Blue Skies and Sunshine Grace the Potter Yachters’ 2023 Bridges Sail
We realize the year is now 2024, but 2023 was just “the other day,” and it was on a couple of those days that the Potter Yachters enjoyed their annual Bridges Sail through the Delta. Bud Kerner sent us this story.
The 2023 Bridges Sail is in the books. I am not sure, but this could be the 12th one I have organized, and by far it was the best sailing Bridges we have ever had. There were some years that included a section of white-knuckle sailing, but this year was well-balanced. We sailed from the Rio Vista Bridge to the Isleton Bridge in a brisk wind. Not far from the Rio Vista Bridge, Hoot, the pontoon boat I was on, developed engine trouble. I made an on-the-water transfer to Goose’s P19, and Hoot headed back. Hoot has been the backup boat on a number of Bridges sails. It has towed several boats over the years, including mine.
The Isleton Bridge turned 100 years old the day before we arrived. After the Isleton Bridge, we turned to port and had the wind on our noses. Steve, in his beautiful Sanderling catboat, continued to tack up the river. It was hard to make progress against the ebb current. They still made it in time for lunch. The rest of us motored to Ko-Ket Resort for lunch.
We motorsailed to Georgiana Slough. I actually missed the entrance to the slough — there were red buoys and signs saying “no boating.” It turns out it is some sort of electronic device to discourage salmon from entering the slough. Their survival rate is much higher on the Sacramento River.
On Georgiana Slough, Larry, in his Montgomery 15, got too close to the shore and had an encounter with a tree branch. I had looked back just as it happened: His bow lifted way up out of the water. For some reason after the mishap, his engine would not restart. Goose, with his 50-horse engine on his P19, towed him to the marina. We passed through the last two bridges of the day to Ox Bow Marina for our overnight. The Potter Yachters provided dinner of pizza, which my better half Bobbi delivered from Rio Vista.
Sunday morning we discovered that the marina, unlike what I’d been told, was not supplying a continental breakfast. Luckily there was enough pizza left over that we had pizza for breakfast. Mark Sabin supplied coffee. Thanks, Mark.
Goose had a spare Honda 2.3-horse outboard in their camping van. They put that outboard on Larry’s Montgomery and he used it for the rest of the sail.
The fleet motored down the slough to the Mokelumne River and passed through the Route 12 bridge to the San Joaquin. There was excellent sailing on the river, and we sailed all the way to Three Mile Slough, where we encountered a two-mile-an-hour current against us. Once through the last bridge and back on the Sacramento River, we sailed back to Rio Vista.
What makes any sail you host a great sail is when all the boats that started finished. This was a great sail. I am not counting Hoot, of course.
We have many more stories about the Potter Yachters, including this one about their Halloween sail in 2021.
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