We made it! Better to be lucky than smart. Yesterday, we exceeded our most optimistic projections and logged 33 miles. Rode the ebb tide and the winds were kind.
​TodAy we got to experience rowing through one of the states best windsurfing areas. True suffering was had but we made it to take out by mid morning. At several points this morning we would have moved faster by getting off the boat and crawling on our bellies on shore. There is much to process about this experience. For now, we just enjoy.



The last time California faced real collapse of aquatic ecosystems was before the passage of the state and federal clean water acts in the 1970s, which eliminated or greatly reduced the dumping of huge volumes of toxic material into the estuary. The present Delta, as measured by total fish populations, species diversity, navigability, migratory waterfowl abundance, and other measures, even water quality, is a ‘healthy’ ecosystem in many ways.

​Peter Moyle, UC Davis fisheries
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25 mile upstream wind does not deter these knuckleheads. We crawl by the southern suburbs of Sacramento dodging yachts and jet skis. All we see are levees and sometimes the roof peak of.a rooftop Camped with a beaver and an osprey.
From here on out it is basically a row across a tidal lake. Our problem is finding the sweet spot where we are on a slack or low tide before the winds come up. Today we pass the proposed location of the controversial Delta Tunnels or .mWater Fix project. Friend Tom Meagher taught us how to get in a fight down here, Tunnels vs. levees.
Clarksburg. Mile 43
​we think we smell the ocean.
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Full of rage we row up to old sacramento ready to storm the halls of power. Or maybe we just get ice cream.
Last night we Camped Portuguese bend, mile 88, a beautiful beach in the flight path of the Sacramento Airport. Circled around Fremont Weir and saw the cut being excavated that will allow fish to return to the river from the floodplain. Then out on to the Feather River, clear and fast compared to the Sac. We have moderate headwinds and little current, so our first real test. Tired but we make 28 miles.
Today rest and regroup in Sacramento, for the big push into the Delta. 60 more miles. Strong upstream winds in the forecast.
🚣🏽‍♀️ never thought I would actually use the rowing emoji

Not as hot today. USGS showing a release of 10,500 at Redding but only 4660 cfs is left in the river here. We camped last night on a very small mud flat on a small triangle of leftover “jungle” that did not fit within the agricultural grid.
Still amazingly quiet. Occasionally someone fishing from shore. Farms everywhere. The news from downriver is 20 mph winds in the delta.
the long expected suffering has begun. Suddenly nighttime mosquitos have appeared and I have like 100 on my ankles and elbow. No really. Some of them are really itchy.
​Knights Landing, Fremont Weir. 34 miles and 2 interviews!
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We pass Colusa, an approximate halfway point at noon today. Forecast says 101 today. Below Colusa the river changes completely. We are now contained within two symmetrical levees of cobble. Instantly the birds are gone, presumably because the fish don’t live here either. No habitat. The good news for us is there is still current. The better news is light and variable wind. we make 38 miles today. Hurrah! Tom and I take turn on the oars. We camp east of Arbuckle and The Sutter Buttes are now upstream of us. We continue down the center of California at the pace of a brisk walk.


​Our friends Rudy and Kenly left us today. We will miss the company and passion for spotting bird life.

​My dory has been unnamed for 15 years as I tried out various combinations of places I cared about. Buenaventura, good fortune, finally made its way to the bow.

In 1828 Jedediah Smith entered this region on a trapping and mapping expedition. He was following a major river that he called the Rio Buenaventura, a river that he expected would cross the Sierra Nevada to the Great salt lake and providing a transportation link to the east coast. He knew it existed because it was on the map.

Of course, this was the Sacramento. Smith found plenty of beaver, shot at any Grizzlies they saw, which usually didn’t work out well, and scared the daylights out of some Native Americans. But no mythical river highway.

The winds have been kind. 25 miles today. We will try to go longer tomorrow.

Otter today. Many eagles, heron, and pelicans.

At dusk, two young deer, male and female waded into the river on the far bank and proceeded to swim across the river right in front of our boats. They made it. Guessing the grass is very green over here.