mountains, all the little offshoot river nooks and crannies that looked cool to explore. As we moved up the river, we realized that we had to do wing on wing to really make decent time, as the wind was almost directly behind us. We jury-rigged a preventer. As we passed boats in our division, several of them took the hint and started doing wing on wing, but we seemed to be able to hold the course better. Then we hit Bee Bend. We turned a bend, and there were bees everywhere. I'm a bit phobic around bees, so when some of them started to land on us I was The 'Erewhon' crew, Bill, Kathy and Leif, won two floaty toys at the Owl Harbor BBQ.
trying to man the helm and cower in fear. We made it to the finish line, figured out the docking situation (which was super easy and awesome), got some grub, and went to sleep. Thanks, SSC! We returned to San Francisco the next day, and ran into weather in San Pablo Bay so unexpected that I almost pan-panned. I was probably 15 minutes from hypothermia when it finally got calm enough to hand the wheel to Chris so I could get out of my wet clothes. Any time you think you've mastered the Bay, it finds some new stuff to teach you. Great Expectations — Catalina 320 Brian & Lisa Forster, Sausalito Our Doo Dah started with the Delta Ditch. We were in the Cruising Division and were in a solid third until we broke the spinnaker halyard around Port Chicago. That started a comedy of errors that saw us beached on the sandbar east of there. We got going again after about 45 minutes, and rejoined right in the middle of the Moore 24 fleet. We stayed until Monday morning at Stockton Sailing Club, where we experienced a hailstorm that covered all the boats and the dock with what looked like snow. After that, we took Great Expectations to Bedroom 2 for a few days of relaxation. I was glad to see that the water hyacinth was much reduced from previous years. My wife had never done the return trip to the Bay, and she'd heard the horror stories from me about it. Wouldn't you know it, it was pretty relaxed, with one exception. My wife noticed somewhere above Antioch that there was water on the galley floor. It turned out
Delta Doo Dah 9 Fleet American Beauty ....New York 36 .........Sam Neustadt/Tammy Forrest.........Richmond Andiamo .................Islander 32............Paula & Russell Sunn......................Richmond Aventura .................Island Packet 370 .Erik & Brian Jones ...........................Alameda Bella Luna...............Catalina 30 ...........Jim Sobolewski/Barbara Poff...........Vallejo Cali .........................Islander 36............Kerry & Jennifer Scott .....................Vallejo Cielo .......................Catalina 380 .........Doug Jarmer/Jennifer Mengel .........Alameda Dura Mater..............Cal 2-27 ................Jackie Philpott .................................Berkeley Eastern Passage ....Lazy Jack 32 ........Jay & Connie Spracklen ..................Alameda Elli ...........................Newport 28 ...........Doug McDougall ..............................Richmond Erewhon .................Newport 30 ...........Bill & Kathy Crowley ........................Glen Cove Ergo ........................Express 27 ...........Chris Gage ......................................Richmond Evenstar .................Ranger 23.............Gregory Towers/Jillian Cripps ..........Emeryville Fantasy ...................Islander 36............Gene & Cheryl Novak......................Alameda Fats.........................Grand Banks 32 ...Vickie Gilmour .................................Richmond Forgiven..................CHB 34 trawler .....Dennis & Marylee Millard ................Alameda Fuzzy Logic ............Hunter 35..............Dan & Kathy Baker ..........................Sausalito Great Expectations .Catalina 320 .........Brian & Lisa Forster.........................Sausalito Gypsy Soul .............Roberts 44 ............Danny & Marilyn Webb ....................Emeryville Page 88 •
Latitude 38
• October, 2017
LUCKY MUD
DELTA DOO DAH 9
John Speck, bashing back to the Bay in a squall on June 11, on his sturdy Pearson 323.
that the water pump was leaking. We pulled into Pittsburg and analyzed the issue. I rigged up a catch basin that would allow the water to go to the bilge instead of the galley to be pumped out. Once I got used to the bilge pump going off every 15 minutes or so, and the water temperature stayed normal, we kept going and everything was fine. The next day, we pulled into Benicia for breakfast, then continued on to Sausalito and had some nice wind once we got to about Point Pinole. I've done three Doo Dahs now, and we'll be back. Mas Tiempo — Islander 30 MkII Dave Cowell, Owl Harbor I took the dock locals, Jeff, Ray and Adam, out on a Mandeville run, and they enjoyed it tremendously. We had 15 knots of wind and absolutely the whole river to ourselves. I look forward to the weather getting back to reasonable so I can do more
Hokahey .................Seawind 1000.......Jan Passion/Ellen Furnari ...............Richmond Iolani .......................Hughes 48 yawl ....Sylvia & Barry Stompe ....................Sausalito Joy ..........................Ericson 29 ............Lewis Keizer/Kat St. Claire ..............San Francisco Just Saying .............C&C 40 MkII .........Ken & Nancy Wadsworth.................Richmond Kestrel ....................Tayana 37 .............Roy Pitts/Robin Taylor…………….Rough and Ready Kinyonga.................Hunter 37 cutter....John & Maureen Brecher ................Richmond Knot Serious ...........Catalina 25 ...........Steve Gierke....................................San Pedro L'Allegro..................Cal 29 ...................Philip Lavelle ...................................Oakley La Vida ...................Catalina 320 .........Mike & Joan Mellon .........................Belvedere Lady Jane ...............Catalina 36 ...........Craig & Kristi Butler .........................Glen Cove Lotta'tude ................Wyliecat 30 ...........Jeff & Tracy Olson ...........................Richmond Lucky Mud ..............Pearson 323 .........John Speck......................................San Francisco Lucy ........................Beneteau 361 .......Daryl & Patty Silva...........................Alameda Madeline .................Hunter 310............Matt & Amy Hendricksen .................Vallejo Mai Pen Rai ............Islander 36............Noble & Barbara Brown...................Vallejo Marauder ................Coronado 25.........Mick Benoit/Calvin Kai Ku ...............Emeryville Mas Tiempo ............Islander 30 MkII ....David Cowell ...................................Isleton Mental Floss ...........Olson 30 ...............Robert Sesar ...................................Benicia Moana.....................Catalina 34 MkII ...Dylan & Patricia Skerrett .................Tiburon Namaste .................O'Day 37 ..............Larry White/Kathy Kennedy.............Bethel Island