#4: [08-Oct-06]

#3: [29-Jul-04]

#1: [17-Jun-01]

03-Sep-2001 -- This confluence is in the middle of Lake Tahoe and is the point where the state line between California and Nevada turns from being directly north-south to running more towards the southeast.

My wife, Cindy and our kids, Helen and Paul, sailed to the confluence aboard a sailboat owned and captained by our good friend Cecilia Larson. Cecilia is an avid sailor, but doesn't know a lot about GPS, but when she heard about the Degree Confluence Project, she was exicted by the idea and wanted very much to help us visit the confluence.

We left Sugar Pine Point State Park on the west shore of Lake Tahoe about 11:30. The GPS showed that it was about 6.3 miles to the confluence. We arrived at the confluence a few minutes before 1:00pm. I took a picture of the GPS showing a reading of about a tenth of a minute of angle away from the exact confluence on one axis and a little less than a tenth of a minute away on the other. I would have taken a few more at the exact confluence, but a sailboat isn't the perfect vehicle for saying "OK, hold it right there, back just a little, there, that's it, no just a little to the right..."

As you can see from the pictures, it was a splendid day on Lake Tahoe, Light winds made for easy sailing and the sky was clear save for a few high, thin clouds. The smoke from a large wildland fire nearby was not in evidence.

We were all thrilled to have found the confluence of 39 degrees north, 120 degrees west. It's a beautiful location and made for a fine outing on Tahoe.

Pete Bansen

In the middle of Lake Tahoe, about 2 mi from the eastern shore.