<b>Re: More favorite places to steam!</b>
Posted by:
JW (IP Logged)
Date: November 21, 2001 06:49PM
<HTML>Lake Bucannan in the Texas Hill Country is a peaceful meandering cruise along the interesting cliff-lined shores. The chime whistle on the Scripps 40 ft sternwheeler really bellows a long echo along the cliffs in some of the inlets. This lake can really change personalities when a strong blow rises with a storm.
The Straits of Vallejo, or the Mare Island Sound Northeast San Francisco Bay, has been a very interesting cruise. The East side is lined with marinas, a Park, A catamaran commuter ferry to San Francisco, and home dock for a diesel powered sternwheeler party boat, formerly The Peteluma Queen. The west shore, maybe 150 yards across the water, is Mare Island Shipyard with lots of interesting stuff to look over. Lots of history here. Many a steam engine came from these old shops. Submarines were also built here, and parts of hulls are still visable on the docks. The place is still loaded with equipment and some work is still done there by private companies. Best stay back 50 feet as the signs all say, especially these days when everybody is on the watch for Omar's boys, diaper hats or not.
Anyone that has been to the Sacramento River Delta Meet will know well the unbeatable moonlight cruises up the narrow Georgianna Slough to OxBow.
I really enjoyed the 6 hour cruise on the worlds largest steam toy "Jeremiah O'Brien" This restored liberty ship has 2 catered cruises a year with Big Band entertainment. They put on a good feed with plenty of beer. You get a closeup of Alcatraz on the way out the Golden Gate to the edge of the open sea. More Alcatraz on the way up to the Carquinez Staights for a whistle dual with the local lighthouse operator. Another pass by Angel Island and Alcatraz for a run up the Oakland Estuary, past the Alameda Naval Air Station, and then back to the dock in South SF. All this manuevering is made possible with the aid of a tractor tug that accompanies the ship. She spins the O'Brien on it's keel in about 2 minutes or less with no sense of motion at all. If you are below when this happens you never know it. But you gotta spend an hour in the engine room. The big tripple is a real sight at three stories tall. There are lots steam powered auxillaries to examine up close too.
More Later-
JW
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