I made the trip to Vallejo Marina on Tuesday (Day 16 of 14), surfing my way into the slip. Like Day 15, I covered 31NM in 3.8 hrs. I got about a 2.5 kt push through Carquinez Strait and another push of 0.8 kt up the Mare Island Causeway. It was a wet ride through Suisun Bay and the westerly stretch of C Str with winds gusting to the mid-20s opposite a strong ebb tide. I saw consistent 3 footers with an occasional 4 footer thrown in for fun. Got my anchor washed well with spray on one of those.
As I approached the Vallejo marina, I saw a couple of interesting boats sitting there. The Spirit of Sacramento paddle wheel boat is of the same name as the boat owned by John Wayne and featured in the movie, Blood Alley.
Here's the story of the original Spirit of Sacramento, but the first paragraph of FINAL WORDS discusses what I believe is this vessel.
Near the fuel dock is a river boat that reminds me of Swampu's vessel. She has real character!
I arrived at my slip around 1315 and arrived home by 1730. As I drove home, I sensed a bit of jaw pain, but didn't think much of it. By the next morning, I had notable tooth pain on a back molar that grew through the day into full blown mind-numbing pain. The only way for me to control it was to immediately drink ice water. That would calm the pain within 2 seconds and last for about 2 minutes. The dentist couldn't fit me in until the next morning, so it was a loooong night of drinking ice water every 2 minutes. I was so glad this didn't occur on the boat in the middle of the Delta! By 0900, I was feeling no pain after a few shots. A few hours later, my root canal was done. Whew!!!
My final numbers for the trip:
153 NM, 21:29 hours underway, 7 anchorages, 16 days, 9 nights in Secret Cove.
I feel like this trip was the first real-world trial of all the new systems upgrades on FlyWright over the past 9 years. They all came together and functioned as I had planned. Electrical upgrades, Honda generator, Battery SOC meter, fresh water system, holding and FW tank monitors, anchoring/windlass/ground tackle, raw water washdowns (fore and aft), navigation, lighting, sanitation, Nova Kool refrigeration, cockpit cover, solar lights, weather station, ER cameras and temp monitoring, dink/motor/dink net, cockpit deck mats, sunscreens and windshield heat screens, Breeze Booster and 12V fans, galley systems...everything worked as planned and allowed me to live unplugged for 2 weeks with just a courtesy pumpout on Day 11 for the aromatic benefit of my friends. After refilling water on Day 11 when I was still indicating 1/2, I returned home with more than 3/4 water and didn't skimp on cleaning or daily showers. I went through 18 gallons of bottled drinking water for coffee, ice tea and tooth brushing.
I carried a great quantity and variety of IPAs for this trip. I did not run out! All were winners, IMO. Here's the variety I had onboard:
Lagunitas IPA
Sierra Nevada (SN) Pale Ale
SN 11.5* Plato
SN IPA Hop Hunter
SN Nooner
SN Hoppy Lager
SN Summerfest
Hop Valley Citrus Mistress
Bear Republic Pace Car Racer
My Huck Finn adventure is now in the books. I'm looking forward to more of the same in the near future!