Rockin' the House!

The Soul Delights rocked the House last night at the Boat Club.  Good food, good people having a great time!

The band includes Charlie Owen, all the way out from his new home in Maryland (burrrrrrr), Keta Bill, Katie Guthorn, Kathy Kennedy, Todd Swenson, with Karl Severeid and Tony Macaroni sittin' in. Karl worked with Robert Cray, and Keta, Katie, Kathy, Tony and Todd all help to comprise Big Bang Beat, the swinging party band descended from The Zazu Pitts Memorial Orchestra. Needless to say, talent abounded.

Mexico, the November 2015 Trip

Well, it seems like it's been a decade since the last post.

Here's a few shots of our recent trip to Mexico.  Ten days cruising on Rot Kat, from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta.  These are pictures taken at Isla Isabella, a bird sanctuary on an ancient volcano south of Mazatlan. It is home to thousands of Frigate Birds and Blue-Footed Boobies.

A male Frigate Bird looking for love.

KK in heaven!

Home for ten days.

One of the rocks off Isla Isabella, at sunrise.

Arjan, Kathy and Andy

On our way to see Boobies!

Halloween 2012 at the Bay View Boat Club

If you are old enough to remember,
then you'll know why I'm dressed as an Air Force Major
and Kathy's dressed as a Jeanie!

I think Kathy pulled it off much better than I did.
If I wasn't standing next to her, people asked me if I was "Sulley" and made jokes about cooked geese.

One evening, about four months ago, Kathy was in her pj's and had her hair up.   I kidded her that she looked like Jeannie in "I Dream Of Jeannie." Seconds later, we had decided on our Halloween costumes for the club's party. 

For a trip down memory lane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNg-xClEnqM


Below is a picture of Jeannie's bottle. I let her out most of the time.

 

Delta Trip Pics

Commodore John Baron and yours truly
going upriver; John was dropped off at Benicia,
then Namaste and crew continued up to Bradford Island

In June and in August of 2012, I and a few friends took Namaste, my ODay 37, up river from San Francisco Bay to Bradford Island. These shots are from both of those trips, in no particular order.  It's about a 60 mile trip one way, and most of it was under power but, especially on the first trip, we were able to hit about 7 knots under sail the further we got up river.

Bradford Island is roughly ten miles east of Rio Vista, and is without amenities save those we bring ourselves.  No stores, no gas stations.  The only way to reach the island, unless you have a helicopter, is by boat.

Of course, we stock up liberally with food, water and other libations.  The Bay View Boat Club has ten acres, with dock space, and it is, quite literally, a little slice of heaven.

Sondra and Elin

Every August, the club hosts an annual party; the usual Bay View fare consists of music, food and good companionship. 

Namaste at the dock, Bradford Island, with Sydney on the dock

Mid-afternoon, looking west up the slough at Bradford

Artichoke flower

Sunset, with "Rainbow" rafted up to "Namaste"

Steve and Amy Aboard Rainbow

Hammock with sunset

Am I groggy or drunk?  I can't remember

Nobody From Nashville at the Delta Party

Meal time

Shannon, Terry and Me

Hans, Elin, Hillary and Chris

Muffineers

The dock at Bradford Island, loaded up

A warm afternoon at the Town Square

Tweedledum and Tweedledee??

Elin and Sondra on a trip upriver to Bradford Island

Me and My Girl, enjoying island time

Canoe Trip on the Sacramento River, October 2012

Putting in

The first week of October (2012), we departed down the Sacramento River at the southern end of Redding for a four day trip. Our friends Dan and Griz, who each had their own canoes, went with us, plus Griz's two dogs (a chocolate lab and a basset hound).

The weather couldn't have been better (although the Bay Area experienced a mild weather front which produced rain, we learned later), the river was as clear and cold, and teaming with salmon working their way upstream.

Our first campsite, an hour after Kathy and I tipped the canoe.

Griz and his dogs, perfect canoe companions.

Griz and Kathy with Bay View Boat Club burgee

Bay View Boat Club Burgee

A deer skeleton at our second campsite at Cottonwood Creek.

Griz caught a trout before we landed at Cottonwood Creek, so guess what we had for dinner? Catch a fish, an hour later it's on your plate!   

Larry, Griz and Dan at the campfire

Campsite #1, almost dusk

Kathy and I tipped the canoe a half hour after starting on Day One; we kept the boat upright, and didn't lose a thing and we were able to swim with the canoe to shore. Emptied out,  the canoe was repacked and off we paddled down river again. 

We found a little nice beach, set up camp and got a fire going. We were lucky; not that much got wet (besides us). By 8pm,  everything was dry, and we were all well into a night of mildly drunken revery. Kathy and Dan, who brought a travel "baby" guitar, sang way into the night (with a little encouraging libation).

Our second night, at Cottonwood Creek campsite

Dan, in the background, on his baby guitar

Ben with monster eyes, me in the background

Dan and Griz at sunset, first night

Kathy had a great time; her first trip on the water in a canoe.  Below are pictures and a short clip demonstrating relaxation techniques.

At the bank of the Sacramento River at Cottongwood Creek; Dan and Griz left a day before us, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  Eat, sleep, and....

Kathy had a hard time believing that relaxing
required so much training.  Eventually, however, she settled down and realized that doing nothing can be everything.  :-)

Evening of Day Three; Dan and Griz left that morning, so we made a table out of our canoe. More bliss was not available.

We ended our trip at Jelly's Ferry, a small BLM landing just north of Red Bluff.  Our friend, Gary, picked us up, and on the way back to his place we visited the Battle Creek Fish Hatchery.  There, thousands of salmon The fish in this photo are about three feet long)  near the end of their journey from the Pacific.  Here, they are waiting in the swirling water before entering the fish ladder into the hatchery.