Delta Rat Scrapbook – by Bill Wells
Stockton Historical Maritime Museum
We attended the open house aboard the USS Lucid on a recent Saturday. The Stockton Historical Maritime Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donations are deductible from your income tax. David Rajkovich, the mastermind and unsung hero of this project, is too modest to take much credit, but I assure you this project would be nowhere near what it is today without him. Dave found the ship as a derelict down on Fisherman’s Cut about 12 years ago. I was there the day they towed her to Stockton where she has laid ever since on the north bank of the San Joaquin.
Progress has been steady, with many military veterans volunteering their time and resources to help bring the project to fruition. They come from all over the nation at their own expense.
David is an expert at “scrounging,” this is a military term that means getting things that you want or need without going through any regular channels or spending lots of money. The term apparently originated with the Australian military in World War I and referred to “misappropriation.” The first thing I noticed going aboard was the new gangway which had been recently scrounged from the battleship USS Iowa. Many of the items aboard were donated by veterans including authentic uniforms, items for the sick bay and other personal memorabilia. Dave has received permission to remove some items from former warships that are scheduled to be scrapped. I think Dave, along with Don Rienhart has made several trips up and down the West Coast in a pickup truck to gather more parts when they become available.
The open house was excellent, the first person I saw as I approached was Dave’s wife Karen and another lady checking people in and accepting donations. After making it to the main deck, there was a tour outlined by arrows and at every compartment there was a docent that had served on minesweepers that passed on a lot of great information. When the museum first acquired the ship she had been pretty well stripped of anything of value. The volunteers have restored many of the systems including the electrical wiring and the voice operated telephone system, both of which had to be challenging. They even have a ship’s store selling memorabilia and books. I got a couple of great books about naval history. Hint, hint, Christmas is around the corner; if you are looking for some nautical gifts contact them at 877-285-8243, you can make a donation too.
I am not sure what the five-year plan to move USS Lucid into downtown Stockton is, but it will be a huge event and the vessel will be a big asset to downtown Stockton. She will be on the south side of the channel and just upstream from the Waterfront Warehouse. She will be a huge asset to the Stockton Waterfront; I am pretty sure you will be able to see her from the northbound lanes of I-5 as you cross the channel. Kudos to Dave and his team.
Sea Ray Circle Cruise
The Sea Ray Boat Club of Northern California (SRBCNC) has hosted the “Circle Cruise” at Mildred Island on Labor Day weekend every year since it was initiated in 1994 by Paul Sharps, Bob Dudley and Pat Jarret.
Commodore Karen Conrod files this report: “The SRBCNC is a cruising club of Sea Ray boat owners that encourages safe navigation of the Delta waters. We plan a monthly weekend adventure that takes us to a different location in the Delta each month. We enjoy rafting out, floating with friends and sunset dinghy rides in the warm summer months. In the winter colder months, we visit marinas and yacht clubs and even take a cruise to the San Francisco Bay. All members of SRBCNC own a Sea Ray, and our members have years of boating experience and are eager to share their experience and knowledge, whether it’s seamanship, problem-solving or improvements to your boat. If you own a Sea Ray and have an interest in the club and joining us in the future, please check out our website at SRBCNC.ORG
“On Labor Day weekend we host the Sea Ray Circle Cruise. John and Sue Halling are members who have participated in every one of the Circle Cruises since the beginning. The largest Circle Cruise had 74 boats in the circle in 2003. In 2024 there were 19 boats out at Mildred Island: Plan B, Two Drifters, Mar Pacifico, Final Final, Sunset Sky, Trow’s Nest, Rittreat, It’s Now or Never, Sea Norita, Toy yoT, Absolut Getaway, Isle D’Cide, 44DD, Sea Wench, C’Ya Later, Beverly Ann, Fellowship, Knot N Session and Wine Down.
“This was the 2nd year ever SRBCNC members could sponsor a non-Sea Ray boat guest to attend. This year the cruise leaders were Rear Commodore Greg Mondy and Commodore Karen Conrod. Dave Trowbridge is the circle engineer who ensures correct design and placement of the circle. The size of the circle is determined by the number of boats and beam of each boat which then is calculated into four quadrants. All lines are created at specific lengths to create a safe and complete circle.
