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Favorite local cruising destinations.

A

AlanH

compulsive typist
Dish. Where do you go to hang out and do nada for a 3 or 4 day weekend?

I hardly ever "cruise". Daysail? Sure. Race? You bet. But cruise?

I do remember, once a long time ago taking Joan on a sail up the Bay. We went into the Estuary and pooped around there for part of the day. Then we tied up at the docks at Jack London square. "Cruising" meant taking a room in the waterfront hotel, then taking Joan out for dinner. The next day we sailing home.

I had the H-Boat back then. There's not a lot of room in an H-Boat.

As an aside, our hotel room was two floors above the Hotel ballroom. Cal Berkeley ROTC was having their annual ball. It was fun seeing the guys all in uniform, with their girlfriends all dressed up, walking around the deck outside the ballroom, and hearing the music.


Where do y'all go?
 
Angel Island is pretty swell.
An oasis in the middle of a megalopolis.
History abounds all the way around and on top. From Civil War to Cold War.
There are walk in campgrounds and a B&B in a restored officer's quarters on the West side.
A cafe/gift shop, bike and Segway rentals, a tram, self guided tours and guided tours of the newly renovated immigration station.
You can walk or bike the roughly 5 mile perimeter road or hike trails to the top for an awesome view.
Once you moor bow and stern you don't have to worry about dragging anchor, chafe, or somebody swinging into you.
After the last ferry leaves, the raccoons and deer come down to the beach.

Clipper Cove can be nice.

China Camp is good.

Aquatic Park and the Hyde Street Pier is fun.

Horseshoe Cove is small but doable with a funky bar/yacht club and supposedly a 4 star restaurant within walking distance farther up from the water.

Any yacht club with dock space and a meal being served, will at the very least, usually let you dock and dine. Best to call first.
 
I've only ever spent the night anchored at Clipper Cove, China Camp, and Sausalito. Of that limited experience, only China Camp gives me a sensation approaching the "real" cruising I've done in less metropolitan areas of the world. The sunset over Mt. Tam is killer.
I suspect HMB, Drake's, and certainly the delta will fall into that category for me, too, when I get my ducks lined up to make them happen. Oh, and there's a pic in "Cruising Guide to San Francisco Bay" of a boat Bahamian-moored on the Petaluma River that makes me want to try that, too. Being dinghy-less, I have yet to stay in one place for longer than dinner+sleep+breakfast.
If it's a long weekend and time permits, I like to stop for a few hours at the Angel Island docks (bring $15 cash). Definitely a neat thing to be there after the last tourist ferry leaves and only the yachties remain to entertain Intermission's deer and raccoons (until sunset, technically). I haven't tried the moorings yet, though.
I also sometimes drop the hook off Paradise Park for a lunch stop, but haven't had the courage yet for an overnight. Lovely spot but strong current.

I may try Aquatic Cove next weekend. Seems bouncy and bright -- will I wake up with a Ghirardelli sunburn? -- but a new landfall beckons.
 
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Clipper Cove..it's on my way to many SSS races and I've spent many a night either anchored there or quietly tied up at the end of one of the docks. I've hiked all over Angel Island, even taught environmental studies on the Island, just never parked the boat there. Somehow, cruising into the center of the San Francisco waterfront doesn't do it for me, though I dearly love the Maritime Museum.

China Camp, though. Now, that's a thought.
 
Never been up the Napa River! Are there spots along the way to anchor, or do you sort have have to go all the way to the marina and turning basin?
 
Thats a question for someone else as I've only been up it once to work on Hecla the Hammerhead 54 trimaran and wasn't looking for somewhere to stop.
 
Oh, forgot about the moorings off Sausalito in the summer time during the monthly Friday night Jazz in the Park. Not to be missed! You could dinghy over afterwards to SYC for a night cap or get a slip for the night at Schoonmaker Marina and have dinner at my favorite French bistro, Le Garage. I also like to anchor in McCovey Cove when there's a good band playing at AT&T park or Clipper Cove for the Fourth of July. Each New Year's Day, the yacht clubs around Alameda host an Island Tour. That's only a day but could stay the night around there and then continue on to the South Bay before returning. If you decide to do a long weekend at Angle Island, the 8-mile hike to the top of the mountain there provides a spectacular view.
 
Agree on China Camp though it is basically an open roadstead and can get rough depending on wind and marine traffic. I was up there night before last and it was a bit rough when I anchored at 3PM. By 6PM it was calm and remained so throughout a restful night. Got rough again around 8AM as the ferry wakes made their way over. Secure holding in mud so no worries staying put.

