SF Bay Rendevous

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Chuteman

Hey Gang,
I find Angel Island is a matter of timing later in the afternoon >4pm ........most of the lunch boats leave & the last ferry heads off, so there's plenty of picnic & dock space.

It even works on July 4th & labor day.......which was a big surprise to me..............moorings are a different story.........as Sat night is popular

Like C just questioned.....some of the alternatives offered require dinghies or raft ups (uugh)

Angel Island was that way when I sailed the Bay alot. twenty years ago. Lets get people and decide on a place after that.

[Gene :^)]

Clipper Cove looks nice. Does it really get crowded?

N37 48.9
W122 22.0

[Chuteman]

I would not bet my keel on those depths shown.........there's some hints floating around incl published in Lat38's annual cruise the bay article..........
Again the issue there is getting ashore...........unless something has changed since the last time I was in there & sailed by................but that was a while ago.

There's a youth sailing center there in the summer so maybe .......also a bunch of derelict boats awhile back with no one(CG, Navy,SFPD) taking jurisdiction.

[windsaloft]

Two downsides to Treasure Island --- there is shoaling at the mouth, so if you are without chartplotter, its worth getting the locals at the YC there to give you the skinny on the best part of the channel to enter. Also, I have been told that the bottom there is some of the ugliest and stickiest mud in the Bay......ah, but what is up for adventure.

Paradise is a nice place, hard to get ashore.

SUggestion --- let's decide if our goals is raft and visit aboard boats, or all go somewhere and have a shore adventure. If it is the latter, we'll probably need to focus on Sausalito moorings, Angel Island and rafting on the moorings, or guest slips. Again, new to the area, but we have been spending alternate weeks cruising around and have found that to be comfortable leaving a boat unattended at anchor in SF Bay, there are just very few places b/c of the currents (again, we are new).

A suggestion that accomodates drafts, etc --- Marina Bay Marina in Richmond has guest slips, deepwater channel at all tides, and really nice parks for pot lucks and nice, clean restrooms. They are also running a special that if you do one night guest slip, the second is free. This is the one locale, short of costing some $$, that might allow us all to rendesvous and deal with all of our different concerns.......

Thoughts? Marina Bay Yacht Harbor gives some info, and Steve, the Harbor Master, is a really nice, really helpful, really pro-boater kind of guy.

[Gene :^)]

Pier 39 has guest slips starting May 3. These will be on the west side (the side with the sea lions).

If you all meet there I'll see you on saturday. I work there on saturdays.

[Celestialsailor]

Bummer dates for me...SkiprJohn and I will be delivering my boat from SF Bay around the 3rd week in June. Wish I could be there.

[Charlie]

Celestial Sailor:

Too bad. This will be the second time I've been in close proximity to Skpr John and not met him . On the other hand let me know when you guys come into town and maybe we can meet for a drink.

Did you buy a windvane from a fellow named Pitney North? I bought a bunch of crusing stuff from him includingan EPIRB, Liferaft, scuba tanks, anchor. He said he was selling his windvane to some guy from Hawaii. Was that you?

Windsaloft:
I have two kids age 10 & 11 andthey will want to get off the boat. Pier 39, Richmond, or Southbeach Harbor, anywhere where they can get off the boat and run around would be better for me.

Gene:
If we can get a consensus Pier 39 would be fine with me.

[Celestialsailor]

Hey Charlie...I bought my very used Monitor in Hawaii. Private message me when you get a chance and I'll give you the details when John and I are on 'Faiaoahe'.

[Randyonr3]

I would re-think China Camp , I draw 8.5 and spend alot of time over there.. low tide is around 10 to 12 feet but the bottom is soft so even if you set in at low tide, the high tide will set you free.. and they have a pretty nice beach for a gathering..
you do have to anchor out about 100 yards off the shore and the further south you go twords the pier, the deeper it gets.
Pulled into Angle Island a couple weeks ago at low tide and got stuck before I could pick up a mooring.

[windsaloft]

Randy, I am glad (well not truly glad, but I feel validated!) about your angel Island experience ---- that happened to me a few weeks ago --- the tide was -0.7, we thought for sure it would be deep enough, and I bumped the bottom on the edge of the mooring field on the dock side. A handful of people have said that is not possible, but between the digital depth sounder and the unmistakeable feel of keel on mud, it DID happen!