“On Thursday the first four boats arrive to create four anchor boats that create the four quadrants of the circle. The anchor boats this year were Plan B, Trow’s Nest, Toy yoT and C’ya Later. Each boat is set specifically by GPS coordinates to ensure proper placement. Due to the wind out at Mildred Island on Thursday afternoon only the first three boats were set this year and the final boat set Friday morning before any other boats arrived (Safety First!). Greg Mondy and Dave Trowbridge ran Circle Command which provides directions and instructions to all boats as they arrive. Only one boat can enter at a time. Each boat has a designated quadrant and enters their quadrant throughout Friday and into Saturday morning.
“Once all boats arrive Saturday morning the circle is created and closed. To close the circle, boats’ sterns are tied, and bows spread. Once in place, bow anchors are placed for each boat. Spring lines are placed on each side of every boat. All boats must remain in the circle until their appropriate time to be safely released, which starts Monday around 1000 hours.
“Activities are planned throughout the weekend and this year we celebrated the Sea Ray Olympics in honor of the 2024 Olympic Games. Games included water bull riding, paddle board races and arrow toss. We also held a food competition and our annual dinghy drive in.
“Events like this don’t happen without many volunteers and a special thank you to Greg Mondy, Dave Trowbridge, John Halling, Ian & Michelle Plount, Mike Palomino, Doug Murray and Dave & Denise Drumm.”
ACBS At Grindstone Joe’s
The Antique & Classic Boat Society Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter made their annual cruise into B&W Resort on a warm weekend in October. I think about 50 runabouts attended. They have been coming to B&W Resort for a few decades now and visiting Grindstone Joe’s annually for 30 years.
On Saturday, many of them cruised over to Grindstone Joe’s for lunch. It is inspiring to see a covey of Chris Crafts, Hacker, GarWood, Century and others in our Delta waterways. The lunch at Grindstone Joe’s has been a tradition for at least 15 years that I know of.
They filled the docks at the private club. It has been a while since I have visited Grindstone Joe’s and they have made many improvements. Scott Andrews showed me around, the most prominent change I saw was the new deck. The whole deck area is 4,000 square feet and they had replaced 2,500 square feet. On my previous visits they had what I called the “mother of all ice machines,” and now they have a bigger one, I think they possibly could supply the city of Lodi with their extra ice. President Gerry Kamilos is confident that they can supply ice to any fleet of boats that cruises in. The permanent houseboats have dockside electricity and water. Black water goes into each boat’s holding tank, and a service comes by periodically to pump them out.
Gerry Kamilos has moved his Trumpy yacht Aurora V from her berth in Berkeley up to Grindstone Joe’s for a summer visit. Gerry is the current president of the association, so I think that makes Aurora V the flagship of the club.
Gerry Kamilos
By the time you read this Gerry will have received the PICYA “Yachtsman of the Year Award.” He is a yachtsman’s yachtsman; he is a lifelong boater. When he was 12, he enrolled in a sailing education program on Lake Washington in West Sacramento. He first learned sailing on a wooden El Toro dinghy. At 14, he joined Sea Scout Ship Unit 105 – SSS Trident, a 1943 Stephens Brothers 63-foot Air/Sea Rescue boat. He spent a lot of time volunteering as a dock boy at the Sacramento Yacht Club. Then when he was in college, he would spend his spare time crewing on sailing yachts in Southern California. Currently, Gerry and his wife Karen cruise their historic double mahogany planked hull 1969 58-foot John Trumpy and Sons coastal cruiser, Aurora V all over the Bay and Delta. I don’t know when he has time to run his company as he is always offering his boat for charity cruises. He has served as dockmaster for the Classic Yacht Association’s Kruz’n 4 Kidz event, and was responsible for assembling a fleet of eight to ten classic yachts including the USS Potomac to take children patients, their families and medical staff, 300 passengers in all, from the Benioff Oakland Children’s Hospital for a two-hour Bay cruise. Aurora V has served as the blessing vessel for the Corinthian Yacht Club’s Blessing of the Fleet ceremony on opening day for the last several years, and Gerry has agreed to provide her for the 2025 ceremony also. After going through the rotation, Gerry was elected Commodore of the International Classic Yacht Association for 2023. He spearheaded the creation of a strategic plan for the Association, the first in the Association’s 54-year history which has served to bring the club into the 21st century.
Amsterdam Part Deux
A few folks have asked for more details on our Amsterdam trip, so here you go. Kim had arranged for local passes that are good for entry into most museums. She also got us passes to the tourist buses and canal boats. The latter had on-and-off privileges so we could get off, sightsee and get back on the boat or bus and ride to the next destination.
