14th Annual Delta/Bay Extravaganza, April 6 to 10, 2016

colbysmith · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:54 am Post subject:

This is a gathering that I hope to attend sometime. I'm mostly retired, but married to a still working wife. When will the dates for this event next year be finalized? (I'd love to come out this year, but too many other obligations and too late to add to my schedule.) I'm assuming this gathering would be worth the time of someone trailering out from Wisconsin! We'd probably do it in conjunction with some vacation (land) time in the San Francisco and Napa Valley areas as well. Colby

C-Hawk · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:20 pm Post subject:

If you are in the area, you don't want to miss this cruise. The only down side to this cruise is the limitation on participating boats- 10 max.

Another cruise to make, if you are in the area, is the Catalina Island cruise. No limit on boats for this cruise.

Elsilva · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:35 pm Post subject: Wait list

Is it official, Brain has dropped out? I just wanted to confirm that would put me on the voyage. Thanks, ED

Jim Gibson · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 5:40 pm Post subject:

Ed

You are now back in the event as you are replacing Mooch Strong.

Ed, what is the name of your vessel? How many soles on board will you have at the event?

If any one else wants to go to this event then they will now be first on the waiting list.

Jim & Kath

Elsilva · Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 6:54 pm Post subject: 14th Annual Delta

My Mate is Vero (1 sole) and the ships name is Madonna.

Jim Gibson · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:35 pm Post subject:

Below is the attendance list for our 14th Annual, Delta/Bay Extravaganza, C-Dory event. This event is officially scheduled for the five days from Wednesday, April 6th, through Sunday, April 10th.

There are ten (10) C-Dory boats signed up for this event. Below are the ten (10) vessels and the twenty (21) sailors on this voyage:

1. Pounder (Jim and Kath)
2. Dinner Belle II (John and Robbin)
3. Slack Time (John and Laurie)
4. SEA3PO (Joel and Susan)
5. Far C’r (Floyd and Bernie)
6. C-Casa (Pedro and Eileen)
7. Dora Jean (Steve, Carmen, and Alex)
8. Madonna (Ed and Vero)
9. Little Bit (Scott and Barbara)
10. C-Hawk (Roger and PJ)

If any vessel on the above list is not planning on attending, please let us know now. The following message will provide more details of the trip.
Sincerely, Jim & Kath

Jim Gibson · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:42 pm Post subject:

Below is the itinerary for our 14th Annual, Delta/Bay Extravaganza, C-Dory event. The C-Dory Group will communicate during this trip on VHF Channel 69, but also monitor Channel 16.

Our schedule will be the same as in the past, and is as follows:

1. Wednesday, April 6th, Delta Marina, Rio Vista
Harbormaster Bill (707) 374-2315

• Launch fee of $10.00 to be paid individually, on check-in
• Vehicle and trailer parked in the gated lot at the end of the marina
• Parking, $5 per day, Wednesday to Sunday ($25) paid on check-in
• Pay total $35 ($10+$25) in cash to this Marina on check-in.

If you want to come a day early on Tuesday, April 5th, the overnight on-the-dock charge is about $20 a vessel.

Wednesday, April 6th, leave Rio Vista (Delta Marina) at 12:00 Noon, and arrive at Wheeler Island Duck Club, midafternoon. On Wednesday, Kath and I plan to launch our own vessel about 10:00 AM, at Rio Vista. We will then all leave Rio Vista, as a C-Dory Group, at Noon, and head down river to Wheeler Island.

2. Wednesday, April 6th, Wheeler Island Private Duck Club
Jim’s cell phone (916) 799-0286

• Boats rafted double, boat-to-boat, at Club dock, 25 foot boats in first
• Bring plenty of boat fenders to raft up
• No shore power or water hookups
• Restrooms and showers in the clubhouse
• No mooring fees.

John and Robbin are hosting a BBQ dinner for everyone on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, Kath and I are hosting a bacon and egg breakfast for everyone.

3. Thursday, April 7th, City-owned Petaluma River Turning Basin
Petaluma Visitors Center (707) 769-0429

• Cost of $24 per night, per vessel, (paid in cash at dock)
• No rest rooms or showers at dock
• Rest rooms at Visitor’s Center and Starbuck’s, one block away
• Shore power and water hookups
• Everyone docked on 500 foot visitor dock, on South side of Basin.

Thursday, April 7th leave Wheeler Island (private Duck Club) approximately 9:30 AM (on an early incoming tide if possible), and arrive at the City of Petaluma (Petaluma Turning Basin). On Thursday, we will try to leave the Duck Club in the morning after breakfast, in time to safely cross San Pablo Bay, and to make a 2:00 PM scheduled bridge opening at Petaluma. On Thursday night we might go down to Volpi’s Italian Bar (been there since 1918) or some other popular local restaurant for dinner.

