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California Delta C-Dory Cruise
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California Delta C-Dory Cruise

Rosanne and I will be joining 10 other boats/couples for a week cruising the Sacramento River from Rio Vista, through San Pablo Bay, and into San Francisco. Itinerary also has us spending a night in Petaluma. Read more
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    🇺🇸 Rio Vista, United States
    C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler
    St. Joseph Catholic Church
    St. Joseph Catholic ChurchLaurel took this selfie of us all at Pizza Factory.And then I asked one of the waitresses to take our photo.Rosanne having fun with the napkin.Just a pretty mural downtownSeven C-Dorys here now. (And a couple other boats we are sharing the guest dock with.)Seven C-Dorys here now. (And a couple other boats we are sharing the guest dock with.)A couple of folks from another boat stopped to visit and check out our C-Dorys.

    Rio Vista Delta Marina Yacht Harbor

    Yesterday in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    There are now seven C-Dorys tied up to the guest dock at Delta Marina. And an eighth in it's slip, as the owner lives here in Rio Vista. The last three C-Dory's will show up tomorrow morning sometime. Today Rosanne and I just hung around the marina, visiting with Steve and Karen from Sea Spray, and talking with other folks from the marina or campground. Rosanne and I attended Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church this evening, and then joined some of the other C-Brats at the Pizza Factory. Whenever you get this many C-Dory's in one location, (and many times when you just pull up by yourself) you get folks stopping by to check the boats out. The boats here now, besides C-Traveler and Sea Spray, are Dora Jean, DayBreak, CaliCat, Nowhere Fast, Serenity, and Morning Star (slipped here in Rio Vista).Read more

  • C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler
    Large wind farm just west of Sacramento
    C-Traveler and Sea-Spray tied up to the dock at the Delta Marina.Rig safely tucked away in the marina's maintenance lot.Fenced in and gate locked. We'll see how many of the rigs we can fit in here once everyone is here.Another view of our boats at the guest dock.Today's route.

    Travel Day 4, Rye Patch to Rio Vista

    April 17 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Last 295 miles behind us. What a difference the lack of wind makes! Not much wind today. So coming down out of the Sierras the pickup was seeing upwards of 12mpg. Which is good, as the California gas pumps were seeing over $5/gal for gasoline! Last night didn't drop down as cold as the forecast, but still saw 23 degrees on the outside transmitter. Inside, the Webasto kept our cabin at 62, while the V-Berth was 49. Good thing for a warm wife and big heavy sleeping bag! lol. The V-Berth always seems to run 10-12 degrees colder than the cabin. Perhaps I need to find a way to plumb some of the heated air from the heater into the V-berth. Currently I only have one vent in the cabin. We were back on the road by 7am. Arrived here at the Delta Marina in Rio Vista at 2pm. Pretty drive coming through the Sierras. Last time I was here (2023), we stopped at the Donner Pass rest area and took a photo of the boat with the plowed up snow behind it. Didn't stop this time, and there wasn't as much snow, but there was snow! We thought we'd be the only C-Brats pulling in today, so was a bit surprised to see our friends, Steve and Karen with Sea-Spray, in the parking lot prepping Sea-Spray for launch. We checked in at the marina office, then took our time getting C-Traveler prepped to launch. (This also gives the trailer brakes and bearings time to cool off so they don't suck water into the bearings and hubs.) Finally got everything set up and then launched C-Traveler. They had me park the truck and trailer in a fenced in maintenance lot, and I managed to get the rig in there before they closed the gate at 4p. I didn't get a chance to check the trailer brakes, but will so tomorrow. For those that know, I've had a lot of past issues with the brake calipers and pads. I think I finally got those issues all taken care of, as I haven't noticed any problems on my walk arounds during each stop on the way out here.
    We'll hang out here in the marina for the next two nights, waiting for the others to get here as we all depart on Sunday.    Read more

  • C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler
    Morton Sea Salt Sourcing and Production, Great Salt Lake
    Metaphor: The Tree of UtahOne of several wildlife crossingsBingham Canyon MineAnother wildlife crossing.Wendover Will. In West Wendover,Snow nearby.Snow squalls all around.Travel route today.Plenty of parking room here.Where we are at for the night.

