Also, I'd like to say that I'm sorry that I don't have most of the names down. If you want me to point out you or your ride in these pix, email me at SharkLover@gmail.com and I will get it all straightened out.
The "initial interest" thread for this event is Here.
The poll for where to eat at the end of this event is Here.
The official photo thread for this event is Here.
It was nice to meet a broader range of Porscephiles, and was fun despite the mishap partway through... I know, I know... easy for me to say...
Things started off well enough... I arrived at the gas station right about 9am and topped up my fuel tank. Then I went around the back of the gas station to where people were beginning to gather:
Take a last, long hard look at Jim's gorgeous 951 in the foreground... That's Ben facing away from the camera, at the door of his black 951.
Here are 2/3 of the attending Sharks... mine and Ron Halfhill's(Ron_H).
At last we are underway... I swiped one of Steve Burke's photos here, where my shark is visible in his mirror as we pass through downtown Saratoga. I think Serge gets credit for this great shot....
So we went on up highway 9, climbing up into the fog. Where 9 meets 35, which runs along the ridge of the San Francisco peninsula, there is a vista point where we regrouped. Nobody was driving fast enough to really get separated, so it didn't take long. That's Nicole's Shark behind the Bimmer.
It wasn't a great photo-op either, as there was a very heavy mist coming down, getting all over my camera. That's Steve(2tight)'s black 951 with Serge(Serge944) at the passenger door. I don't remember the name of the guy talking to Steve in this pic.
I made one lame attempt to get a shot while underway, as we set out northward on 35(AKA Skyline). Electronic autofocus is usually too dumb to know that it's not the dirty windshield you're interested in, and besides, I felt better with both hands on the wheel, so I put the camera away. There were spots along the ridge where the air cleared up some, offering spectacular views of tthe landscape wrapped in mist... too bad I couldn't take pics, it was gorgeous. Serge managed to get some nice pics on Skyline, where the fog broke... they are on the photo thread linked above.
The next regrouping point was at Skylonda, a crossroads that is usually a haven for all manner of road junkies, whether on two, three, or four wheels. On a nice-weather weekend one can easily encounter a hundred motorcycles here. There is a general store, gas station, and Alice's restaurant(Not the one made famous by Arlo Guthrie). Due to the weather, it was mostly deserted though. From right to left, that's Ben's 951, my 928, and after that I'm a little lost other than recognizing red-haired Nicole and her shark further to the left.
So of course I jumped out and started snapping pix... That's Brad Cameron's red 951 and Steve's black 951 again.
And more pix... Ron Halfhill's 86.5 928, Steve and Katrina's 968, and Danno's 951.
Now that's a SWEET 968... very nice color combination. It belongs to Steve & Katrina of San Francisco.
I never really looked closely at the headlights on a 968... interesting that they don't sit vertical like a 928, nor do they lay back as far when retracted. Well, I knew that last part, but I had never seen 968 headlights in use. It's not like you see these things every day... Maybe this is an aerodynamic compromise, or as Nicole suggested it may be intended to enhance pedestrian safety somehow. Either way, it's neat.
A few stragglers pulling into Skylonda... Chris(CR) is the guy in the silver 944 with twists, Then Tom Mc'Guinn(sp?) followed by Efren(cas951) then Dmitry.
And a few more. The red 944 was VERY fast... every time I thought I left him behind, I'd look, and there he was in front of me... and I never even saw him pass! Seriously, This is Efren then Dmitry again, then Joe(josephsc) and Jon(johnnybgood).
Now, we come to the "Incident". Of course everyone will have their own perspective, here's mine: I came around a left hander, and I saw the Jim's white 951 that I mentioned above, jammed up against the bank on the left bank, facing back the way we had come. I slowed enough to see that the driver was OK, and could see in my mirror that the Ben in his black 951 behind me had matched speed with me. As I rolled past, I could see there was no imminent danger, so I moved ahead to a turnout that was some 50 yards up the road and moved off the pavement. As I moved forward, I looked in the mirror and saw Dmitry rear-end Ben behind me. OUCH! These pix are in the order that I took them, and I'll try to make sense of it all in the text. At the time this pic was taken, I was moving back up the road to check on Jim... This is where Dmitry came to a stop, before he moved his car off the road.
At this point, Jim had moved his car off the bank, yet left it in the road... there was a horrible racket coming from the engine bay, and I think he did the right thing shutting it down; it must have sounded horrific from inside the car. From outside though it seemed to be an electric fan hitting something so I(along with others) urged Jim to ignore it for the moment and get off the road.
So, with the car off the pavement, and a couple of folks looking at it, we determined that there was no real risk in driving the car the 50 yards or so to the large turnout where the rest of the group was waiting. While Jim was collecting his marbles and giving the other damage a quick assessment, I took a snap of where the rear of the car stuffed into the bank...
