Alex flew from Sitka to San Francisco yesterday with a box full of fresh caught Alaskan King salmon. Turkey rancher Willie picked him up at SFO and they joined chicken rancher Joe and CPA Mike aboard Wild Blue in Westpoint Harbor, who were already enjoying refreshments. Back in the late 1960's, these boys, actually now mature men, along with Alex "Learned by Doing" at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Each year they return for an Alaskan fishing cruise. Last year their fishing exploits were considered "so noteworthy", Sea Magazine republished the Wild Blue Blog. You can review that here.
After viewing the favorable marine weather forecast, we decide to begin our fishing cruise outside the Bay in the ocean for the first few days. The fishing reports seem to suggest Half Moon Bay's Pillar Point Marina as a good base for ocean salmon fishing. By 10:45 we are on our way north, bucking the last of the flood tide towards the Golden Gate. We time it just right, crossing under the great bridge just as the tide turns to slack, and we turn the boat southward. The ocean is quite nice: light wind, a soft, low swell nicely spaced, and no wind waves. Sea birds, whales and brownish water set a fine stage for salmon fishing. Even the fish finder displays large bait balls most typical at slack water. By 4:30 we are off the Pillar Point Air Force Station and about ready to enter Pillar Point Marina.
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| Mile Rocks Light just outside the Gate |
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| Bait shows up on the fish finder. |
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| Pillar Point Air Force Station is currently used for missile tracking. |
That evening Chef Willie, of WillieBird Restaurants, created a gourmet feast of bay shrimp salad, garlic prawns, and egg flower soup.
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| Garlic prawns, bay shrimp salad,egg flower soup? It was a three main course dining experience. |
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| IMO this egg flower with green onions, prawns and potstickers was the main course! |
Well it had to be pretending, otherwise how could you explain it? For two and one-half days we saw all signs of excellent fishing conditions. Favorable tides, water, weather, bait, birds, and whales all pointed to a full fish box. We dragged lines daily for many hours...... nothing happened. Of the 20 or 30 sport-fishers we watched closely, not a one boated a fish. We rechecked depth, bait, lure, troll speed, and even made sure there were no bananas aboard! The fish were no where to be found. Now we call that pretending to fish, but also....... that's fishing. Monday was our last good outside weather day but by noon with still no joy, we stowed the rods, and headed through the Gate and up to the Delta.
At 6-ish, we pulled into Delta Marina at Rio Vista located on the Sacramento River. Of course Rio Vista has the world famous Fosters Big Horn Cafe, a game hunters paradise, and Willie, Joe and Mike are game hunters. Willie had a friendly chauffeur deliver us to the Cafe.
CAUTION: This is a boring video with excellent music.
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| All that remains of Lime Point Light under the north end of the Golden Gate is the fog horn building. |
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| Fort Baker Recreational Area with Robin Williams Tunnel above. Previously named the Waldo Tunnel after an 1850's politician, it was renamed after the late actor-comedian. It's appropriate to me as both comedian and politician make us laugh hysterically at times. Fort Baker was another coastal defense fort. |
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| East Brother Light with a nice B&B. |
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| I always thought C&H was "Pure Cane Sugar From Hawaii". Guess they meant California. |
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| The US Navy mothball fleet at Suisun Bay. |
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| Kite boards and wind generators have a need for big breeze. |
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| Hay barn, electric transmission line and wind generation: from old to new technology. |
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| For lunch Willie worked up salmon fish tacos. The Chef even cut the salmon pieces to look like a small fish. Yum! |
Tuesday-Wednesday, June 27-28, 2017: A Two-Day Delta Cruise
After last evening's big game dining experience, we're leaving Rio Vista for the Willow Berm Marina, just off the San Joaquin River. To get there we follow the 3-Mile Slough. To get into the Sough, we need the Three-Mile Slough Bridge lifted. At the end of the Slough, this route requires us to turn left at the San Joaquin River, following along as it meanders eastward, then turn left at the Mokelumne River and following the "M" River to the Willow Berm Marina. After securing the boat, we hike the 1/2 mile to the entrance, pay our moorage fees, then enjoy several brews at a VERY local pub. Tomorrow we'll exit at 9:30 timing our route to ride the ebb current back to San Francisco at South Beach Marina.
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| The Delta cruising grounds are a series of interconnecting levees built within fertile farmlands of the region. The levees control the fresh water flow and farm irrigation from the San Joaquin and Sacramento River systems. Since the water ways are dredged, it's not unusual to see a large ship appearing to pass through the farmlands. |
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| Herons enjoy the Delta life. |
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| Small boat mariners have to carefully navigate around large ships in the narrow waterways. |
Thursday, June 29, 2017: Delta to the City
The crew is spoiled. No fish, hot weather and the cruise is almost over. We glide into the South Beach Marina, San Francisco. Instead of a SF Giants game, we decide to entertain Joe's daughter at Tadich Grill, a Frisco favorite. The cruise finishes with another superb epicurean experience.
It's always a blast with the CP Boys. Each year we relive our college days, embellish and repeat the same stories, and wonder what happened with our other college friends. We are the lucky ones and look forward to reliving the good times next time we crew together, which looks to be La Paz Mexico this winter.
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| Tax man Mike, chicken man Joe, Joe's attractive daughter, and turkey man Willie at Northern California's oldest (and Alex's favorite) restaurant Tadich Grill. |
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