We paid a visit to the Van Gogh Museum. Vincent, I am sure you know, was from the Netherlands, and his family founded the museum. It houses the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world (200 or so). There are plenty of paintings by other artists also. At this point they are celebrating 150 years of Impressionism. The exhibition is full of French masterpieces from Dutch collections, works by famous Impressionists including Monet, Edgar Degas, Rodin and Camille Pissarro.
We also visited the nearby Rijksmuseum which showcases centuries of Dutch history. The centerpiece of the museum is “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. It is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It is massive in size, about 12 feet by 15 feet. It was undergoing restoration while we were there, so we could not get too close to it but it is an amazing piece of work. They were in the process of stripping the old yellowing varnish off and applying a new protective coating. This is a painstaking multi-year process. There were many fabulous art works created during their “Golden Age” from about 1588 to 1672. During that period, Holland also became one of the most powerful nations in the world, surpassing Spain and Portugal in wealth and possessions. The Rijksmuseum has many paintings from this era. There are also an amazing number of model ships and boats; you are talking about a few hundred amazing, detailed models. I think they were all constructed when the actual vessels were in use. It is an incredible collection taking up a couple of rooms. The Rijksmuseum contains something like 6,000 separate items. You could easily spend a day or two there.
The Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum are both located at the Museumplein park, which also houses other museums. There is also a huge grassy area that just invites you to lie down and take a nap. Regretfully, we didn’t have unlimited time so we passed on the nap as well as a couple of other excellent looking museums in the park.
I noticed that many of the buildings were multi-story with a narrow façade facing the street or canal. Apparently, at one point in the 1500s, property taxes were based on the canal frontage, so narrow was good. Also, many of the buildings have a large hook at the very peak of the roof. These are for bringing furniture and other large objects inside. The hooks can be rigged with a block and tackle and used to raise about anything from the bed of a truck at street level. We witnessed this several times during our stay.
When we weren’t visiting museums, we were trying out a lot of different food and drinks. Genever, also known as Jenever is a juniper-flavored drink that originated in Holland. It is similar to and was the ancestor of English Gin. We stopped in a 300-year-old pub for a drink of genever. The proprietor explained that there is a ritual involved. They use a shot glass shaped like a tulip and it is filled to overflowing with genever. Surface tension is what keeps the liquid from spilling. For the first drink you leave the glass on the bar and take a sip. After lowering the contents you can pick it up and sip as you would any liqueur. A beer is recommended as a chaser, I would say the combination will warm you up. It seems like there are good restaurants on just about every street corner, many have lines of people waiting to be seated. Herring raw or cooked is a staple of the diet. I like mine cooked so they are slightly crispy. Another treat is the Stroopwafel (syrup waffle). It is a cookie that looks like a small waffle, they are filled with syrup and very sweet. They are about the size to fit over the top of a coffee cup so you put them over a hot cup of coffee or tea which heats them slightly and softens the filling. Stroopwafels are very popular and I think you are always in sight of a vendor.
One day we took a ride share out to an outlying village to see the farmland and windmills. It was amazing to see, quite a bit like the Delta except fewer people. The windmills are real and help keep the sea from reclaiming the land. Much of the land in the Netherlands is below sea level and is protected by dikes (levees) similar to the Delta. Over the centuries there have been some devastating floods, but these resilient people have survived and prospered. The last major flood to devastate the region with people stranded on their rooftops and many boats and ships lost in the storm took place in 1953. Other countries responded with help including the U.S. sending helicopters from Germany to help rescue people. These folks know a lot about water and flood management, I would suggest that our state officials could learn from them.
Hortus Botanicus in Leiden is now the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands and where the first tulips in the Netherlands were planted in 1593. They were first cultivated in Turkey or Persia around 1,000 CE. They became popular and were coveted by the upper classes. I am confident that you have heard of the tulip pricing bubble in the 1500s. They became so popular that bulbs were selling for $50,000 to $150,000 in today’s money. Of course, the market eventually crashed and a lot of people lost a lot of money. Sound familiar? Kind of like the high-tech bubble in the early 2000s in the U.S.
