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Houseboat Thrill Ride

THRILL RIDE
Mark Capalongan

The old harbormaster frowned, cocked one eyebrow and issued a stern warning, one that was frequently heard on the California Sacramento River Delta.“Don’t even think about taking your houseboat west of the Highway 160 Bridge, the last houseboat skipper who did that took green water over his bow and straight through his front windows!” With that sage advice firmly planted in my head, I cast my eyes fore longingly to the west knowing that my 43-foot Nautaline would never make the 70-mile trip to the San Francisco Bay. Living with that restriction should have been easy because there are a thousand miles of protected waterways in the delta. For the next nine seasons we plied the delta waters in our trusty Nautaline, yet all the while that deep-seeded desire to sail to San Francisco kept bouncing around the back of my mind.Why do we always want what we cannot have?It was time to sell the Nautaline and move up a notch. The engineers at Stardust Cruisers scratched their heads. “You want to do what?”Stardust had forged a “can-do” reputation so when I told them I wanted to put a “cruiser” style bow on their standard houseboat hull they went right to work on it. They also beefed up the boat with extra sheer supports, double rafters and a special 5086 aluminum for the hull.Six months later, our new 70-foot Stardust Cruiser houseboat arrived…complete with a cruiser bow. She was christened “Big Dog” with a bottle of champagne that was carefully broken on the bow anchor.I knew then, after a proper shakedown and break-in period, she would conquer the Highway 160 Bridge. Planning the San Francisco trip was half the fun. Finally we would get to see what the yachting community took for granted:the San Francisco Skyline, the Golden

Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the Sausalito waterfront, the Saint Francis Yacht club, Pier 39, and much more.The culmination would be the KFOG fireworks spectacular, scheduled at Pier 32 on May 11, 2002. The morning of the trip, I awoke early and peered out into the eerie darkness of the early morning.There was a frigid west wind, which I guessed to be about 25 mph. Strange, nothing had been on the weather radio about this; perhaps it was just a localized early morning breeze.I sipped my hot coffee and made the decision to continue with departure as planned. Just before dawn, we eased away from the darkened dock and into the whitecaps of the Sacramento ship channel. Shortly after daybreak, we passed under the Highway 160 Bridge and entered the “forbidden zone”; heading directly into a west wind that had reached an apparent 40 miles per hour.The ebb current had peaked and when combined with the opposing wind and a shallow bottom made for some very strange looking waves.So this was what they all warned about! I wished for a camera but was too busy to locate one. Foaming whitewater, punctuated with steep white capped waves rose 3 to 4 feet high every 1 to 2 seconds. They crashed into the bow and sent spray skyward that soaked even the flybridge high above. I thought of the movie “The Perfect Storm” as my first mate gulped down some Dramamine.It was spooky, but for one thing: “Big Dog”. She was rock solid.There was no creaking, no flexing, and very little roll.Her amazing “cruiser” bow sliced the waves like a Ginzu knife.During the height of the windstorm, I pushed my way onto the front deck and popped open the hatch to check the bilge.It was dry as a bone, so too were the engine compartments. We emerged into the San Francisco Bay and were welcomed by sunshine and calmer seas. The worst was past.The ship was fine, save one wine glass that fell off the rack.Soon the Golden Gate loomed large on the western horizon and the San Francisco skyline sparkled against a crystal clear sky.What a thrill to pass under the Bay Bridge and ease past the supertankers and cruise ships moored in the Bay. As we tied up our guest slip in Alameda, the local boat salesman wagged his index finger in the direction of “Big Dog” and commented to his perspective customer “It’s a houseboat alright.It has a huge amount of windage, too much window area, and a thin-skinned bottom.It can’t take the waves or the wind, not like a real boat”. I grinned but said nothing. Mark Capalongan

Skipper, “Big Dog”. Epilogue: The following weekend with many friends on board, we toured the SF Bay. We docked and ate a famous waterfront restaurant in Sausalito, hiked around Angel Island, toured Pier 39, circled Alcatraz, and even cruised out of the Golden Gate (briefly) into the Pacific Ocean.Everywhere we went, amazed people pointed and cheered at this “houseboat” that was actually on the Bay. Our weekend culminated with the KFOG fireworks spectacular in San Francisco. The return trip back to homeport on the delta was smooth and uneventful and seals and sea lions shadowed us. The trip was a thrill 10 years in the making. STATS: Round trip distance: 155 statute miles (gps monitored) Fuel useage: 168 gallons of gas with an average (s.o.g.) speed of 10.5 mph. Boat:2001 Stardust Cruiser, 70’ long x 16’ beam, custom built hull. Engines:twin Volvo 3.8 liter EFI gas with duo-prop drives.

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