4. Friday, April 8th, Sausalito Schoonmaker Point Marina
Harbor Master Mike (415) 331-5550

• Cost (without power) of $1.25 per foot, $27.50 or $31.25, depending on vessel size
• Cash only, paid individually, at check-in
• Key deposit at check-in, on credit card
• Rest rooms and showers
• Shore power and water hookups available
• Everyone together, lined up on “F” dock.

Friday, April 8th, leave Petaluma at 9:00 AM to transverse San Pablo Bay safely, and arrive at the City of Sausalito (Schoonmaker Point Marina). We need to clear the Petaluma “D” Street Bridge by 9:00 AM, Friday morning. Channel 9 is used by the Commodore to communicate with the Petaluma Bridge.

At Schoonmaker Point Marina in Sausalito, we will be staying on “F” dock. Remember to line up on Day Marker #6, on the way into, and out of, the Sausalito channel.

“F” dock is not well protected from certain winds. We are making the trip this year in early April. Because of this start date there is some uncertainty on weather. If there are strong Southerly winds when we are at Sausalito we may not be able to get into Schoonmaker because they could close this dock down for unsafe conditions. Like most of this entire trip, we will just play it out real time and improvise as need be.

Sausalito is a good place to refill, or top-off, your fuel tanks for the rest of the trip. On Friday night we might go down to the Sausalito Fish restaurant for dinner or some other popular restaurant.

5. Saturday, April 9th, San Francisco South Beach Harbor
Harbor Master Alvin (415) 495-4911

• Cost of $35 per night regardless of boat size (Prepaid)
• Non-refundable deposit, paid in advance, $10 per vessel (Prepaid)
• Rest rooms and showers
• Shore power and water hookups available (power adapter with a deposit)
• Everyone on “A” dock with assigned slip numbers given later in trip.

Saturday, April 9th, leave Sausalito in morning and tour Bay and/or Angel Island, and arrive at the City of San Francisco (South Beach Harbor). On Saturday morning some will go over to Angel Island for a hike and picnic, before we cross the Bay to San Francisco while others will go directly to San Francisco to tour the city sights. On Saturday night we usually have dinner at one of the local casual nearby San Francisco neighborhood restaurants.

6. Sunday, April 10th

Leave San Francisco at dawn’s first early light, and return to Rio Vista so as to arrive before Noon. On Sunday, we will leave at Sunrise, and head non-stop back to Rio Vista. We should pull into the docks at Rio Vista, approximately 11:00 AM, Sunday morning. Per tradition, anyone still standing, able, and willing, is invited to have breakfast at the Strippers Restaurant in Rio Vista, curtesy of Jim and Kath, after we get our boats retrieved and put on their trailers. This is usually by about 1:00 PM.

xxxxxx

The above itinerary seems like a rigid schedule. In actual fact, anything can happen along the way to throw it off. Sometimes we are not able to meet our plan as scheduled, due to weather conditions.

In the Central/West Delta main channels one wants to avoid together the incoming wind, and the outgoing tides, as they can be nasty enough, in combination, to even put a mighty C-Dory out-of- commission. Once you are West of Pittsburgh, the water channels become wider and bigger, and the wind is usually going to be coming at you from the West, and if the tide is going out, hang on for a rough passage! On a few trips we have had blue water going over the tops of our C-Dory’s crossing San Pablo Bay. One boat even had its radar antenna knocked off.

Amazingly, for the last several years, we have lucked out with calm weather, and we have been able to safely finish off the entire trip itinerary, as we originally planned it. However, in some past years we have had to modify our schedule substantially, and stop at interim locations, or stay over at a given location an extra day or so, to “ride out” the passing weather.

For full disclosure, for the new attendees, this Extravaganza covers approximately 200 NM in five (5) days, and there is always unpredictability in weather and water conditions. The more experienced, competent, and generally relaxed Skippers have generally enjoyed this trip the most.

As always, each boat Captain is solely responsible for his/her own boat’s, and passenger’s, ultimate safety and well-being. Each Skipper is not to rely on the judgment (or lack thereof) of the Pack Commodore. It greatly helps the Group to show up with your vessel and engine(s) in good operating condition and with full tanks of fuel when you leave Rio Vista.

There is no need for anyone to bring food for either Wednesday night, or Thursday morning. Please feel free though to host your own dock happy hour at any of our destinations. Everyone is on their own for breakfasts and lunches throughout the trip. Some folks bring their own food with them, and others just go out to eat, as there are plenty of good restaurants to eat breakfast and lunch nearby. Also, some have dinners on their own boats, and others go out to dinner as a group.

xxxxxx

This is our 14th time for this C-Dory cruise, and we have always enjoyed ourselves, and the other attendees, or we would not keep doing it. We again look forward to the trip this year. We never know when this will be the last year we do this.

This year, like year’s past, we need to collect some marina reservation fees in advance. The advance marina reservation fees, per vessel, this year are $45.00 for San Francisco ($35 + $10).