It is legal to consume Marijuana in “coffee shops” and there are a lot of coffee shops in the city. They seem to be pretty well regulated. No hard drugs can be sold in the coffee shop, you have to be 18 or over to purchase cannabis, there is a limit of five grams per sale, no alcohol can be sold and no disturbances are allowed. Overall, it seems pretty civilized; we did not see any drooling psychotic dope fiends running around. There is a good police presence throughout the city so I am confident if any trouble broke out it would be brought under control shortly.
Yes, we went through the Red Light District. It was founded in 1385 and is still a popular place today. I could not take any photos as then I would have been eligible for a 180 euro fine. It is just like you have heard, young women sitting behind windows facing the sidewalks dressed in provocative clothing trying to entice you to enter. While we were sightseeing, we found a nice Korean restaurant so we popped in for a bite to eat. The food was delicious. We were there in the afternoon and we heard all the action starts in the evening around 2000 hours. That is when the live shows get going and more girls open shop.
I highly recommend that if you get a chance to visit Amsterdam, take advantage of it. We were busy every day, and even though I had been walking and swimming for weeks before we left I had trouble keeping up with Kim and Daisy. I could make it about two and a half miles walking per day and then I had to beg for transportation. My ride sharing app worked great on the trip and we never had to wait more than a few minutes for a car to pick us up. There is so much to do and see there that I think you would have to spend a year or so to take it all in. We didn’t make it to the Heineken Museum, which was not too far from where we were staying. Hal Schell was the greatest promoter of Heineken beer in Northern California, and at some point we found out that the company had never acknowledged him in any way so visiting their museum was not high on my list. Walking around the city you literally find something interesting on every block, from unique shops, to restaurants, to pubs, and of course the museums. Kim and Daisy, thank you both again for the fabulous time.
Botter Jacht
I think you all have seen the traditional boats from Holland. A botter is a traditional fishing vessel used in the Zuider Zee. I think it may have originated from “bot” which is a Dutch term for flounder. The boats were generally gaff rigged cutters, flat bottomed with very shallow draft and leeboards. They were originally wood, but at the turn of the 20th century steel became the preferred construction material and around this time they started to be fitted with motors. Jacht – a boat or small ship, usually with sails, often with an engine, built and used for racing or cruising.
So, a Botter Jacht is a botter converted into a yacht. There are scads of them on the canals and in the harbor. Most of the wooden ones are gone now, but there are plenty made of steel. Many are used as liveaboard houseboats as they have a lot of interior space. The ones I saw on the canals seem to be capable of sailing, but I am not sure if they cruise very often. The canals are only dredged from six to nine feet so you don’t see any deep draft vessels. There are a lot of draw bridges, many of them manually operated and a lot of fixed bridges too. The masts are on tabernacles that allow them to be lowered to cabin top level which allows them to transit fixed bridges. I think they would be great boats for the Delta, able to get into obscure waterways and able to take advantage of our summer winds.
Groote Beer
So, back in the early 1950s when I was first realizing that I had a fondness for boats I read an article about Groote Beer (Great Bear) and how it was built for Hermann Goring, one of Hitlers acolytes. Supposedly the craftsmen wanted to keep their jobs so they added all kinds of custom carvings and accouterments to slow the building process. This story was later debunked, and she was actually built for a German industrialist. She was completed after the war and eventually ended up with Charles Donnelly who was the U.S. Representative for Feadship. He used her to show off the talents of Dutch shipbuilders. She is 52.5 feet overall with an 18.5-foot beam and a four-foot draft displacing 38 tons. In 1955 she was sold to famous yachtsman Robert Johnson who brought her to Portland. Johnson was an unofficial entry in the 1957 Transpac Race with Groote Beer and came in dead last (Johnson went on to purchase the Herreshoff ketch Ticonderoga and later commissioned Windward Passage, both Transpac winners). She passed through the hands of the Boy Scouts and restauranter Stuart Anderson, as well as a few other owners. In my 1993 copy of the Register of Wooden Yachts she was owned by Clifford and Ruth Ann Fremstad with a home port of San Francisco. They sold her to Jan Willem de la Porte who shipped her back to the Netherlands for a complete restoration. A mishap occurred during a haul out and she fell from the sling and crushed a car. Latest reports say she is repaired and back sailing the Zuider Zee.
Upcoming Events
The Delta Reflections/Lynn Hahn Memorial Christmas Boat Parade is on for 2024. It will take place on Saturday, December 7th at sundown on the Stockton Channel starting by Windmill Cove.
