Two... Rivers Run Through It

When the summer temperatures rise in Northern California, those who can take off for some wet, watery relief – do. Aah, but they’re not all heading to Lake Tahoe or Stinson Beach. If they have a boat, chances are they’re camping out on the American or Sacramento rivers, already down on the Delta or even heading out to sea toward Monterey or San Francisco. The famous Delta breeze that comes up just before sunset, or as some would say, “just about the cocktail hour,” is definitely a lifesaver in the scorching heat. Now, imagine that breeze from the back of a boat, on your own private dock, or skimming the water on jet skis or a wakeboard. That and more have Northern Californians playing on the Delta.

A Way of Life

Only blocks from downtown Sacramento, the northern mountain waters of the American River converge with the deep, meandering Sacramento River. Then the water runs south and widens out to the Delta, making this one of the prime-time great haunts for the boating crowd and for those whose families have lived on the water for generations.

“It starts with Memorial Day Weekend, when the covers come off, the boats are in, and the restaurants are open,” says Janice Fairley Winn, a second-generation, self-declared “river rat” who grew up in the southern Sacramento County town of Clarksburg. “When it’s going to be 92 degrees with a three-day weekend, it’s time to pack up the boat and go for nonstop water skiing and socializing from late Friday afternoon until the sun goes down on Monday night. Of, course, that’s when I was single,” reminisces this married mother of two young kids.

Delta enthusiasts, such as Winn and her husband, Monty, socialize on the water with her mom, Linda Fairley, and brother, Jay, on their family’s boat all summer. It was so much a part of their lives; the Winns had their summer wedding at the Grand Island Mansion in Walnut Grove more than a decade ago.

“Once you’re raised on the water, you seek it out,” says Fairley. “It wouldn’t seem like summer, if we weren’t down on the river with the kids in their rowboats and canoes, having picnics and filling our old coffee cans with plump, ripe blackberries.”

Some people are born to live on the river, and where it widens out in the Delta, sprinkled with tiny towns, quaint scenery, and sloughs that create islands perfect to wakeboard around. It’s another world. Donis Pacini Whaley, a third-generation child of the river, can't imagine living without it. Her family lives in a gracious, century-old farm house landscaped with cherry trees, their own dock and access to a family-owned island- Winter Island. This year they will begin planting their vineyard.

My family’s history is all right here, and my 95-year-old grandmother, Aline Pacini, is our matriarch who tells us incredible stories about the river, the hotels they used to own, and how all the families knew each other," says Whaley, an interior designer in Sacramento. It's a beautifullife; we love our community in Steamboat Slough and Walnut Grove. All I have to do is look at my kids when they come out of the water from tubing and water-skiing all day to see it. This morning after I ran along the river, I filled my shirt with fresh cherries and dropped them into my grandmother’s lap still warm from the morning sun. This is a very good life.”

River Seekers

Working only six blocks from the Sacramento Marina, West Marine Express store manager Don Henkle made his love of boating a career choice. He moved to the area seven years ago from Colorado, but as a kid, he grew up boating everywhere his family lived. He thinks the river system in Northern California is one of the very best places to boat and better than most lakes.

“I have a 27-foot, 1965 classic Owens Cabin Cruiser,” says Henkle. “And I’m on it every chance I get. This is just a great boating environment.” He smiles when you ask him about something called “Pot Luck,” and confirms, Pot
Luck Beach is a high point on many insiders’ boating-season schedules. The Sacramento Yacht Club and the Capital City Yacht Club together hold one of the largest socializers on the water the second weekend in August. Large yachts arrive from all over Northern California, tie up and enjoy the good life all weekend long. Organizers plan this event for weeks, and several pigs are buried in the sand to be cooked luau style.

Henkle says he sees the anticipation and energy level pick up dramatically as customers start readying their boats for the season. “Things like navigation charts and safety devices start flying off the shelves as people think about what they need and what they did or didn’t do with their boats in the fall,” he says.

Cupertino native Mike Mix, his wife, Angela, and their toddler daughter, Madeline, are such boating enthusiasts; they have two boats in continuous use. They live on the river in the Sacramento Pocket area where he’s building his private dock, and it is exactly why Mix, who is with Help-U-Sell real estate, decided to move to the Sacramento area when he graduated from St. Mary’s College.

“I was drawn to Sacramento because my family used to boat on the Delta when we were kids, and I got more familiar with it when I was in college” says Mix. “Because I now live here, I don’t have the two-hour drive to get on my boat. I can enjoy the water every day. Now, I leave work, where I’m only blocks from the river, and I’m on the water in minutes instead of hours.”

Mix believes the Sacramento rivers and the Delta are much better for boating than any lake because there’s wind protection with steep banks, which makes for good, calm water, and perfect for wakeboarding. There are countless
restaurants, bars, and yacht clubs that also offer great socializing opportunities for all who share their zest or compulsion for being on the water.

A typical summer weekend for the Mix family is to join up with other friends and their boats, and head out toward San Francisco or Monterey. His 40-foot Cruisers, Inc. small yacht, with two bedrooms and two baths, sleeps eight. He tows his 23-foot MasterCraft to be ready to wakeboard at the drop of an anchor. If they’re staying in town for the weekend, they might pull the boat up at Crawdad’s River Cantina on a Thursday night, where there’s usually a band, have an early dinner and take their daughter for a boat ride before going home and putting her to bed.

“We like to extend the summer good life by being on the water after work, and wake-boarding when it’s less crowded,” says Mix. “On weekends, we all like to tie up together and camp on our boats around the bend from Discovery Park on the American River, where things can be a little quieter because there is a 5-mph speed limit. We cook appetizers off the back of the boat, relax, socialize and watch great sunsets. In the morning, we head down to the Rio City Café for their Mimosas and brunch. That’s a perfect weekend for us.” •