And the front of the car, which seemed to take the brunt of the impact.
The bank itself was none the worse for wear.
Here is a quick look at the damage to Dmitry's car.
And Ben's car, that Dmitry performed a muffler-ectomy on...
Here is a shot of the turnout where we all gathered to assess the damage.
Here is a look at the front bumper on Jim's 951. He said he had just put a new bumper on a day or two before!
It turned out that the horrible noise with the engine running was in fact one of the electric fans. One yanked fuse later, and it was driveable.
Here is a better look at the damage to Dmitry's car. One gentleman pointed out that if he opened the hood, he might not be able to close it again.... and with his airbox very likely cracked, he decided to opt to go home instead of continuing on the drive.
I still had my toasted ignition green wire on hand, and I gave it to Ben to try to re-hang his muffler with. Beyond that, I was feeling a bit useless... and a bit hungry. Someone came back up the road to tell us that Danno had knocked a hole in his oil pan. This was slightly humerous, as we had been smelling a lot of oil smoke from his car and we had joked that some of the random oil we had seen on the road might have been from Danno's car. At that time, it dawned on many of us that the reason for the unusual slickness of the road must have been due to Danno's mishap. In the thread that I linked to above, there is a description from Danno of what his take on things was.
Now, not trying to be contrary here... but I never did see Danno's rock, though at one point I DID see some freshly crushed rock in the roadway. This was uphill from where the spinout occurred. As I think back, I'm pretty doggone sure that my shark began to behave strangely after this point, as if I was driving on a road with icy patches. Now, I know this road very well, and it has an excellent surface on it. I was damn sure there was no ice, so the slickness was very strange and very mystifying to me. Later, after I heard of the oil, it made perfect sense. Anyway, I set off down the road to see what became of the rest of our group. I was going very slowly and carefully; now that I knew there was oil on the wet road, I looked for it and could see it very clearly as I made my way down the hill. I was driving on eggshells; it still felt like I was driving on a somewhat icy road. I let some old guy in a Subaru Forester pass me... he gave me a "WTF" look; I imagine that's a novel situation for him. But, I knew about the oil(he didn't) and I wasn't taking any chances.
So, I met up with the rest of the group... I wanted a pic of Danno's oil pan, but the below pic was the best I could do without crawling in the mud.
I compromised by stealing the below pic from one of Danno's posts. Obviously, the car is up on the tow truck at this point, with the custom-ventilated oil pan visible.
So, Ron Halfhill offered Danno the use of some space to work on his car, and last I saw he was waiting for the tow truck with Danno. The rest of us made our way to Shakey's Pizza in Half Moon Bay(Those of us who thought the final choice was pizza; others continued on to Half Moon Bay Brewery). This is a view of the P-cars from the Pizzeria front door... Steve's 951(again), David(ibdavid)'s 993 C4S, and Chris(CR)'s 944.
And a quick snap of the sharks... That's my 78 at the top right, Nicole's 91 next to it, Brad's 951 in front of that, and yet another red 944/951/? Really, I don't get tired of these cars, no matter how many red ones there are...
it just makes it a bit tough to tell which car belongs to who, when you are introduced to a whole gang of them at once. 
And here is a pic of some of the group sitting down with our drinks to wait for the pizzas. That's Brad Cameron in the left foreground, Nicole on the right, Anders pouring beer, and I'll need help with the other names... After this, I was having too much fun talking with all the great people to remember to take pictures. It was really a good time for most of us... Sorry about the mishaps! BTDT, it really sucks.
After the two groups finished eating, we drove the few blocks to Joe's place for some more socializing. It was really great sitting and yakking with everyone... great sharing of adventures and mis-adventures! See you all on the next run!
Addendum: The next day, Sunday... I went and spent a little time talking to Danno and offering what little help I could before I had to run. Ron Halfhill very generously offered the use of some garage space... it's a bit cramped, but it's enough:
I helped Danno get the car on jackstands and pull off the intake... this is because the 951, in addition to having a cross brace in the way of removing the oil pan, also has an exhaust tube that runs from the passenger side, under the pan and up to the turbo which is just inboard of the driver side shock tower. The intake needs to be removed to access the flange near the turbo.
Another angle... You can just see the top of the turbo at the far right center of this pic.
Here, Danno is pointing to the initial point of impact, where the rock hit the swaybar.
The next point of impact was the crossmember... Fortunately the rack seems untouched.
After that it seems the oil pan came down onto the rock and caved in. Or the odd-shaped rock pushed up into the pan... same result.
Another angle
And another
Yet another
Update... here is a pic of "The Rock"...
So, Danno... I wish I could have been of more help... but it looks like things are well under control. Best of luck to you, and I hope it works out OK!