This year they are supporting the Wounded Warrier Project. Please contact Roger Hahn at 209-603-7147 for information, to sponsor, or to participate.
The annual Frozen Bun Run is set for the morning of January 1st at the Rusty Porthole on Bethel Island. Come on down and either ski or just sit back with a drink while you watch other skiers. In addition to water sports enthusiasts, this event is also very popular for motorcycle riders. As usual, the Bun Run is a big blast for everyone and a great way to start out the new year. Kim and Rob Brunham, the owners of the Rusty Porthole, will be serving great food and there will also be food trucks.
Eight Bells
Patrick Welch, one of my dearest friends has crossed over the bar. I had not seen him for a while, apparently, he became ill while cruising his boat Triple Crown on the way to the Delta. He was a regular at the Stephens Rendezvous almost every time it was held and you would see him at many other events. I found out that he had been in ill health for a year or so. He was a member and Past Commodore of the Northern California Fleet of the Classic Yacht Association and also a member of the Encinal Yacht Club. Patrick was beloved everywhere he went. He always had a huge grin and was friendly to everyone he met. Patrick sold his winery a few years back and took up yachting full time. Triple Crown was a classic among classics. She was owned at one time by the syndicate that owned the racehorse Secretariat and was purchased with their winnings. Patrick was rightfully proud of his boat, a 1972 48-foot Stephens flush deck aft cabin cruiser. He cruised her regularly between the Bay and Delta. He owned a condominium in Oakland but lived on Triple Crown almost exclusively. She had a beautiful interior including original artworks by Leroy Nieman. There is a full bar in the cockpit that he kept well stocked.
He had been in and out of the hospital for various tests to address fatigue and went in for the last time about when I was in Amsterdam. We exchanged a couple of text messages when we got back and Sue and I were planning to go visit him when we heard he had passed. It is just heartbreaking that he is gone, but he would want the rest of us to continue on. Bren Johnson, his best friend, says there will be a celebration of life for him in the future.
Joe Cashen – From Kande, “Our beloved Joseph Cashen, the son of Kande Korth, passed away on Sept. 16 in Stockton. He was 37 years old.” I knew Joe for 15 or so years, he was a good guy and always fun to talk to. He was around the marina for years and was my local fishing consultant.
“As a boy he loved skateboarding and enjoyed pursuing the sport with his many friends in Isleton and Rio Vista. He loved football, especially when his favorite team, the 49’ers, were winning. In his 20s, Joe spent several years working at Korth’s Pirates Lair in the office and helping out on the gas dock where he made new friends with his winning gift of gab. He loved working alongside our Harbormaster, Tom Tate when Tom needed a helping hand. Joe also loved to fish with his good friends.”
Joe’s funeral was scheduled to be on Oct. 26 at CE Stewart Chapel in Rio Vista, followed by lunch at Korth’s Pirates Lair Marina. We miss you Joe.
Irish Pennants
Authorities in Monterey are looking for a man who harassed sea lions near Fisherman’s Wharf. He apparently later posted a video of the event to social media. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) reminds us that under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, harassing or even intentionally getting close to marine mammals is illegal, and is punishable with up to a $34,457 fine and a year in prison. Anyone with information about this case or similar cases is encouraged to call NOAA’s 24/7 enforcement hotline at 800-853-1964 and make a report. (Editor’s note: a sea lion can take off your hand with one bite. I would just leave them alone and let them harass one another.)
Korth’s Pirates Lair Café is planning to be open all year round starting now. The food is great and so is the service. It is one of my absolute Delta favorites.
Heather and Alex are serving breakfast at Wimpy’s starting at 0500 hours, try the mouthwatering Boater’s Breakfast Sandwich with crispy hash browns on the side. You can’t go wrong, wash it down with a couple cups of their coffee and you will be set for the day. The fish will be jumping into your boat. Seems like things in the Delta are going back to the good old days.
Save the date, Jan. 24, 2025 will be the Delta Chambers annual dinner at the Ryde Hotel. Details to follow.
J. Mills, our former editor, checks in from Costa Rica and reports that his boat was hit by an Orca (killer whale). He reports that apparently there was no damage. Stay safe out there Jim. There have been some other reports of Orcas attacking yachts. So far no one has been able to figure out why.
Have a fabulous Christmas and holiday season, 2025 will be a great year! As always, I am available via phone or email: 916-869-9141 or commodorewells@msn.com
