After the rains a week ago, David and I watched a good bit of debris pass our anchored boat. The logs, trash, and occasional big tree limbs were carried by the swift storm waters in the main flow of the slough and we patted ourselves on the back for anchoring in a widened nook out of the currents. Even so, a couple days after the rains ended the waters turned muddy from runoff far upstream in the Sacramento and the current quickened and brought even more debris.
On Sunday, December 7th, I realized that the potential for damage to our anchored Mahdee from the rains and winds forecast to hit the Delta in the wee hours of Thursday December 11th were going to be unacceptable. David and I discussed re-anchoring in a more protected Delta location–and there are such spots–but quickly agreed that we would not be able to manage the logistics of getting from any of the more protected spots to Walnut Grove where David has stashed Buttercup (our car) for use in getting to and from a series of medical appointments he’s got going on right now. So, Sunday evening we decided we’d head down to the Bay to spend a bit of time at the Sugar Dock in Richmond.
We pulled up the two anchors and untied the two shore lines that had kept us firmly in place for over two months there in the Georgiana Slough. It was a sad little departure in the pea soup fog. The fog prevented us from being seen by the bridge operator until we were right upon the Georgiana Slough bridge. The operator opened the bridge when we told her our location but said “I don’t see you” as she did it. By the time we arrived at the Isleton Bridge, it was halfway clear and by the time we were anchored behind Decker Island (to see friends also anchored there) on the Sacramento River it was quite clear.
We enjoyed visiting with two sets of boat friends Monday and then tied the dingy and canoe on tight, put away all the loose objects in prep for the next day’s journey down to the bay, and went to bed early. Our plan was to rise before the sun to weigh anchor and leave with first light. At 9:30 pm we discovered we had a big tree wrapped around the anchor and Mahdee’s bow. The strong currents were pushing the tree hard against us with no hope of freedom until slack tide. About 30 minutes later we heard an engine outside the hull and went up onto the deck to find Tim, from a neighboring boat, trying to pull the big tree away from Mahdee. Thus we pushed and Tim pulled to no avail. The scene was like a horror film with full moon lighting up everything and the rush of water was pushing an endless and huge stream of water hyacinth into the branches of the trapped tree as well as rushing by Mahdee. As far as we could see there was this fast moving mass of water hyacinth riddled with debris and an occasional tree.
One of the boats anchored at Decker Island left before sunset because they’d fought the previous night with a big tree, all the while worried that it would foul their anchor and sweep them downstream. They didn’t want to repeat the experience so were going into the Rio Vista Marina. We were beginning to wonder about the wisdom of our choice to stop there for the night. Tim had come to help us because he’d just freed up their boat from a monster tree and had seen us on deck while he was working on his own tree.
Every few hours through the night, one or the other of us would go up to the deck and lean with all our weight upon our long 12 ft gaff/boathook pressed into a crook of the tree. It was solid with no budge. The water hyacinth rustled and screeched as it slid past the hull sometimes the sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard and I wondered how I’d ever get to sleep. I thought we were going to have a late start as we’d likely have to wait for Tim to assist us and I hoped he’d be up for the slack tide right before sunrise. But–no worries, when I went on deck to check status at 5am, the tree was completely gone. The hyacinth was also strangely absent with just a little bit here and there, nothing scary or big. It truly was like a horror film: if we hadn’t both seen the tree and all those hyacinth the night before we’d have never believed it happened.
We pulled up anchor quickly in the fog and slowly worked our way out of the anchorage and down the Sacramento River watching the radar and the AIS. The only large ship targets were going towards Stockton, thank goodness, since I didn’t fancy meeting a 600 ft ship in the fog. The water hyacinth tended to line up in rows and groups that showed very nicely on the B&G Broadband radar so we were able to move more quickly and confidently down the river. Our journey was pleasant with no incidents. We munched on cold chicken sandwiches and joked about the killer water hyacinths.
We had emailed Grace and Bill about our plans to arrive at the Sugar Dock on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning but Grace hadn’t given us an exact location. We motored by looking at the empty spots, shaking our heads “too small” and “too small” and “that looks tight” as I redialed Grace’s phone number and went through to voice mail again. We didn’t actually link up with Grace until after we were squarely docked in the spot normally occupied by Grace’s own boat, the 115 ft Schooner Eros. We knew that Bill had taken Eros down to the Caribbean for the winter so we were pretty sure Eros wouldn’t mind sharing with Mahdee. When we finally linked up with Grace, we were told to stay right there.
Schooner Eros
And how great it was to stay there. We had not been on shore power since June in Juneau, AK and hadn’t taken a shower off the boat since August in Washington state. A long hot shower and a peaceful night in the marina was very sweet.
We’d left a car stored at the Sugar Dock since last March, so we charged up the battery for the car overnight and then drove up to Walnut Grove to pick up Buttercup on Wednesday morning. I volunteered to drive. I had a really hard time staying in the lane and keeping up. I couldn’t figure out why everything seemed to be moving too quickly for me until David said “well, you haven’t driven since March.” Humm… that explains a lot. Thinking about it, I’d only been in a car in Juneau, AK when we rented one for a day in June and then a couple trips at Thanksgiving. None of them with me driving.
The rains arrived Wednesday afternoon. The winds came up in the early morning hours Thursday with gusts peaking at 53 kts but mostly steady in the 20’s and 30’s. David helped Grace and another boater empty a few tarps catching big water over one boat as well as to pump out a historic tugboat with a very leaky deck. We were very glad to be safe and sound.
We received an email on from our friends Tim and Laurie who were anchored at Decker with us. Laurie wrote “After pulling off trees on the boat for a few days, we decided the winds would make the prospect too challenging and the rain too miserable, so we decided to duck in to Delta Marina for the storm. The deciding factor was when a tree pushed branches through the landing platform. I thanked the gods above that the tree caught on the bow. If it hadn’t, the platform would have been ripped right off. It was a rather large tree! My son manhandled it and we were able to push it out of the way enough to raise the platform. Then a few hours later, we pulled the tree off the boat. It was hard to get it to let go even during the slack tide, as it wrapped itself up in our anchor restrainer lines. So glad we are at the dock now!”
While Tim and Laurie are doubtless back out in the river, we’re here in the Bay for a few months. We’re still in a bit of culture shock surrounded by boats, people, cars, and the hardscape. I’m excited to return to the Bay Area YMCA program and tomorrow we’ll be swimming at the Y. More news, later.
