In the summer of 2009, the crews of 30 or so Bay Area boats joined in the inaugural Delta Doo Dah, a laid-back Bay-to-Delta ‘rally’ we dreamed up over a bottle of champagne at the company Christmas party. The idea was to get folks sailing in their own backyard, and it worked better than we’d hoped.

The next three Doo Dahs grew in size and scope, taking participants to a variety of destinations in every corner of the Delta. More than 100 boats and upward of 300 sailors have enjoyed escaping San Francisco Bay’s bitterly cold summer winds for some delightfully warm downwind sailing up-Delta.

The one downside about the event that always bothered us was that we were forced to limit the fleet to 50 boats. While the Delta itself might be large, its marinas and anchorages aren’t. Every year, our waiting list grew and grew with folks wanting to join in the fun, yet we had to turn them away.

So this year, as we do every year, we’re playing fast and loose with the structure of the event. Instead of restricting the entry list to just 50 boats and telling them when they have to leave, anyone can join and they can go whenever they want. There will be no formal itinerary, no limit on fleet size and, best of all, no entry fee!

We’ve dubbed this year’s event the Delta Doo Dah DIY, and we’ll have more details as the year progresses, but we can share that we’re planning a Kick-Off/Meet & Greet Party for May and a Reunion Party in the fall. Officially, the window of opportunity for enjoying the sizzling pleasures of the Delta will be May 24-September 9, but if you’re off by a few days — or even a few weeks — we won’t mind. So long as everyone has a fantastic time, it’s all good. We plan to collect your photos and stories for a feature in the October issue of Latitude 38, and our deadline for contributions will be September 9.

Registration for the event, which will get you listed on the website and eligible for discounts from Delta businesses, will start April 8 around noon and will end on August 30. Official swag will also be available for purchase. The Doo Dah forum will be the go-to spot for anyone seeking info on all things Delta, from anchoring tips to hot fishing holes to the best restaurants. It’s also a great place to coordinate with friends — and future friends — to cruise upriver in company.

If you’re a sailor in the northern hemisphere, you’re probably freezing your buns off. For example, today’s high in Seattle is 39 and the low will be 27. It’s a small consolation to those folks that by some calculations the previous 12 months have been the warmest year in history. In the City by the Bay, the numbers are a relatively balmy 54 and 39. So why not bundle up and go sailing this weekend!

Down here on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit — where, by the way, tourism was way up over the holidays compared to the previous year — today’s high is expected to be 83 with the low a bone-chilling 64. People are actually using a sheet to cover themselves at night. If that’s not bad enough, the upcoming week should feature highs of just 77 and 78. Oddly enough, the ocean temp is still around 78. No wetsuits in sight.

Those of you up in the States might mock cruisers for moaning about highs in the low 80s — but folks in the tropics aren’t used to such cold. We’re suffering here in Puerto Vallarta. Indeed, some cruisers are talking about heading further south to thaw out. Zihua, for example, is expecting highs of 85 and lows of 70 during the next week. Lucky buggers.

Meanwhile, the trade winds have been blowing the dogs off their chains in the Caribbean, according to John and Lynn Ringseis of Novato, who are currently cruising aboard their British Virgin Islands-based Leopard 43 catamaran Moonshine. But that’s the norm for this time of year. Caribbean vets know that mid-February to June is when the Caribbean sailing conditions are most delightful. Today’s high there is expected to be 81 with a low of 77. Next week they are calling for a high of 79 and a low of 77. It’s hard to believe there can be so little difference between the daily highs and daily lows.

The Caribbean, of course, is where the biggest boats go to play in the winter. Lynn, who shot a recent Latitude cover, took bow-on and transom-on photos of two of the biggest boats of their type as they were rafted together in Virgin Gorda’s North Sound.  

The nice thing is that no matter how small or humble your boats is, the air temp is the same as on the biggest and most expensive yachts.