Doin' The Doo Dah

8-3-12 – Mildred Island, CA – Day 32

The DDD is so fun Elizabeth got a tattoo to remember it

We’ve finally left the dock and are now slipless.  It is an interesting sensation knowing that you don’t actually have a place to go back to at the end of the day and wherever the boat ends up is home for the night.  We've decided that after adding dozens of new things to the boat it would be in our best interest not to challenge the mighty Pacific right away.  So we have headed to the Sacramento/San Joaquin river delta; or as the locals call it "The Delta."  While my experience in the Delta is limited I would venture to say that it is everything that sailing in San Francisco Bay is not.  Where SF Bay is windy and cold and technically challenging; the Delta is hot, languid, a series of almost canal like waterways with a backwoods laid back sort of feel.  Like New Orleans and other places the water in the Delta is contained by man made levees and generally is 10 to 20 feet higher than the land on the other side of the levees.  The Delta is a place where people anchor their boat for a season, not an evening; it's a place where reading fewer feet on your depth gauge than you draw is almost an everyday occurrence; where as they say "if you haven't run aground, you haven't been to the Delta."  In essence it's a place where you go to relax in the summer heat and swim in fresh water; anchor almost anywhere you want and enjoy your boat as more of a floating condo  than as an oceangoing performance yacht.  What better place to check out our systems and get used to living on the boat than that!  So we joined the Delta Doo Dah.  The DDD is a gathering of fifty boats that travels loosely together into the Delta, stopping at certain marinas and anchorages; but only if you feel like it; and generally exploring the many places the Delta has to offer.  The Delta is a place where local knowledge rules, charts are great but things change all the time in the Delta, and the DDD helps connect people who want to explore but don't want to spend the entire time stuck in the mud.

Know where your markers are in the Delta

Speaking of being stuck in the mud...Thankfully we only found the bottom once so far.  It's a bit startling being awaken from your languid Delta sail to come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the channel.  After gathering ourselves and assessing the situation, Elizabeth asked me if the shallow spot was on the charts?  I looked and what do you know, it was.  As we relayed our misstep to others in the coming days it seems that the entrance to three mile slough is a fairly popular place to run aground as the shallow extends way out into the middle of the channel.  Unfortunately, we had a couple of knot current pushing us into the bottom so backing off wasn't an option.  After some failed attempts to run a line out to another sailboat standing by, we eventually hailed a power boat and they kindly pulled us off.  Looks like we owe some boat karma at this point in the trip. 

Enjoying Anchor Down's at Mildred Island

We were introduced to the Anchor Down cocktail by the Cooks on s/v Annie.  The essence of it, is that once you've entered an anchorage after a long day battling the ocean and you drop your anchor, you've got a few minutes to sit and wait to make sure it's holding and everything is good.  What better time for an afternoon cocktail than that!  While we may not have been doing much battling of oceans on this trip, that's still no excuse to miss Anchor Down's once the hook is set.

Autumn Wind and Annie at Decker Island
A civilized raft up

While this is our second DDD, the en-mass raft up is still a dance worth being a part of once in a while.  Frequently people will "raft up" a boat or two when at anchor so they can socialize and they don't need to dinghy around to see each other.  We rafted up with s/v Annie one night.  Simple, easy, sort of nautical feeling.  The other type of raft up is when you cram fifty boats into a little marina with slips.  You basically stack boats side to side as far out as the channel will let you.  It falls somewhere between a total mess and a finely practiced dance of sorts.  As people maneuver their second most expensive assets besides their house, and in some cases like ours it is their house, close enough together to throw the waiting people a line.  Then slowly one by one the boats stack up, maneuver into place and find any nook and cranny to park.  Next thing you know, there's fifty boats tied together in a spiderweb of lines and fenders.  Sometime it doesn't work quit as well as others and the whole raft shifts with the current and adjustments are made.  It's a great way to get to know your neighbors as you tromp over their boats, only inched above their sleeping heads, past their drying beach towels and water toys to get to shore, one boat after another.  You can't help but stop and say hi to a couple of them.  Then the next morning the raft breaks up and one by one the boats peel off.  Just make sure you are ready when you're the outside boat so all your new friends don't have to wait to leave!

Raft up at Sugar Barge, We are 9 boats out on the left raft!

On our way to sundowners on s/v Sea Star
Autumn Wind & Mt. Diablo in the background

We had a chance to give back some boat karma along the way as well as receive some.  Entering a harbor that no one really knew the boat directly in front of us ran softly aground, they hailed and threw us a line and we were able to pull them off easily.  That evening they brought over a couple of beers as thanks.  A small group of boats headed to Mildred Island and once there s/v Sea Star was looking to clear their engine intake and needed a snorkel mask.  We had one and lent it to them.  Later that night they had everyone in the anchorage over for full moon sundowner rum punches.  The same evening our friends on s/v Annie had forgotten propane for their grill, we had extra so we lent them some.  Then on  our way back from the rum punch party we stopped by and they had graciously saved us each an entire plate of food for dinner.  That led to more stories and more rum and I'll probably need another entire post to recount that evening...I think. 

We are now off to Owl Harbor Marina to end the Doo Dah, spend a couple of days relaxing after our week of relaxing, clean the boat, use endless power that I didn't have to generate myself and use all the water we want. 

Full moon rise over Mildred Island