Fall Delta boat trip

I am always surprised when I talk to people who have never been to the Delta. By car or by boat there is a lot of stuff to see up there. Check out the history of towns like Locke, get some crawdads for lunch in Isleton, or go deeper into all the little towns and discover your own favorite place. One place I had never been to is Tinsley Island. I've heard about the place for years, but because it is private I needed an invite to be able to go. Well hey I was invited to hang out last Friday to Monday. So for months I had planned to go.

Friday. Remember? Big wind, big rain? Not the best day to travel 75 miles by boat now is it!

I was going to spend 4 days in the Delta at the St. Francis Yacht Club's Tinsley Island.

But wind and rain came Friday morning and about 2pm I called a friend that made the trip up the bay to the San Joaquin River. We were going to caravan up, I was sure he didn't go but he was almost there. I asked him how the trip was. His exact words "you would have hated it!" I said ok, see you tomorrow afternoon!



Saturday was perfect. The skies were blue the water was flat. In the Oakland estuary we saw a container ship at the port of Oakland checking out their lifeboat. I see them on the ships, but have never seen them in the water. They hold 20 or more people and have engines on board.



Up near Richmond we passed Red Rock Island. (currently for sale)



Then the Richmond bridge with that weird bend in the middle. I've always wondered about that.



The next landmark is the East Brother Light Station, now a bed and breakfast and yes you can spend the night there.



Here's a shot of the refinery next to 80 in Rodeo.



On the Vallejo side of the Carquinez Straits is the Maritime Academy, and their ship the Golden Bear.



The big and impressive Al Zampa bridge. You gotta read Al's bio. Al worked on bridges, lots of them, for years and years. It is only right that he have one named after him. This one is a beauty, and you can walk across it.



We cruised up at about 18 mph in the boat, when we got to the Carquinez Straits the tide was going the same way we were and the land squeezed in so the water flowed faster and we picked up speed.



At about 20 mph now we were on flat calm water the whole way. You could have water skied from Alameda to Tinsley Island.

Up next was the Benicia bridge. There is the old one, the new one, and the railroad bridge. If you take Amtrak east from the Oakland you might go over this bridge.



Benicia is a favorite town of mine. Lots of history, famous for their art community including world famous glass blowers, and Hagen's House of Clocks is a huge shop in town that sells repairs and restores grandfather clocks and cuckoo clocks. Great place. But this time we didn't stop there.

Well from here it was a smooth ride past Pittsburg, and into the San Joaquin river.



Now on to our 7th bridge. (were you counting?) The Antioch bridge. It is a really simple design. I love the look. It just makes a simple line across the sky.



The new Bay Bridge was going to look like this at first. I wish it still was. But people argued and fought and decided that we should have a big tower sticking up in the sky with cables hanging down. I don't know. I think there is enough stuff sticking up in the sky. Leave the sky alone.

Then I just had to follow the lights and markers and on it was to Tinsley Island.



This is a simply beautiful place. I really mean that. It isn't over done, or over fussy. There are docks surrounding most of the island, protected by a natural breakwater so there are no waves at all.



On the island are lots of trees, flowers, and grassy areas. Have fun with horseshoes, bocce ball, volleyball. Throw a football around or go swimming in the pool.

There isn't a staff to serve you food like at a resort, but there is a big open community kitchen. Use the grills, the bbq's, the ovens, and when you are done do your dishes.



I put some chicken legs in my favorite marinade (italian salad dressing) for 24 hours and grilled them up. They were perfect.

The San Francisco Yacht Club was having a "Back To Woodstock" weekend while we were there.



We watched the movie Woodstock (wow The Who were great!) and later after dinner they showed the Music for Montserrat dvd. I had never seen it, what a show. Phil Collins, Carl Perkins, Jimmy Buffett, Knopfler, Sting, Elton John, Clapton, Paul McCartney and more. It was a benefit for the island of Montserrat where famous producer George Martin had recorded lots of these artists. Sitting at the serve-your-self bar on a balmy fall night on an island in the California Delta it was about as good as it gets.

After a good night's sleep onboard Sunday meant a potluck brunch with my crew the Oakland Yacht Club. A little ham, fruit, some of this and that. It tasted good. In keeping with the rest of the weekend there was no lack of food or drink!

It would be a long 4 hour trip back. We headed out about noon and first got gas for the boat. Don't ask how much, it is too painful to recall. You're not supposed to keep old gas in the tanks right? Well I solved that problem this weekend.

The ride back was as smooth as the ride up. We were back in Alameda about 4pm.

That was a great trip. I hope I get to go back, next time, more time.

Here's the photos we took on the way up. If you view the slideshow click the options on the bottom right and check show title and description.