CRUISING THE DELTA
TRS 1/7/20
DAN LARSON
This is a recap of the presentation by Dan Larson about
cruising the Delta.
The first discussion was about how to get to the San
Francisco bay from Santa Cruz. Dan feels
it is better to get an early start (about 7am) so you can get to Half Moon Bay
in the late afternoon. You can get a
mooring ball or anchor in the harbor there for the night. It is always good to check predict wind or
other weather web sites to make certain you will not be dealing with 35 knot
winds. Dan feels it is best to sail
within 3 miles of shore keeping in 150 to 180 feet of water which keeps you out
of the freighter channels that are further out. It is always good to keep an
eye out for crab trap buoys to avoid fouling your prop.
Approaching the bay through the Golden Gate Bridge, you
should round buoy #8 close to Fort Point (South end of bridge). Entering the channel further out can necessitate
dealing with freighters that, at times, can be nonstop. Cruising the San Francisco Bay in itself is a
pleasure with many places to visit, including South Beach Yacht club, Aquatic
cove and the many other yacht clubs all around the bay. This is another great benefit of being a
yacht club member: access to most of the yacht clubs in the area.
It is suggested that you have (and use) several of the
cruising guides for the San Francisco Bay and the delta. These guides tell you the places that can be
visited and more important the route you need to follow. There are many shallow areas that can be
hazardous for a keel sailboat, especially considering the large tidal
variation. It is always wise to keep an
eye looking aft to avoid the fast ferries that are all over the place in the
bay and Delta. Another nugget of
information you get from the Delta and Bay guides is the numbers or hailing
channel to hail the bridges that need to be opened for passage.
Dan emphasized that it is critical to be wary of the many
freighters that are passing to and from destinations up the river. As these freighters pass, there is a
tremendous surge of water that is caused by the passage of these freighters.
As Dan said, you can cruise the delta for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2
months or 2 years. There are that many
destinations and you do not need to deal with jet lag to get to your cruising
destination.
Thanks Dan for a
great presentation. Next week (1/14)
Dan will continue with a talk about canal cruising in Europe. I am looking forward to this presentation.
The following week (1/21), Mike Gross will put on a
presentation called “Race Committee 101”.
I would recommend this presentation for anyone interested in racing a
sailboat. You will find out what its
like to be on the race committee. Learn all of the sound signals, flags used
and actions that are allowed and not allowed by the race committee.
We will see you next week.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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