I would really like to visit China Camp, and if you can do it well with your depth, I'd return to that being just a SUPRE place to anchor and go ashore --- def. a picnic place vs amenities, but if folks had dogs and kids and just wanted to let them have a good time, the shore locale is super. If we choose there, I'd love to have you give me some tips on getting there without grounding, etc --- you'd probably have to tell us all. But, with Randy's local knowledge and experience, it sounds like it could be done, and would be a really nlce place to meet and keep it informal, inexpensive, and without restrictive rules.

[Charlie]

China camp sounds like fun and with more than 8.5 feet of water well I'll have no problem. Should we set it up as China Camp? Perhaps I'll start a poll. I think that people can get to Chian Camp by road too if they don't want/can't take their boats.

[David M]

Hi Charlie,
Thanks for starting the thread. I thought I would throw in my $0.02

The way Angel Island works is you just have to find the will to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning and get over there before the slips and mooring buoys fill up. Our charming, enthusiastic and charismatic dispositions will make it worth your while. The nicer the predicted weather, the sooner the place fill up. Mooring and slip fees are reasonable and nothing more than beer money. There is also a ferry that goes to Angel Island from Tiburon...but THATS no fun!

Also, if all you own for a sailboat is a Laser, (like myself), then let others know in your post if you have extra room on board your boat. We promise we wont put anything down your head that we have not eaten first. We will also be on our best behavior ...(for a band of ill-mannered, drunken scallywags.)

The only other place I can think of would be to anchor on the leeward side of Angel Island at Hospital Cove or to anchor in that cove on the leeward side of Yerba Buena...although it is not nearly as pretty as Ayala Cove and the wind can blast through there at times. What you do get is a great view of our new, uncompleted until 2015, 8 billion dollar bridge!..whew! I think we did the Apollo missions for less and in less time.

Feel free to PM me and I can give you my phone number so we can talk if you have any questions.

David

[Randyonr3]

China Camp is accessable by car, nice picnic area, and the last time I was there I saw a small cafe but it was closed.. could be a seasonal thing.. It is a tidal area so at times the water runs through there at 2 to 3 knots from the Peteluma river.
But a weekend rarely pass that you dont see someone anchored off shore.
You are up in San Pablo bay so if there is any ship traffic, you might get a little roll out of it..
Even rowing to shore or back to the boat is easy.. if the tide is running the wrong way, we have stayed next to the short for a couple hundred yards and then head out to the boat and the current will see you home..
The beach at china camp is clean and is of small pebbles and a couple hundred yards long, we've never had a problem landing,
It is part of the parks and rec. depart so they take pretty good care of it. they have also turned one of the small buildings into a museum about the history of the area...... Its a nice place to visit, by car or boat..
Something odd, the last time we were there, when pulling up the anchor rode, it was covered with small (about 2 inches) shrimp.. they were hanging on with dear life.

[windsaloft]

China Camp SP

It is easy to drive to (we did it a few weeks ago) and as long as you don't want stores or restaurants ashore, it is a GREAT place to meet for picnics, hiking, etc.

Has my vote --- I'll get more local info to appease my deeper draft concerns. Randy?

[David M]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

China Camp is accessable by car, nice picnic area, and the last time I was there I saw a small cafe but it was closed.. could be a seasonal thing.. It is a tidal area so at times the water runs through there at 2 to 3 knots from the Peteluma river.
But a weekend rarely pass that you dont see someone anchored off shore.
You are up in San Pablo bay so if there is any ship traffic, you might get a little roll out of it..
Even rowing to shore or back to the boat is easy.. if the tide is running the wrong way, we have stayed next to the short for a couple hundred yards and then head out to the boat and the current will see you home..
The beach at china camp is clean and is of small pebbles and a couple hundred yards long, we've never had a problem landing,
It is part of the parks and rec. depart so they take pretty good care of it. they have also turned one of the small buildings into a museum about the history of the area...... Its a nice place to visit, by car or boat..
Something odd, the last time we were there, when pulling up the anchor rode, it was covered with small (about 2 inches) shrimp.. they were hanging on with dear life.

Those are grass shrimp. (Crangon franciscorum)