Cruising with the Sacramento Yacht Club:
A Member's Perspective
by Dave Alden

Hello Shipmates,

            This is coming from a fellow member whose #1 boating activity is feeling guilty about not doing more boating, and particularly not taking better advantage of the myriad activities offered through our club. With a New Years resolution to better balance work and life safely tucked away, the family and I boarded Koala's Tree and put to sea (river?), in company with our cruising club.
           
Our first destination was a short distance away. We headed north to the public docks at Old Sac. Upon arrival, we learned lesson #1 about cruising with a club: Have a VHF radio set up and ready to communicate. After several attempts at coaxing the old piece-of-er, transistors that came with our boat, we fell back to the time-honored method of maritime communications: Go alongside and yell.
           
With a helping hand from several members on the dock, we were safely rafted alongside Dave and Victoria Hoppe's boat. Going ashore, my first thought was, "Why don't we do this more often?" Old Sac is a great place to visit, especially by boat. It's close by and mixes plenty to do with an overall relaxing atmosphere.
           
After walking around, having dinner and simply enjoying the cool but nice evening weather, we retired to warmth of our staterooms. The next morning brought a pleasant surprise: A beautifully set coffee and continental breakfast table for all our members. Fortified by sugar and caffeine, we set off with our kids to visit the California State Railroad Museum. Like so many other things in life, here is a world-class attraction and educational resource, right in our backyard, that we rarely give thought to in our day to day existence. Following a short and uneventful cruise home, we put our boat away but promised ourselves that we'd be back soon.
           
About a month later, we set out with the club again. This time we turned south and began a 3-hour voyage to Willow Bern Marina. I was excited to be making this cruise, since we hadn't been back to the central Delta since moving to Sacramento five years ago. We used to have a dock on Sandmound Slough, just south of Bethel Island, and spent many happy hours cruising these waters. We'd anchor out every year for the Hilton fireworks, then observe the absolute insanity as who-knows-how-many boaters started up and sped into the night following the show. After awhile, it'd just be us, the Delta breeze and the waves lapping the hull. We'd enjoy a smoke on deck before retiring below.
           
Willow Berm is a great place. It was made even better by the camaraderie of our members. Everywhere we went, we bumped into someone we knew. When we encountered less-than-stellar service at a restaurant, it was okay because we were able to laugh with our friends.
           
Remembering Rule #1 from Old Sac, I tried to buy a new VHF radio as we headed out for this cruise. In a hurry to get to the boat, I stopped at the little West Marine outlet off Broadway and X, went in and asked the clerk for a handheld radio. The least expensive one was on sale. "Fine. I'll take it!" That began a comedy of errors. The store was sold out. "No problem, I'll take the display model". The clerk couldn't find the box. "No problem, I'll take it anyway!" The clerk told me that I wouldn't have any accessories, like a charger for its dead battery. "Okay, give me another radio". The clerk suggested that I head out to their larger store at Mather. Becoming frustrated, I told him that the purpose of the exercise was to get our boat to its destination by dark, not drive all over Sacramento. The whole while, other customers kept coming in, wanting to be waited on. The clerk apologized. 45 minutes later, I said that I just wanted to run in to buy a radio. I left, empty handed.
           
Safe boating! 
Dave

For new pictures of the Willow Berm Cruise, click HERE.

Opening Day

The theme for 2008 was the Olympic Games. For a simple slideshow of the Parade, click HERE.