Return To Napa Marina Workyard

  It is time to put our stay at Owl Harbor behind us. We made some friends, had alot of fun, learned some stuff. We stayed a bit longer than anticipated, but, we don't have to be anywhere. Cap'n has to be at work, so we can stay just about anywhere. It all depends on how far he wants to commute. The longer the commute, the less time he has to work on the boat.
  I will be working on the boat all day. slaving away at the endless amount of work to be done. Haha.
  We went all the way down to Glen Cove Marina, spent the afternoon, evening with our friends Kelly and Dave, on S/V Shear Water,  the couple we spent 4th of July with, up in bedrm 2.
  As we readied the boat for departure, the Cap'n checked the oil, and it was all milky white!! Water in the oil is not what he wanted to see when he pulled out the dip stick. There were a couple of reasons how the water got in the oil. A leaking gasket, but there was not any oil in the water. So he drained the oil and put in 7 fresh liters. When he checked the dipstick it showed
nothing but oil, so we are thankful it was just condensation. So we fired up the 'Rattler' and off we went.  We were going to change it before we went back in the water anyway, so it was just done a little early.

  After we got underway, everything went smooth, there was a strong wind blowing so we threw out a hankie, and averaged about 6 knots up river. We called ahead on our new Ham Radio, and had the Mare Island Bridge open so we could get up river, to Napa Marina. Just after we called,  another boat radioed that they will need the gate open too. We looked around and didn't see a boat near us to need it open. The guy on the radio again said they were doing 10 knots and would  need the bridge open. So we turned around looked and there was a smaller tri~hull, booking up towards us.  By the time we got clear of the bridge the tri~hull was just about to the bridge. As the boat went past us we saw our good friend Goose, from the Benicia Marina waving and taking pictures of us. And before ya knew it they where going around the corner, and gone. We saw them up river at one of the private docks, just down from Napa Marina.
  If you remember how shallow the mouth is at the Napa Marina, you understand why we came in with the tide. It wasn't much of a tide, but we snuck in right down the middle, and took up space on the dock.  We got here just in time, for there were a few boats that came in behind us.
  So Tuesday is the haul out day, tomorrow, getting butterflies in my belly.
One step closer to our jump date.
  We left Glen Cove @3ish and got to Napa, at 6:30ish, plenty of sunshine for cocktails at sunset. cheers
bunkmate

Ps. we got the two palm suite

Catch Up With Ourselves

  We have had alot going on, installing the windless, so our Cap'n doesn't have to pull up all the chain and rode by hand, battery box, including complete with all new wires, throughout the boat, you should have seen the glob of wires that went completely nowhere, that had accumulated every which way throughout the entire vessel.
  We have been doing a little bit of transitioning ourselves for our journey south, which by the way is coming up. Most of you know part of our plans, but the one thing everyone knows is there is no schedule. We have set our 'jump off ' date, August 11th, 2016. We are not sure from where, but we are jumping. We plan to take a couple of months to get to Mexico, November is the end of hurricane season. Then the trek down Mexico, to LaPaz, and from there, , , , , we have no destinations from there. We know we want to spend a year maybe, snorkeling with the whales, dolphins, rays, all the wildlife in the Sea of Cortez.
The windless is in the top picture, bottom left'ish. It isn't mounted yet in the picture. The battery boxes that he built, and all the battery wiring is all new wires and clamps. 
  Drifter is helping pull the wire through the soul of the boat, to the engine compartment.
  We are working forward to being in the work yard. We want to paint the top as well as the bottom. So I will be needing to scrape the non~skid off, as well as using the stripper. I want to get as much scrapped off as I can, before using the chemicals. We will be using alot at the boatyard. But as you all know how much I love chemicals and stuff by the water.
  We want to jump to Napa's boat yard as soon as we can, but we can't work in the rain either. Come the end of February we are going to move. Hopefully. But on the same hand, We love it here at Owl Harbor, the people are awesome, they actually want you here, it's not just the money, and if you need anything, they are there, all the time, the facilities are always clean, they have 2 washers and dryers, huge picnic areas, even a campground. AND they have free eggs, you donate to the chicken fund when you want. They love pets, it is a pet friendly place. With biodegradable poopy bag stations all over, and trash cans, with recycle bins too.

  More details on the projects to come.
    bunkmate

Delta Weeder

  So I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, thinking of all the stupid stuff that you ONLY think of while lying in bed trying to fall asleep, anywhoo, the hyacenth has super taken over the delta, they need to come up with something like a wheat thrasher thing, you know, the thing that is kinda like a paddle wheel, but with scooper, chopperupper thing, and turn it into somethin somethin to spread for mulch, for the fields, this is the Delta, they have alot of different foods growing.

  Then today, in the rain, because of the high tides and full moon, the hyacenth is moving around alot, it just floats on the water, so it is the perfect time to navigate it out of the slough. They started early just kinda breaking it up with the running motors of the marina boats, just using the motor to move the water all over, working it out from between the dock and levee.

they brought out 'THE THING' it was just like I thought it would look like. Ok so not exacly what I thought, but, , , ,
  It is kinda cool. It is more of a scooper thing. The weeds convey up the conveyer, and is put into one of the boats, then conveyed onto the tule island, to dry up and die. They have been doing it for years, every winter.
bunkmate

Our Cap'n Carey, On The Cover Of Cruising Outpost

  I seem to have opened a can of not being able to take something back.  I accidentally sent one of my favorite pix of my husband, our Cap'n, my best friend, our crew leader, you know "THE MAN", from when we were out sailing SVCerridwen, in SanPabloBay, just inside SFBay. I snapped the image that changed the world.