    Travel Day 3, Rock Springs, WY to Rye Patch, NV

    April 16 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 34 °F

    Slept in just a bit, but was on the road a little after 7a. 584 miles behind us. Thought we'd find a campsite at Rye Patch State Recreation Area, just north of Lovelock NV. However, that was a bust. With it forecast to be 15 degrees tonight, I thought maybe we could get an electric site so I could back my diesel fed Webasto heater up with a small electric heater I have along. Didn't see any and didn't think it would be worth the fee to stay in the other sites. Ended up just coming back up to the interstate off ramp, where this is plenty of room to park for the night. The friggin wind is relentless. Put up with very strong winds again today. 40 mph cross winds, out of the north. Once past Wendover, UT, they were pretty much right out of the west again. Gas mileage really sucked. We did start the day out with little wind and about 9 mpg. But a few hours later with the winds back up, mileage was back down to 6 mpg or less. And we are now in the land of 4.xx/g gas prices. So far it's barely been above $4. But still... Since we're not at a restaurant or anywhere that serves food, Rosanne put together a salad and some beef tips for supper. One of the first photos I uploaded to this footprint, is of the Tree of Life. It is called Metaphor: The Tree of Utah, often known as the "Tree of Life". It is an 87-foot-tall sculpture located in the middle of the Great Salt Lake Desert, approximately 25 miles east of Wendover near I-80 (roughly mile marker 25). Created by Swedish artist Karl Momen between 1982–1986, it features concrete spheres decorated with native rocks and minerals.
    Multiple wildlife crossings, including bridges and underpasses, are installed on I-80 east of Wendover to reduce vehicle collisions with migrating mule deer, elk, and moose. Nevada Department of Transportation (.gov) indicates nine crossings are located between Wendover and Wells. These structures, combined with fencing, safely guide animals across the busy interstate corridor.
    I believe this is the strip mine I uploaded a photo of; The primary strip/open-pit mine near the Great Salt Lake is the Bingham Canyon Mine (Kennecott Copper Mine), located roughly 20 miles southwest of Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains. As the world's deepest open-pit mine, it produces copper, gold, silver, and molybdenum, creating a massive excavation over 2.5 miles wide.    Read more

  • C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler
    Signage heading into the Medicine Bow Mountains.
    Close up of that sign.This sign was west of Elk Mountain. Same warning in the Laramie Mountains, but for High Profile...Today's track from my Garmin Inreach.

    Travel Day 2, Aurora, Ne. to Rock Springs, WY

    April 15 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 57 °F

    Up early today and on the road just a few minutes before 7am. Long day as we put 634 miles behind us. That's rare while towing the boat. But with the early start, and driving until 6:30 local, made for about a 12.5 hour day. My earlier planning had us stopping at Wamsutter, WY., at a Loves truck stop, however it was still kind of early, and there wasn't a lot of room there. So supper and "boaterhoming" at a Walmart in Rock Springs this evening. Started the day out on a good note. The Northplatte Loves did have regular gas at $3.09, and no more than 10% ethanol. With my .13 / gal discount, I paid 2.969/g for 60 gals to top C-Traveler's fuel tank off. The winds today were crazy strong out of the west. Between the strong winds, and slow climb in elevation in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming, for a while I was down to 5.9mpg in the pickup. The additional fuel weight on the boat doesn't make the difference. But the elevation climb and wind on the frontal area of the boat really causes the 5.0 V8 to work hard. Digital warning signs at Cheyenne warned that I80 was closed to high profile vehicles due to 40+ mph crosswinds. Then the digital signs west of Laramie warned closed due to 50+mph crosswinds. For the record, I didn't really consider I was driving a high profile vehicle. ;-) Also, while the winds were howling, they were not a cross wind but rather directly on the nose. Actually, I didn't feel any different effect on C-Traveler behind my F150, then I did towing her through Iowa yesterday with the strong headwinds.Read more

  • C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler
    C-Traveler backed into our campsite
    View of the campsites. C-Traveler is way in the back.Pool and splash padNice playground for the kids.Just some interesting information.Travel today.