Clipper Cove is my all time favorite In the Bay. Well protected and good holding. Yea the bridge and traffic are right there but I always feel like I am in my own little world. What I like about it is it's always flat as a board in there. If you are looking for quality sack time, this is your spot. The entrance is getting pretty shallow though. Have to be careful crossing the bar. I did pick up a submerged cable there a number of years ago when I went way in to the southwest. It must have been an abandoned something. It was about 4 inches in diameter and weighed a ton. I had to winch my CQR up and lift the cable off the hook with a jib halyard. Gad what a pain. Took me two hours to get out of there. I don't go in so far any more.

HMB, I always anchor out unless I need to buy some stuff. The anchorage reminds me of Clipper Cove, flat and comfie with good holding. And that fog horn... man. I love that fog horn. I have a recording of it but it's not the same. Apparently some new folks moved into HMB area and wanted the horn turned off. NOPE!! They were not successful.

Horsehoe Bay. Only been there once, one of the best nights ever, the night I got under the Gate coming back from Kauai. Small area but sure is a central location. Was pretty calm the time I was there but don't know much about the anchorage or even if it's kosher to anchor there. Cliff and Jackie who met me coming in seemed a little equivocal on this point. Cliff Shaw's comment was "well this is a port and we need refuge" so we are good. This is aspect of sailing which I really really love. Not only that but the holding was good.

Places I would like to try out

The small cove just south of Monterey, Stillwater cove. I hear there is a lot of Kelp though

Tomales Bay.

Many places on the Delta, there are some spectacular spots to explore.
 
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We need to get organized about this, now that I have a boat that's comfortable to sleep on.
 
I hereby propose a name change.

How does SSCS sound?

The Singlehanded Sailing and Cruising Society. I really like it. I am pretty sure we can get the membership to buy in.


Hahahahahahaha!
 
Stillwater cove is really pretty. As a kid, I raced on Mercury's out of Stillwater. There was a pier with a hoist on it. My skipper and about 8-10 other Mercs were on trailers, on the pier. Also, they laid a floating, thick polypro line about 150 feet long from two cement blocks sunk in shallow water in the cove. They'd replace the line at the beginning of April and pull it out in October. We'd tie up to loops in the line on saturday if we had races both days on a weekend.

The pier is still there, and so is the adjacent Pebble Beach Swim and Tennis Club.

There is a LOT of kelp, and the bottom is very rocky so anchor with care. It's pretty open to the south but a wonderful spot in the summer.
 
Before I got into grad school, I schmoozed a Cal Berkeley Professor who had projects at Bodega Marine Lab. I LOVED driving up there for long weekends, and getting out on the rocks to work on his project. I didn't get into Cal, but that experience convinced me that grad school in marine science was my "thing".

I have memories of sleeping in the back of my VW squareback to save the $10 a night that the small dormitory there, cost. I have memories of the foghorns there, too.

A cruise to Bodega Bay is sounding pretty good right now.
 
Now this sounds like the direction I am looking for. Lightspeed was always a hassle without a windless. Koke Honu’s anchor is only 4#. She has more space than you might think with the “top up” and tramp camping is fun if not real cold. I am in when possible and we can use Koke Honu as shuttle between boats if not rafted…
 
I just got back from a six day singlehanded cruise to celebrate having a few days off between jobs.
Santa Cruz -> Pillar Pt. -> Pier 39 -> Angel Island (2 nights) -> Pillar Pt. -> Santa Cruz.
I'd hoped to make it it to Drake's Bay but that didn't happen. Next time.
 
jyriv said:
I just got back from a six day singlehanded cruise to celebrate having a few days off between jobs.
Santa Cruz -> Pillar Pt. -> Pier 39 -> Angel Island (2 nights) -> Pillar Pt. -> Santa Cruz.
I'd hoped to make it it to Drake's Bay but that didn't happen. Next time.
Click to expand...

Nice! How was pier 39?

I've done Angel Island a couple times over the years. What I really like about it is, if you can get ashore, there is fantastic trekking on the Island. Also some spectacular views during the walk(s). The fore and aft mooring takes some practice which I clearly need more of given the theatrics during my last visit.
 
Speaking of the Petaluma River, I was up there a couple years ago on a power boat I used to own. We went all the way to the basin after the lift bridge. There are probably six or seven feet of water on the river (the middle of the river!!) at high tide but you would need to mind your timing. I think the downtown basin depth was reasonable throughout the cycle. There were several sailboats in there while we were there.

But, big but, you don't want to be trapped on the wrong side of the lift bridge on a falling tide. Some guy in a nice 30 something foot trawler missed the bridge and made the mistake of tying up to an old fixed wharf on the north side of the river. His intention was to overnight there and catch the bridge in the morning. Well, the tide went out and he landed in the mud. This would not have been a disaster but the river bed slopes fairly sharply down to the center of the channel. The trawler just slowly laid down slope as the tide went out. Despite a lot of effort in the part of various responders, there was just not enough time to get things sorted before the tide came in. The boat was almost completely flooded at high tide.
 
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