Unique transportation on Angel Island

While writing the last Post and looking for a picture to go with it I came across the one you see here. My sailing partner on the Delta Cruise last September (2006) was Bryan O’Hara and I had a day sail with him again last month (May 21st) along with a good friend of his named John Bain. The picture is of Bryan on a Segway and that is the subject of this post.

When we left the slip we decided to go to Sam’s Anchor Restaurant in Tiburon for lunch but once we got there we found that the tide was too low for us to get into the docks. It is really shallow in that harbor area and especially around the docks. I grounded there once before for just over an hour when I was the crew on a boat and its skipper did not pay enough attention to the tide tables.

Since Angel Island is just across from Tiburon we ended up motoring over to Ayala Cove and docking there. We had a light lunch and while eating we noticed a couple of people go by on Segway vehicles. As you can see from the picture here, we were hooked and the three of us ended up renting Segways. The rental fee includes instructions on how to ride a Segway and a Guide that provides the instruction and takes you on a tour of the Island for about two hours.

The name of our guide was Mark Colbert who works for Segway of Oakland. He gave each of us, individually, instructions on how to pilot the Segway and then we took off for the tour. Mark did a great job and we all really enjoyed the trip around the island. The quality of the instruction is really tested on the tour as you go up and down steep hills – really steep hills! Because Mark was so thorough we all did just fine and had a great time in the process.

When we left Angel Island the winds were very light and after about an hour of drifting around Racoon Strait we decided to drop the sails, turn on the engine and motor back to Point Richmond. When we got back we all agreed that we had a most interesting day even if it did not involve much sailing!

Testing my "new" inflatable dinghy outboard motor

It has been a long time since I added anything to The Sailors Place Blog. That’s not because there has not been anything to say – just laziness and procrastination. Actually I was somewhat shocked when I realized that I have not added anything new since January.

A few weeks ago I traveled to the Bay specifically to set up my inflatable dinghy and test my "new" (it’s a year 2000) Johnson 6 HP outboard motor. I purchased it in March to replace a 1972 Johnson that gave up the ghost about a year and a half ago. It would not start and needed parts that could not be found due to its age. The 6 HP outboard worked great and I gave it a good workout.

I decided to motor to Marina Bay Harbor and have lunch at a delicatessen there called Amini’s. They have really good sandwiches! At sailboat speed (5 knots) it takes about 20 minutes to get there. The inflatable can easily go twice that speed so the trip was not as long as I am used to. The picture here shows the "Salute" Restaurant (red tile roof) and Amini's is in the smaller gray building on the right (as you look at picture).

Just outside of the Marina I noticed a Catalina 27 stuck in the mud – it tried to cut the corner on the way into the Marina and that does not work as it is extremely shallow outside of the channel. I motored over and offered to help. We decided the best thing to try, first, was to have me take an anchor out and see if the boat could be winched off. We did that and it worked perfectly.

I, also helped him get the anchor raised and back in the boat as the Skipper was with his wife and a very small baby and about a 4 year old boy. His wife had her hands full taking care of the kids so another pair of hands to get the anchor back in the boat was needed. After that, both of us motored back into Marina Bay and I got my lunch. The rest of the day was uneventful. Based on the experience I had getting the Viking Lady grounded last summer in the Alameda Estuary behind Coast Guard Island for 7 hours, I was really pleased that we got the Catalina 27 free as easy as we did.