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September 6th 2012

Published: September 6th 2012

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Kevin and Susan

SF BAY RAINBOW

A very beautiful and rare phenomenon

We retraced our route down the Georgiana Slough and headed east to Tower Park. This is a popular marina close to Lodi which has many nice facilities. You can fuel up your boat, rent bicycles, pump out your holding tank, use the free wi-fi, dine at their restaurant and best of all swim and hot tub at the KOA camp which is associated with the marina. So we decided to settle in for a few days and just soak up the Delta atmosphere.

There are several noted people who wrote about the uniqueness of this region. Erle Stanley Gardner, the author who made Perry Mason famous, absolutely fell in love with house boating on the Delta. I know what it’s like when the boat bug bites. He waxed poetic about Grizzly Bay, Snodgrass Slough, Lost Isle and Dead Horse Island. He enjoyed striking up friendships with the local characters, known as “river rats.” He added much to the lore of the Delta. Having lived in China at one point, Mr Gardner was very interested in Chinese culture and developed close relationships with many of the Chinese settlers in Locke. He could speak some Cantonese and was proficient with chopsticks. In

TOWER PARK MARINA

all he wrote three books on his experiences in this watery wonderland. Since he was still involved in writing his detective novels and producing the hugely successful TV series starring Raymond Burr, he always traveled with a large entourage. Thus he bought two house boats and also had numerous runabouts. He would write in the morning, cruise in the afternoon and play penny ante poker with his buddies at night. He could never get enough of the easy pace of life on the water on “delta time.”

Following in Mr Gardner’s wake, Hal Schell lived and wrote about life on the largest estuary on the West Coast. “Dawdling on the Delta: The Complete Cruising Guide for California’s Fabulous 1000-Mile Delta” quickly became the bible for inland boaters. We bought our first copy in 1988. Hal was also the editor of a monthly magazine called Bay and Delta Yachtsman.

While we were at Tower Park, a flotilla of houseboats came by. There were at least 12 floating hotels piled high with what looked like college kids. Many of the kids were bundled up in their sleeping bags on the roofs of the houseboats. I wondered if they had ever

SCHOOL KIDS SACKED OUT

House boating on the Delta

heard of Erle Stanley Gardner or Perry Mason.

We started feeling the urge to get back down to some blue water so we cast off from Tower Park, cruised back down Little Potato Slough and entered the Stockton Deep Water Channel. We were glad to have our ship finder app as we were back on the big ship highway. As soon as we left the protected waters of the Delta and cruised into Suisun Bay we got slammed around by some pretty rough seas. This bay is so shallow that the least bit of wind can kick up some good sized waves. We passed the U.S. Navy Reserve Fleet also known at the Mothball Fleet. At the end of WWII thousands of surplus ships were put in these mothballed fleets all around the United States. Theoretically the boats can be reactivated in times of national emergency. Now only 55 vessels remain in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.

We spent our last night in Benicia. Every Thursday there is a great farmers’ market set up along several blocks of Main Street. It is quite a community event and we loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies.

We waited

STOCKTON BOUND SHIP

for the flood tide the next morning so that we would cross San Pablo Bay on calmer water. As we entered Richardson Bay, the sun came out to welcome us back to our beautiful home port. We look forward to resuming life on the docks of Marina Plaza Harbor which includes dinner parties with our neighbors, morning rows on the bay in our two-person shell, swimming at our club, entertaining visitors, and trips into San Francisco. Mana had carried us safely and in comfort over several hundred miles of watery landscape. There is nothing like taking your home on the road. We enjoyed our Delta explorations and plan to return again. Erle Stanley Gardner said “The minute you have left the dock, you have arrived at your destination.” We found this to be very true when cruising in the California Delta.

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