?  I'm waiting....

 In 2011 and 2012, in preparation for our trip to Mexico Jim and I attended seminars put on by Bluewater Cruising Association. One talk featured San Fransisco, the Sacramento Delta and Potato Slough in particular. We were enamored and curious so we visited Potato Slough in 2013 and eagerly returned again this year.  What a beautiful place!  Though different in so many ways than our coastal BC waters, it certainly rivals them.

Weekends are busy with hopeful bass fishermen out early morning and all day.

The one bar on the San Joaquin had a blue gorilla next door.
I guess it probably attracted a few boaters to the stop by for a look.

The names around here are great...Snodgras Slough, Dead Horse Island, New Hope Landing and even Beaver Lake.  There are dozens of winding waterways.  Each day we are surrounded by wildlife and nature with egrets and herons prowling the muddy shoreline, a cacophony of water fowl creating a melodious tune while marsh birds feast on all the insects.  We watched a sleek gull grab a small fish from the surface before climbing vertically in the breeze.  Five times I watched him drop the fish, swoop down and catch it again in his long beak before doing it again.  Each time the fish was crushed a bit more until it finally went limp and was flown back to a perch where the gull could chow down and look for more tasty morsels.  Fascinating to watch.

In addition to our five day excursion to the state capital of Sacramento, we decided to take the adjoining San Joaquin River to the city of Stockton, another inland community reachable by freighters and pleasure boats.

An ultra light just took off beside us.

We left early afternoon on Saturday, June 18 and it seemed like everyone was out in their boats enjoying the weekend weather. We were the slowest boat around, constantly being passed by dozens of watercraft.  A few boaters puttered along the channels but there were also the deafening jet boats, day tripping speed boats with blaring stereo speakers, bass fishing boats built for speed between fishing spots, and noisy jet skis.  Oh, and the odd sailboat. We shared the waterway with all of them, constantly reminding ourselves that this was ‘their’ space, not ours. Even those without boats enjoyed the river.  Many families and even solo fishermen parked beside the levees under the shade of big old oak trees before setting up their camping chairs to fish or just view the river traffic.

Having the Canada flag proudly flying at all times makes us stand out in the channels and we felt like royalty, we waved so much. Just outside of Stockton, Jim waved to three women sunning themselves near the road.  As we sailed by he asked them if this was the way to Canada.  They said it was! Needless to say, he got quite the laugh!

Stockton's river front homes, very sterile looking to us.

This is a boat garage for an expensive boat.

That'a bit too much water in the boat fur us.

We didn’t reach downtown Stockton because of the low stationary bridge but it didn’t matter. We really enjoyed our five hours of downwind sailing until we reached the turnaround basin just outside the bridge and downtown core nestled along the river on the other side of the tangle of freeways.

Turning around at Stockton with the freeway beside us was strange.

Once we got near the bridge, Falcon’s engine was turned on, the sail was furled up and, in under three hours we were back in Potato Slough again, anchored next to the grasses and bulrushes.  What a nice way to spend a day!

Looks like we’ll be around for a few more days.  Spent three at the Pittsburg Marina where we took advantage of a shade structure to wash and waterproof our canvas.

We got up at 6;00 a.m. to work washing and waterproofing
before it got too hot.  By noon it was 90 F down below on Falcon!

We arrived at Pittsburg late Thursday and found out that the annual car show was on in town.  Lots of locals wandering around the old souped up cars.  Some with spectacular paint jobs.  Wish I had my camera! The local park had a 70’s band playing and everyone was dancing and swinging to the music, enjoying themselves while the early evening temperatures dropped to something more manageable.

Mouont Diablo behind Pittsburg. 

We had seen it from a distance for a week or more.

The heat wave has been 29 C most days lately, which keeps the thermal afternoons winds blowing along the waterways.  The winds help us to feel somewhat cooler.

How could I describe this spectacular sunset?

I have NO idea what this was.  It just appeared as the sun set.  It
seemed to grow vertically very quickly and was so bright and distinct.

This is what it looked like about 10 minutes later.  

We’re starting to look at weather windows to continue our trip back to BC but it’s blowing 20 - 25 knots off of northern California for another week to 10 days so we’ll stay around the Delta and San Fransisco Bay a little longer while we monitor the weather forecasts.  Until next time…

Jim and Tricia Bowen
S/V Falcon VII
email: tandjbowen13@gmail.com