You will pay your own launch fees and parking costs at Rio Vista when you check-in there; you will pay your own marina fees at Petaluma when you arrive there; and finally you will pay your own marina fees at Sausalito when you arrive there. The San Francisco marina had to be paid in advance. There are no fees for our stay at Wheeler Island!

Please send a check for $45.00 to confirm your reservation. This fee will be non-refundable, even if you do not show up, for whatever reason, as San Francisco will not refund it. Along with your check, please provide (1) the full first and last names for yourself and crew; (2) your vessel name; and (3) your vessel CF number. This information is used for marina reservations.

Please send your check, payable to Jim Gibson, along with the above requested information, to Jim Gibson, at 15 Noah Court, Sacramento, California, 95831. Please send your check by April 2nd (two weeks from now). If we do not receive your check by then we will assume that you are not going.

Thank you for your interest in this event. Eight of the ten vessels signed up for this event are repeats from prior years, and we believe that this is testimonial to the overall trip experience. As always, we look forward to seeing everyone in early April.

If there are any questions, please call. Kath and I are looking forward to another fun C-Dory gathering.

Sincerely,
Jim & Kath

C-Hawk · Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 5:11 pm Post subject:

Funds are in the mail.
There will be 3 on board C-Hawk- Roger King, Pat Compton and Rickey Copeland (grandson)
C-Hawk- 22' CF6904PR

Sorry- I forgot to include info in the mail.

Dora~Jean · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 3:32 pm Post subject:

Jim/Kath, check's in the mail! Thanks again for organizing this great event.

I'm going to attempt to do something different this year, I'm bringing a bike(s) along this year to give us a little more mobility. We will still go with the group to meals and other activities, just wanted to see more of our beautiful destinations.

I just purchased this folding tandem bike: https://www.greenzonebikes.com/compact-folding-bike
It will arrive later this week, so have no experience as yet with it. I've owned other tandems in the past, put many 100's of miles on them. This is a basic bike, not racing or cross-country style, but has good gearing and apparently from the reviews, is decently built, so we'll see.

I checked the Angel Island Park information, it indicated you can bring bikes over on the ferry (I guess I could call our boat a "ferry"...) and use them on the main road around the island. Also plan using it at some of our other destinations.

Jim Gibson · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:37 pm Post subject:

Thanks Roger. Good to bring the grandchild.

Steve, nice bike. You should really get around with that at Petaluma, Sausalito, Angel Island, and San Francisco!

SEA3PO · Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 12:42 am Post subject:

I wanta see ole Grandpaw Roger change a poopie diaper... one of those beauties that turns the sky grey and makes dogs run...

That would be...from the outside, upwind of the boat...heck, my kids are full grown and I still remember that terrible smell...

Joel

Jim Gibson · Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:32 pm Post subject:

Thank you all for responding to me, and following through, by sending in your marina reservation checks. We have a full house again of ten vessels for this year’s Delta and Bay Extravaganza (14th Annual).

Below is the updated and corrected list of 21 attendees for this year’s event.

1. Pounder (Jim and Kath) Sacramento, Mi Wuk Village, and Jenner
2. Dinner Belle II (John and Robbin) Danville and Angles Camp
3. Slack Time (John and Laurie) Vallejo
4. SEA3PO (Joel and Susan) Camarillo and Chester
5. Far C’r (Floyd and Eiko) Redondo Beach
6. C-Casa (Pedro and Eileen) Oxnard
7. Dora Jean (Steve, Carmen, and Alex) Simi Valley
8. Lady Madonna (Ed and Chuck) Patterson
9. Little Bit (Scott and Barbara) Centennial, Colorado
10. C-Hawk (Roger and PJ) Carpinteria and Tehachapi.

Please note demographics of the attendees. Five vessels are coming about 400 miles (one way) from Southern California. Four vessels are coming from the Northern California area. The award for coming the farthest goes to Scott and Barbara who are transiting over 1,100 miles (one way) from Colorado!

Let’s all welcome Ed and Chuck, and Scott and Barbara, as the four new comers to our Extravaganza.

The long range weather forecast looks pretty good, and here’s hoping for fair weather for our journey and safe travels for all.

As this event is only one week away, I assume everyone is scrambling to get their boats out of storage and in shipshape for the land and water voyage.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone and having a good time.

Jim & Kath

SEA3PO · Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:27 pm Post subject:

On Thursday we have been again invited back to "The Balch Castle" for dinner in Petaluma. I tried to get Tom and Chris to go with us, or at least go to the Duck Club with us but Tom has to work.... They have a pool if anyone is interested in swimming...

Joel
SEA3PO

Jim Gibson · Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:47 pm Post subject:

Fantastic Joel!

We really look forward to this beginning of an Annual Event! It is like a step back in time to the Victorian Period, old time Petaluma!

Jim & Kath

Dora~Jean · Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 2:54 pm Post subject:

The people-count of Dora~Jean has been reduced to 2, just Alex and myself. My wife was requested to fly back East for a family commitment, she said to tell the group she will miss them but happy as well where she's going!