Post Doo Dah Doin's in the Delta - Part 1

8-11-12 - Mildred Island, CA (again) - Day - Day 40

I suppose the first thing I should clarify is that Mildred Island isn't really an island.  So for those of you who are worried that this whole boating thing is a hoax and we are in a hotel on some island in California, it's not.  We are actually anchored out, on Autumn Wind, on (or in, however you want to look at it) an island.  At east it used to be an island, all be it lower than sea level, but the levee broke in 1983and it flooded.  Then instead of pumping the ocean out of the island (think New Orleans here) they left it flooded and now its a 1000 acre anchorage, that's 10 to 14 feet deep everywhere you go.  You just need to remember that there's still a levee around 99.5% or it, so be careful where you enter!  Just wanted to clarify the island thing.

With the Delta Doo Dah officially over; Autumn Wind has found herself plying the waters of the California Delta; trying to see new things and experience the Delta life before leaving.  We have found ourselves heading up the Mokelumne River and Georgiana Slough to Walnut Grove, Back down the Sacramento River to Decker Island again, up the San Joaquin River to Potato Slough and then deep, deep, deep into the Delta (probably as deep as a sailboat can go) to Discovery Bay.  Unfortunately our sailboat has tuned into more of a really slow river trawler the last week, as we’ve had to motor almost the entire 65 miles traveled to these locations.  We did put the sails up on the way to Walnut Grove, mostly so we could have right of way if needed.   



Georgiana Slough

License plate on the wall at Al the Wop's in Locke, CA

While our trip to Walnut Grove wasn’t all we thought it would be, it did give us a taste of the Delta life, was a new experience and gave us a glimpse of what it might be like to do this transient boat thing full time.  The trip up the Georgiana Slough felt like something out of the movie Apocalypse Now.  The trees and foliage closed in on each side of the boat, close enough that more than two boats would have a hard time passing.  I thought for sure that at any time the natives would appear out of the bushes with poisoned spears to attack.  It required a vigilant watch to make sure we made it.  We tied up at “Boon Dock” just short of the Walnut Grove bridge.  Believing that the paperwork was too complicated or just because she didn’t care; the lady we tried to pay for the dock space said don’t worry about it, so the night was free at least.  We spent the day touring Walnut Grove and the historic town of Locke; drinking at the required local establishments; Al the wops, Tony’s and the Bistro Wine Garden; having ice cream at Mel’s and then retired to the foredeck to sample cheap wine out of our new second hand wine glasses.  By wine glasses I mean those hefty four ounce shot glasses you see at bars. (They won’t break like real wine glasses, thanks for the idea Tara!) We were told that they were once shot glasses at Al the Wops, so that gives them some significance; I think?  We had planned to spend two nights in Walnut Grove, but fast forward to the morning at five AM and we started to hear the wrrrrrrrrrrrrr thunk thunk of every vehicle as it passed over the extruded steel deck of the Walnut Grove bridge. 

Walnut Grove Bridge - before it woke us up

  What are all these people doing on the road at this hour?  Oh yea, they have jobs.  I had forgotten about that part of life.  So it was sort of an early morning.  We took advantage of the early morning and our proximity to a laundromat  figuring that you never know when you’ll have the opportunity to wash your clothes in the future.  I walked to Mel’s (the ice cream shop that serves coffee in the morning) and brought back a couple of coffees and a nice muffin for us to share.  I was thinking “good job Brian, you remembered the muffin, Elizabeth will be so happy”  right about the time I turned the corner and there’s a Mexican food truck sitting in the parking lot of the Laundromat.  Elizabeth was outside and she excitedly announced that she had convinced them to make us some burritos before they left to make their rounds out in the fields around town.  “they make Breakfast burritos?” I asked

“Nope, just regular burritos, you get asada and I got chicken!” 

Needless to say we didn’t need lunch after my asada burrito at eight AM. 
.

Burritos for breakfast? (you can see the truck in the window.)

They take drinking in a laundromat
very seriously in Walnut Grove




Doing laundry is so much fun.

Decker Island anchorage

We left Walnut Grove and made it back to Decker Island where I figure it was time to stop fooling around and do some work.  Which I did for about two hours, after I took a swim.  I suppose boat maintenance is now my "work."  Not a bad place to go to work. 

It's tough going to work sometimes