secrethistory
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We Violated the One Cardinal Rule of Boats
We moved everything not nailed down out of the shantyboat, derattified, scrubbed, laundered, and hosed down every inch we could reach—including the bilges. Yes, we put water inside the boat on purpose. Dotty is now cleaner than she’s been in more than ten years… well, except for the places we can’t reach.
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Delta Films, Second Line, and Squirrel Gumbo
Once a week we gather at Secret History HQ for the Delta Film Series—a deep dive into the culture, history, and tangled realities of the Louisiana Delta. These films aren’t just movies; they’re waypoints on the journey ahead. This week, we enjoyed a doc about young musicians finding resilience and rhythm in the streets of…
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Props to Me
What did global capitalism bring me today? Something that gets us one step closer to the river. Over the years, we’ve left a few propellers behind—Sacramento River shallows, low driveways, maybe some questionable navigation choices. This time, we’re thinking ahead. No more scrambling for replacements in tiny marina shops. Now we’ve got a backup Mercury…
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Sistersville is a classic adorable small river town laid out parallel to the river.
The classic adorable small river town is laid out with its primary commercial district parallel to and a couple blocks up from the river. This also kept Main Street safe from periodic flooding. Historically, the blocks along the river were a busy neighborhood of warehouses, wharves, barges, oil derricks, shipping, drayage, coal and grain elevators,…
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Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who lives on a shantyboat
Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who a) does environmental education and cleanup, b) told us about the effects of post-industrialization and global climate change in PGH, and c) lives in a shantyboat. #interview #shantyboat #secrethistory #oralhistory
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Definitely one of those things that only a boat captain would care about, new hull numbers
Shantyboat paint! You know you’ve made the right decision when you are done and it looks like it should always have been this way. #shantyboat #diy #boatrepair Definitely one of those things that only a boat captain would care about, new hull numbers. Six years ago when I went to the department of motor vehicles…
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There is something strangely comforting about auto shops
There is something strangely comforting about hanging around an auto shop that comes of much practice with this project. Perhaps it is the comfort of knowing that whatever problems you may be experiencing, you are in mostly competent hands. #AutoShop #Shantyboat #SecretHistory #RoadRepairs
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Jeremiah painting under the boat.
Jeremiah painting under the boat. #secrethistory #shantyboat #boatrepair #hullpaint Jeremiah painting under the boat. #secrethistory #shantyboat #boatrepair #hullpaint
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Filthy filthy Jeremiah who has spent the entire day on his back underneath the boat sanding the hull.
Filthy filthy Jeremiah who has spent the entire day on his back underneath the boat sanding the hull. #ToxinsAreFun #BoatRepair #DIY #Shantyboat #SecretHistory
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Want to help? We will be at the Santa Cruz Harbor Boatyard all weekend and there are many jobs
Want to help? We will be at the Santa Cruz Harbor Boatyard all weekend and there are many jobs to do. Beer is available. If you just want to hangout though, another time is probably better. #boatrepair #shantyboat #secrethistory
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This weekend the shantyboat is in drydock to do some needed repairs. We put Dottie into the ocean for the
This weekend the shantyboat is in drydock to do some needed repairs. We put Dottie into the ocean for the first time in two years to bring it to the lift which pulled us out of the water. #shantyboat #secrethistory #harbor #drydock
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The Secret History Crisis Cam. Thanks for the fundraiser support that will enable us to capture moments of terror.
The Secret History Crisis Cam. Thanks for the fundraiser support that will enable us to capture moments of terror. #shantyboat #secrethistory #crisiscam
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Interview with Greg Pepping about San Lorenzo River
We interviewed Greg Pepping and talked about the community’s relationship with the San Lorenzo River as part of the Ebb & Flow Festival coming up on June 7th. #ebbandflow #sanlorenzoriver #secrethistory #interview
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Norwegian Shantytown located in Red Hook, Brooklyn
This is the Norwegian Shantytown located in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The tall building is the Gowanus Grain Terminal on Columbia Street.
