Note: Anthony and Jane are from British Columbia, have just purchased a used NT 42 in the San Francisco Bay Area, and are outfitting it for extended cruising through the Panama Canal and then the Great Loop.  During this outfitting phase they have joined SFBANTA and have participated in our activities.  We wish them well on their adventures and look forward to hearing from them as they travel.

New Years 08 was a different experience for us both. We decided to join a like minded group of tuggers and cruise from our current location in the San Francisco Bay at Alameda to the very pretty town of Petaluma which is up the Petaluma river on the north side of the "bay".

The event was a "join us if you like" deal put on by Irwin "Scotty" Scott and he was astounded to discover that 11 Nordic Tugs responded. That caused some frantic organisation work for bridge openings, restaurant reservations et al.

So at 0800 on .. December 30th we headed out into the bay and turned north for the Bay Bridge whereabouts we would rendezvous with another couple of tugs heading to Petaluma. Bright sunshine and low winds were the order of the day, making for a really great run.

With some caution we entered the outer markers for the river, out about 2nm just daymarkers to be seen, 12' under the keel and not much to Port or Starboard. RILEY in front seemed confident although CARMEN's skipper considered this to be prime anchoring space. Further in we went (getting shallower) past more daymarkers until we found the actual river entry. Same depths but significantly narrower, past an open railway swingbridge, under the highway (101) and on to the town.

The lift bridge at D Street opened on time and we entered the Petaluma Turning Basin. After a brief skippers conference Jim took the lead in organising the "stern tie". Now I have done stern ties in Georgian Bay, in Greece and once in BC, but his one was news to me. It only works in calm non tidal water as you actually hold the stern perpendicular to the dock with a long midships lines. For CARMEN we had no-one to our port as this is the gangway to the street and Jeanne Marie III to our starboard. So we only had one long line, which was not long enough but Jim performed a double sheetbend on the fly and voila! we were secure.

The other 8 boats came in later by which time most of us were up at the market. Dinner that first evening consisted of a planned pot luck served on the dock along with a lot of socializing. Breakfast the next morning was BBBB or Bud's Boiled Bag Breakfast.  Superb it was although there was ice on the decks! Low seventies in the PM, low thirties at dawn.

 New Years eve was celebrated by all of us at Semolina a really great restaurant in Petaluma. A wonderful time was had by all. The new years eve was celebrated at NY time so most everyone was curled up by 11pm.

The group made our farewells and we all returned to our respective ports around the bay over the next couple of days. CARMEN lingered as long as possible but let go moorings on Wednesday Jan 2nd 0900. The return was a little different in as much as a south easterly at 25kts was kicking the shallow bay up a bit, no fuss just exercise the windshield wipers. En route we turned to the West and poked our nose out under the gate into the Pacific, little wind action but some long period swells, all good fun.

CARMEN returned to her slip after a call at the pumpout station (all free here) and we relaxed and started planning the next chapter, Mexico.