Delta Cruise-Day 3-Saturday, 09/16/2006

We left Pittsburg about 10:00 AM on our way to the Stockton Sailing Club where we would rejoin the other 3 boats who had overnighted at Tinsley Is. As we passed Tinsley Is. we saw one of our boats, the Queen Anne, come out of the channel. We did not recognize it as it turned down the river when we came in instead of going up the river to Stockton. Also it was towing a dinghy and when it arrived in Benecia, the last time we saw it, the dinghy oar ends were dragging in the water and that was not the case with the dinghy behind the boat we were looking at.

We turned in to Tinsley Is. just to get a few pictures of it as I was sort of curious as to what it looked like. We did not try to dock but just motored around a little and then left. The clubhouse there is the former lighthouse that was installed on Southhampton Shoal many years ago and when the light was de-activated , St. Francis Y. C. acquired it and transported it up into the Delta to its Tinsley Is. Facility. The picture above shows the top of the lighthouse.

When we got back into the San Joaquin River we were able to sail wing on wing and gradually overhauled the boat we had seen leaving Tinsley as we entered. Now we could read the name on the stern and realized it was Dan Petersen and his sister on the Queen Anne. We said Hello as we sailed by and then we could see the Double Delight about a mile ahead of us. It is a 34 ft. Gemini Catamaran and we did not catch up to it but we tried!! We had 20 to 25 kt. winds all day and I was amazed at how well the boat moved on a broad reach and/or run with the big Genoa pulling us along. We were consistently sailing at very close to 7 knots most of the day. As we entered the Stockton Sailing Club marina we had to make our way through about 50 Flying Junior dinghys with 100 teenagers in them racing in a major regatta.

We stayed the night at the Stockton S. C. and cooked our meal at the Clubhouse on their Bar-B-Q. Bryan and I sat in the boat’s cabin after dinner talking about our experiences on the Cruise so far and all of a sudden it was midnight. It’s amazing how time goes by when you have good company.