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Interview with Janet Bennett at the Dutra Museum of Dredging
Interview with Janet Bennett at the Dutra Museum of Dredging in Rio Vista. Everything you ever wanted to know about dredging and more
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Interview with Daniela Sartori in Red Bluff about living on the river
Interview with Daniela Sartori in Red Bluff about living on the river, gentrification, education in rural communities, and the fear that your two-year old will be swept away by the Sacramento River
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Large wreck under stormy skies on Sevenmile Slough as we drive out of the delta towing the shantyboat
Large wreck under stormy skies on Sevenmile Slough as we drive out of the delta towing the shantyboat
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Playing cards on the Davis to Sacramento train
Playing cards on the Davis to Sacramento train. We had to drive from Sac to Davis to catch an unnecessary train because Amtrak wouldn’t sell us a bus ticket from Sac to Red Bluff without a train segment on our ticket. It was still cheaper and faster than Greyhound
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Adorable old houseboats anchored in Little Potato Slough
Adorable old houseboats anchored in Little Potato Slough
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Kim Korth talked about the history of Korth’s Pirate’s Lair Marina and growing up on the Delta
Kim Korth talked about the history of Korth’s Pirate’s Lair Marina and growing up on the Delta
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The Fraser Bros were the local butchers, and they would deliver meat to the various ranches
A delta shop boat. “The Fraser Bros were the local butchers, and they would deliver meat to the various ranches up and down the river, by way [of] this vessel.” Photo at the Rio Vista History Museum
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Old photos of shantyboats at Wood Island at the Rio Vista Museum
Old photos of shantyboats at Wood Island at the Rio Vista Museum
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Tim Anderson, boatbuilder, maker, and heirloom technologist at his DeltaFarm
Tim Anderson, boatbuilder, maker, and heirloom technologist at his DeltaFarm, an organic farm and DIY tech experiment along the San Joaquin River
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Campfire at Tim Anderson’s DeltaFarm at the confluence of the Mokelumne and San Joaquin Rivers
Campfire at Tim Anderson’s DeltaFarm at the confluence of the Mokelumne and San Joaquin Rivers
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Why is it that people who own big expensive yachts are loud as fuck?
Why is it that some people who own big expensive new yachts are loud as fuck and don’t seem to care who hears them whether it be a drunken 1am or a caffeinated 8am? To be clear they are friendly (to us at least) but also willing to shout questions at us from across the…
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The peaceful and rustic back channel behind Snug Harbor
The peaceful and rustic back channel behind Snug Harbor off Steamboat Slough where there are a few folks living year-round on houseboats
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One of a surprising number of visible wrecks in the Sacramento Delta
One of a surprising number of visible wrecks in the Sacramento Delta
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Interview with Russell Ooms about his sinuous journey to Locke
Interview with Russell Ooms about his sinuous journey to Locke, 70s hippies, skinny dipping in the Slough, woodworking, anarchy, Chinese and Dutch values, and neighborhood conflicts
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Interview with photographer, author, and historian James Motlow
Interview with photographer, author, and historian James Motlow about the traditionally Chinese community of Locke and his 45 year history there
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Talked to Can, a Vietnamese electronics designer, who owns Bob’s
Talked to Can, a Vietnamese electronics designer, who owns Bob’s who told me the bait shop grew out of his love for delta fishing
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Iva at Mei Wah taproom where we are chillin drunk AF on a Thursday evening
Iva at Mei Wah taproom where we are chillin drunk AF on a Thursday evening
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Lucious lucious pears on pancakes for shantyboat breakfast
Lucious lucious pears on pancakes for shantyboat breakfast
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The mostly girl crew of the Sea Scout vessel Compass Rose who gave us a tour of the 60+ foot formal Naval ship
The mostly girl crew of the Sea Scout vessel Compass Rose who gave us a tour of the 60+ foot formal Naval ship
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Interviewing Mark Miller at Railroad Cut Slough
Interviewing Mark Miller at Railroad Cut Slough behind Locke. We talked about old Sac and delta river culture, paddling, and restoring old windows
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Bank on Locke Slough upon which a whole community of Russians living in shanties
Bank on Locke Slough upon which a whole community of Russians living in shanties until the early 2000s
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Community garden in the historic little town of Locke
Community garden in the historic little town of Locke
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Mark Miller who has already helped us in a number of ways, meets us in Walnut Grove to repair a window or two
Mark Miller who has already helped us in a number of ways, meets us in Walnut Grove to repair a window or two
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Put a huge branch through a window trying to land in Courtland. Fuck Courtland and their lack of visitor docks
Put a huge branch through a window trying to land in Courtland. Fuck Courtland and their lack of visitor docks
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In Courtland, they tell us, they have an annual Pear Festival
In Courtland, they tell us, they have an annual Pear Festival
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Attempting to thread our way through the delta sloughs piloting and navigating
Attempting to thread our way through the delta sloughs piloting and navigating
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Night out in the sloughs, the network of labyrinthian waterways in the Delta
Night out in the sloughs, the network of labyrinthian waterways in the Delta
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Interview with Andrew McLeod, historian and tour guide
