Dear All Delta/Bay Extravaganza Attendees:
Now that we have provided our detailed destination itinerary, we provide details on our daily group event activities and food arrangements. First some background.
This is the fourth year we have undertaken this challenging, five-day trip. This is a fast moving journey, covering much diverse territory, and the trip is highly weather dependent.
We cover close to 200 NM on the entire round-trip. Please come with full fuel tanks.
At any point along the way we can be held up and have to modify our plans because of inclement weather. This is a great bunch of very experienced C-Dory folks, and we can’t think of a better group of boater’s that we would like to be with on this kind of trip.
Some folks have been on this trip multiple times. For example, we think this is Mike Sealife’s 4th year of attendance. So far there has been something new each time, as Mike would likely attest to. This variability makes the voyage interesting and challenging, and we would expect the same this year.
xxx
For planning purposes there are nine boats and 16 soles on-board for Wednesday. For Thursday, there are 8 boats and 14 soles on-board. For Friday through Sunday, there are 7 boats and 12 soles on-board.
1. Wednesday, May 17th
Kathy and I will be hosting a steak BBQ dinner with all the fixings on Wednesday, May 17th, at the Wheeler Island Duck Club. John and Robbin will be helping with the cooking and preparations. No need for anyone to bring dinner food for this opening night.
As in years past, everyone is to bring their own drinks throughout the trip (both non-alcohol and alcohol). Unless otherwise specified as a group meal, everyone is on their own for breakfasts and lunches.
Six of the nine boats are coming from long distances, Southern California and beyond, and it is the least we can do to welcome everyone. There will be awards after dinner just for showing up!
2. Thursday, May 18th
Kathy and I will be providing the bacon and eggs for a hearty group breakfast at the Duck Club. Again, John and Robbin will be helping with the cooking and preparations.
We need food volunteers for the following items for the Thursday, group breakfast:
• Coffee and orange juice
• Hash brown potatoes; bread, butter, and jam
• Pastry
• Fruit bowl.
John has a wildlife tour planned after breakfast at the Duck club. This can be a real treat and most folks greatly enjoy John’s nature walk.
We have to leave the Duck Club in time to make a scheduled bridge opening on the Petaluma River. Right now we are scheduled to have the D Street Bridge opened in Petaluma at 3:00 PM, Thursday, for the entire group to pass in-mass.
It is approximately 2 hours up the Petaluma River to the Turning Basin, from the mouth, at an average speed of 8 knots. Some parts of this River have a 5 MPH speed limit.
On Thursday, we will be staying right in scenic downtown Petaluma. It should be very quaint (unlike the time we stayed at “Napa”). This should be a great new venue.
There are many neat restaurants and businesses that one can easily walk to from where we are staying in the Turning Basin. We expect that we will all go out to dinner Thursday night. No need for reservations as the group can decide the restaurant of their choice. We have a list of restaurant options we will share with the group later.
3. Friday, May 19th
On Friday, we will be heading to Sausalito. Again, we need to clear the Petaluma D Street Bridge as a group, at 8:00 AM, Friday morning.
At Schoonmaker Point Marina we will be staying on F Dock. Remember on sighting into Schoonmaker Point Marina to line up with Day Marker # 6 on the way in, and out. Schoonmaker is a good place to get fuel if you want to top your tanks off.
Sausalito is pretty quaint, and we usually use this destination to just hang out for some down time and relaxation after having to transverse San Pablo Bay. There are several neat places to explore over at Tiburon and Belvedere for those inclined and having the energy.
We are in the process of making group reservations at the Sausalito Yacht Club for a Friday night group dinner. We dined there last year and enjoyed the beautiful scenery along with rubbing elbows of the other Yachters! (Our People’s Virtual Yacht Club versus the Highbrow Bricks and Mortar Yacht Club).
4. Saturday, May 20th
On Saturday, we will be heading over to Jack London Square Marina. Remember not to wait too late to get over to Alameda as you could end up battling those prevailing Westerly winds.
At Jack London Square we will be staying in “Scott’s Basin”, right at the heart of the action. The specific slip assignments here are as follows: Discovery (J41B), Islander (J46), Dora Jean (J44), Sealife (J52), SeaSpray (J49), SEA3PO (J41), and Pounder (J47).
If the group is up for it (versus going out to dinner again) we can have a farewell pot-luck dinner on Saturday night. We can food shop at Jack London Square and everyone can make a food contribution for Saturday night.
There is a whole bunch of stuff to do right around Jack London Square, including a boat tour of the Oakland-Alameda Estuary. There is also the Old Oakland Historic District to visit (we have a map and list of places to visit here).
Other options for Saturday would be a tour of the Bay; including Angel Island, and a circumnavigation around Alcatraz Island. For those inclined they can take a peak out the Golden Gate, or even head up to Bolinas Bay. Finally, one could make a stop at Pier 39 in San Francisco and look at the sea lions and tourists.
We are forgoing formal group salmon fishing out the Gate as the season is now too indefinite and restricted this year because of confused Federal and State salmon fishing regulations. Of course, anyone who wants to try and figure it all out is welcome to have a go at it.
5. Sunday, May 21st
As in years’ past we will leave the Oakland docks promptly at 06:00 AM, and head back across the SF Bay and the mighty San Pablo Bay, and then up the Sacramento River to Rio Vista. We usually pull into Rio Vista before NOON on Sunday, tired and happy.
xxx
Looking forward to another great get-together.