Land Based USA

On the Sunday, before Sal Darago was hauled out, Kathy and I used public transport to travel to Sunnyvale where we borrowed Simon and Erin’s Pontiac Vibe. We used this to return to Sunnyvale on the Thursday night and based our future trips from there using their lovely AWD car. Here’s some of what we did.

We ate well

We tasted 57 wines

We borrowed some bikes

We relaxed

We were together

Kathy and I decided to borrow their car and..

We drove to Yosemite and saw the falls

We wandered up to Nevada Falls

I ate snow

Then found Dog Lake

And much to Kathy's delight we met a mule train

In the Gold Rush town of Columbia, we found a Wells Fargo Stagecoach

So Kathy persuaded them to let her ride SHOTGUN

And afterwards she had to have a sarsaparilla

Not content with that we tried a road trip next and...

We drove through Vegas and saw Trump Tower

We climbed Angels Landing in Zion Park

And reached the top

More driving and the Arches National Park. Wow!

Across to Canyonlands

The views were fantastic

And the formations fascinating

Followed by Monument Valley

And the Grand Canyon

One mile deep, vast, stunning and magnificent

Followed by the long drive back to Sunnyvale

Thanks Simon and Erin for putting up with us and loaning us the car to make this whole trip amazing.
The end.

San Francisco to Napa Valley Marina

Sailing under that bridge with Simon and Erin

Alcatraz

Sensible Erin with lifejacket

Art Deco Redwood City cinema

The purpose of the trip was to see Simon and Erin, so we were delighted that they could join us on Saturday evening and sail down the Bay to Redwood City Marina on the Sunday. We had a delicious meal at their apartment before returning on Sunday night to SD. 

 Kathy and I explored Redwood City which was quite interesting and “historic”. Many places claim to be “historic” in America, but we think that could be stretching things a little. The fact the city gained its name from importing wood from the north was interesting. We were sad the quay, which used to intersect the main street, had been filled in. Simon arrived by bike and he and I successfully connected our new transformer to convert the American 110v to 240v that SD requires.

We left Redwood at 0650 to try to catch both the tide north and the weaker morning winds. We were successful, arriving at the beautiful Clipper Cove Anchorage, Treasure Island at 1055.

Clipper Cove

At night

Unfortunately, we went aground at low tide in the tricky entrance; our excuse being it was just after the summer solstice and a very low tide. Antony at Treasure Island Marina, kindly let us use the dingy dock and Kathy and I walked around the island. We noted the fenced off areas with dire warnings of radiation poisoning from the previous use by the American Navy. We also found a useful general store.

Where is that Cable Car?

Ah, there it is.

Hanging on the outside

Alcatraz was sadly completely booked so we decided to buy a day pass on the transport system and enjoyed jumping on and off trams, seeing Pier 39, walking up to Coit Tower and lunch in Mario’s in Washington Square, before returning to SD by bus and dinghy.

Coit Tower

Mario's for lunch

We sailed to Sausalito to fill the diesel tank. We had lunch at anchor before motoring to China Camp for the evening. On Saturday 1^st July, we motored and sailed up to Napa Valley Marina, where we were well received by Cory. Kathy and I worked very hard to clean all of the equipment and stow it by Thursday when Sal Darago was hauled out and placed on beams.

Up the Napa River

Sal Darago showing a clean bottom

  It was the end of another epic voyage in which our trusty Westerly had served us incredibly well.