3rd interview of the morning with Andrew McLeod, historian and tour guide, who told me about Sacramento topography, land use, native and early settlement history, class and racial politics, collective organization, revolutionary conflicts, and the future of the city in the inevitable flooding to come
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Interview with Kathy Brunetti about her decades of experience working on agriculture and water quality issues
Interview with Kathy Brunetti. We talked about her decades of experience working on agriculture and water quality on the Sacramento River
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Interview with Nancy about her time living aboard a shantyboat on the Sacramento River
Interview with Nancy about her time living aboard a shantyboat on the Sacramento River
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Bar camping out for 25 years, currently along the American River serves as a mentor to younger folk and describes himself as an “honest hustler
Bar camping out for 25 years, currently along the American River serves as a mentor to younger folk and describes himself as an “honest hustler
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Maddy and friends show up on a scavenger hunt from the History Museum
Maddy and friends show up on a scavenger hunt from the History Museum
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Clyde searches for treasures that had washed out of the riverbanks
Clyde was motor about in a tiny boat with his girlfriend to beaches on the Sac and American Rivers finding treasures that had washed out of the riverbanks. Old bottles, coins and brass buttons
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The mysterious Party Yacht Wall on the American River
The mysterious Party Yacht Wall on the American River
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Fanny Ann’s Saloon in Old Town Sac, 5 stories of layered history and Californiana kitsch
Fanny Ann’s Saloon in Old Town Sac, 5 stories of layered history and Californiana kitsch
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Shantyboat encounters the cutest thing in the whole world
Shantyboat encounters the cutest thing in the whole world
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Interview with Keith Turley, owner of Stingrayz Bar & Marina along the banks of the Sacramento River in Knights Landing
Interview with Keith Turley, owner of Stingrayz Bar & Marina along the banks of the Sacramento River in Knights Landing
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Shantyboat in the big city or pretty damn close. Chillin at Swabbies where pirate paraphernalia dominates
Shantyboat in the big city or pretty damn close. Chillin at Swabbies where pirate paraphernalia dominates
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Down past the confluence with the Feather River approaching Sac, the river broadens out into the big river we are used to from our adventures on the Mississippi and Tennessee
Down past the confluence with the Feather River approaching Sac, the river broadens out into the big river we are used to from our adventures on the Mississippi and Tennessee
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Shantyboat on the wide Sacramento. Photo by Mike Garofalo
Shantyboat on the wide Sacramento. Photo by Mike Garofalo
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Benzy’s drawing of the shantyboat docked at Stingrayz in Knight’s Landing
Benzy’s drawing of the shantyboat docked at Stingrayz in Knight’s Landing
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Knight Landing Drawbridge under which we are docked that creaks and rumbles as cars pass all night long
Knight Landing Drawbridge under which we are docked that creaks and rumbles as cars pass all night long
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“And, it should be added, many of the shanty-boat types were rascals who could turn with complete ease to chicken stealing, to selling patent medicine, to being fourth-rate actors, or even pretending to be preachers if it appeared that’s fire-and-brimstone sermon might bring in a nice collection.” From Steamboats on the Mississippi
“And, it should be added, many of the shanty-boat types were rascals who could turn with complete ease to chicken stealing, to selling patent medicine, to being fourth-rate actors, or even pretending to be preachers if it appeared that’s fire-and-brimstone sermon might bring in a nice collection.” From Steamboats on the Mississippi
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Huge catfish dinner thanks to Benzy’s newly acquired mad fishing skills
Huge catfish dinner thanks to Benzy’s newly acquired mad fishing skills
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I’m getting the band back together. River hobos on the town
I’m getting the band back together. River hobos on the town
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The hot dry dusty town of Grimes reminds me of where I grew up with my grandparents
The hot dry dusty town of Grimes reminds me of where I grew up with my grandparents
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Hazel builds a little chuppah in the heat of the day
Hazel builds a little chuppah in the heat of the day
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Jeremiah spends the morning working a particularly tricky knot
Jeremiah spends the morning working a particularly tricky knot
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We love that people frequently bring us homegrown veggies. Who brought us the peck of pickled peppers?
We love that people frequently bring us homegrown veggies. Who brought us the peck of pickled peppers?
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Ships mate Jeremiah Daniels on his birthday, member of shantyboat crew on every expedition since 2014
Ships mate Jeremiah Daniels on his birthday, member of shantyboat crew on every expedition since 2014
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The continuing Surprising Things The Mouse Ate series
The continuing Surprising Things The Mouse Ate series
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Yeah, I guess our mouse visitor really wanted olive oil to go with their other snacks
Yeah, I guess our mouse visitor really wanted olive oil to go with their other snacks
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Won’t be sorry at all to see our leaky unreliable hand pump faucet go
Won’t be sorry at all to see our leaky unreliable hand pump faucet go
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@gooddoghazel watches the Secret History media cabinet
@gooddoghazel watches the Secret History media cabinet
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