    Travel Day 1, Home to Aurora, NE

    April 14 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    559 uneventful miles today. We did get some nasty weather at home last night. Rosanne said our weather radio went off at midnight, and about 10 minutes later we got slammed with wind and rain. Guess I must have been tired, as I slept right through it.... I was concerned that we might have more weather in Wisconsin and Iowa on our drive today. But other than some gusty winds, it was a mix of clouds and sunshine. Felt like summer with temps hitting 87 degrees! We were up early and on the road by just a few minutes after 7am. Pulled into Aurora's Streeter Park just a bit past 6pm. This is a really nice park and campground. We've stayed here once before. The park has no fee, but they do have a contribution drop box. So of course I wrote out a check and dropped it in there. This very nice park has water and electric hookups, and maybe a dozen or so sites. Most are fairly short, so I backed into one of the end ones that are a little longer so I wouldn't have to disconnect. There is a playground and bathroom. There is also a pool and splashpad, currently still closed for the season. Nearby is a ball park, and some hiking paths. Last time we were here, I think the campground was about half full. This time, there are only three other campers. After getting the boat set up, Rosanne and I walked across the street to the Pueblo Viejo Mexican food restaurant for supper. Wish we had more time to explore Aurora's cute town square area. Had planned to stop at a Love's truck stop in Shelby Iowa, as it looked to be about the least expensive gas along our route. I need 60 gals to top off the boat. However, when I stopped there, it was one of the few Loves that puts 15% ethanol in their regular gas. I don't mind burning E10 in the boat, but E15 is a no no! However, there is a Loves in Northplatte, Ne., showing 3.09/g and I was told they only use E10. With my rewards app, combined with a Prime membership, I get .13/g discount, so hoping the price is that tomorrow, and the guy on the phone didn't lie to me about E10. Otherwise, I think I can find some other stations in the area for around $3.29/g. Gas prices go up west of there.Read more

  • C-TravelerCalifornia Delta C-Dory CruiseTraveler

    Preparation before travel

    April 12 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 70 °F

    Just some information on preparing for this trip. While this blog is for the trip out to California and our cruise with the C-Dory group, afterwards, I'll be towing the boat north to the Seattle area, where I'll relaunch and spend the next two months cruising with two buddies along the British Columbia coast. So I'm really preparing for three months of living on C-Traveler. Packing for this time frame on a 25' cabin cruiser makes use of just about every inch of space. I can go a full month before needing to do laundry, and packed to wear in layers. In California, we'll experience temperature lows down to low 40's, and highs between 60's and 70's. In the Pacific North, those temps will be from lows in the 30's to highs in the 80's, as I go into July. Packing food I had to be aware of restrictions entering Canada, but was able to pack quite a bit of food. Still, I will need to replenish at least once if not twice. And perhaps more often with regards to such things as bread and other items that don't last as long. I do have both a refrigerator and portable freezer on the boat, but they are small. I can keep some things cool packed along the cabinet floors or in the bilge, as the outside sea temperature keeps those areas cooled. I will be able to do outboard engine oil changes when necessary, with a oil change vacuum system. I expect to only need to change oil once. (Most maintenance guides suggest every 100 hours. Since we are going to be running at lower RPMS, I will push that out to 200 hours.) The lower unit lube will have to wait for changing until the boat is back out of the water and after I get back home. (Otherwise I'd have to pay to have it slung or taken out of the water by a marina.) Fortunately, I have already had the boat out on the water this season, with my earlier trip to Dale Hollow Lake. So I know everything is in good mechanical condition for this extended trip. I also finally bit the bullet and purchased the Starlink Mini, as the British Columbia coast can be pretty remote, and it'll be nice still having access to internet service. I believe I will be without cell service in much of the area we'll be cruising. I plan to take four days driving out to California. That's at around 500 miles a day. I do have an extra day available for travel, if we are unable to make good time. I only tow at a maximum of 65mph. I'm looking forward to this first part of summer and these two trips. Very happy that Rosanne will be joining me for this trip, but then she'll fly back home as I head north.Read more

    Trip start
    April 14, 2026
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