  Coming to news stands ALL OVER THE WORLD, on December 1st, 2015

Motorsailing the Delta

  We made it safe and sound to Owl Harbor. The sail was pretty much not considered sailing, It was mostly motorsailing. Thats when we have the iron genoa, Rattler, fired up the entire time. If we wanted to just sail, there was no wind to speak of. It was one of those days when the wind is calm, the warm sun in your face, and spiders with their parachutes flying across the water hoping to find a cool new place to live. We had the Genoa pulled all the way out on the whisker pole.

  We got SVCerridwen loaded, just like when we head out of the Golden Gate, everything on board. The hard dinghy on the fordeck, our new *thank you Lisa for a steal of a deal* 9ft inflatable RIB fit perfect on the davits, and the inflatable kayak on top of the dodger. Everything fit good in their spots, and nothing got shook loose. Although we didn't get to sail much, it was a good field trial. It turned out to be a good day to be on the water, the tides were in our favor.
  We got here just before dark, the sunset was breathtaking.

  One thing I did notice though, is that almost all the buoys had seals on them. The kids had fun barking back at them as we went by. The brackish water has moved way inland, because of the lack of freshwater runoff upstream. The lack of rain and snow is letting the seawater move inland. The further the saltwater moves in, so does the critters, crabs, seals, barnacles etc. The hyacinth has taken over alot of the delta. When we moved to Oregon 16 years ago, there was just a little, and now, they can't get ahead of these weeds. They are kinda pretty, but wiping out alot of the natural foliage. Tules, and pussy willows are getting choked out of their spots they have been in since forever.

  The world is forever changing. We need to be more careful with our spreading of invasive plants and animals. Our plastic footprint that we are going to leave behind is getting fatter and fatter. I hope we can catch up with it.
bunkmate

The Time Has Come

  Well my friends, the time has come, to raise the roof and have some fun, throw away any work to be done, let the music play on.
  We have come to realize that we have started to grow roots. Putting some things on hold, to keep our comforts, and our friends. When in actuality there is work to be done. So we are pickin up and going to Owl Harbor. We have debated, and decided that we are almost ready to yank the stick* and get her bottom done in a couple of months, so there are a couple of things that need to get done prior to it, so , , , , ,    *pull the mast off*
  We almost went straight to Napa, 15 minute commute verses 45+, but we decided to enjoy the relaxing life for a few months first, while we prep.
  At the same time we were planning, the Benicia Marina has decided that our composting toilet is not allowed, because they can't pump it, and that is a required service, so, , , , , ,
  Our plans were bumped up about 4 months, it happened for some unknown reason, and that is what our cruising life is all about.
   So here we go, at the end of this month, I am sooo glad I don't have to pack, just untie the lines.
bunkmate 

Dawdling The Delta ... Doo Dah, Doo Dah

Owl Harbor

This year our July 4th plans included fun friends, a trip up the delta, sailing, fireworks, adventure, wildlife, trying new things. We decided to spend Friday the 3rd traveling up to Owl Harbor.  We picked the early tide, haha, 10:30am. We headed up the Carquinez Straight, past Pittsburg and Antioch, all the way up the San Juaquin River to Sevenmile Slough, where Owl Harbor is protected by the levee.
  Owl Harbor is a cool little Marina, they have wonderful new facilities. The showers are all granite. The people are awesome, and so friendly. They have a garden and give everyone tomatoes, squash, eggs, and they have bikes available if you want to go for a ride. They have campsites available too.
  There was an array of wildlife. There was a bunch of big bass out there teasing the fisherman as the fished the Seven Mile Slough. There were a couple of birds that would hover, and then swoop down and CRASH into the water, it never missed while I was watching.
  Dave and Kelly have 2 Badfish Stand Up Paddleboards, inflatable ones to boot, just like what ones we have been looking at but different brand. We took advantage of the opportunity to try them out. They are low profile, RED, not hard as a rock. Roxi and DrifterDude jumped on board before we did. Every time we would get close together they would trade boards. The boards felt very stable yet soft whenever I dropped to my knees. They were alot of fun.
  We decided to go for a bike ride over to Pirates Lair, Moores Riverboat area. Cap'n Carey and I rode the bikes all the way there, and met up with Kelly, Dave, and Leslie, in her truck. We decided to go back to Spindrift for lunch. After lunch we threw the bikes in Leslie's truck, and she gave us all a ride back to the marina. - to be honest the wind was ripping so hard Dave rode my bike to Spindrift, Thanx a million Dave. And a huge thanx to Leslie, for giving us all a ride back to the boats.
 Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to go stick our nose in another direction.  We left Owl Harbor at 11:30am. The tide was getting ready to start coming in.
When we got to big water, the San Jauquin River had some pretty big white capping going on, so we tucked behind the tulle islands that run by Spindrift Marina, on Brannon Island.
  We raced, haha, across the San Joaquin River by light #47, and ducked into Potato Slough. We had discussed staying in 1 of the 3 'bedrooms'. There were a bunch of boats still in bedroom 1, so we tootled over to bedroom 2, there was plenty of room there. A couple of boats still left over from the 4th of July, and they didn't look like they would be hanging around much longer.
 Using the chart above, we went from my index finger to near my thumb. Bedroom 2 is just under the word 'slough' above my thumb.  We nosed in and dropped our main CQR anchor, then reversed our way out and dropped our stern anchor. The Cap'n rowed to shore to secure a bowline to shore, and  once we were adjusted we sat really well all week. The adventure continues.

bunkmate