Re: SF Bay boating
*** CAUTION: A RABBIT RAMBLE FOLLLOWS ***<br /><br />Rickfifty if you are in Fremont you are really close to a free/public launch in Alameda. Take Hwy 880 north, exit 23rd Ave in Oakland. Cross back over the overpass and continue straight, over the 23rd Ave/Park St Bridge (its the green one). Down two lights and make a right at Clement Street. At the end of Clement, turn right
stop before you run into San Francisco Bay.
Free parking
when the lot is full, you can park along the street
but its rare. Grand Marina is across the street from the launch.<br /><br />From this point you will be launching into the Oakland/Alameda estuary. It is usually really calm. Once launcehed, DO NOT go south past the High St Bridge (its the small silver one just past the ugly brown one) unless you are familiar with the top secret channel around the southern Alameda point. Lots of boats get stuck in the mud there
I did once
<br /><br />Head north through the estuary, watch for 8-ft sailboats in the regatta that seems to always be happening in there. You can view than as either navigational irritants or moving targets
either way, note the large white ships with a diagonal orange strip across the estuary from you
those would be the US Coast Guard cutters
also note the large guns and missile launchers on the deck. Probably better not to view the little blow-boats as targets.<br /><br />You have about 4 miles thru the estuary before you dump into SF Bay. Enjoy it. Its a nice cruise past Jack London Square, etc. As you get closer to the bay, you will notice the chop increasing in the estuary. When you get close to the Oakland piers, you will have a pretty good idea of what the bay is going to be like. Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge (its the really big silver one) will be immediate at your bow about 1-1/2 miles out at a north-westerly heading. Turn left (west) and tool on over to the cove
as if you had a Portuguese Water Dog and the Giants were playing.
<br /><br />Two ways to get to Angel Island
go north (to your left) or go west (to your right) around T.I. The northerly route (toward Berkeley and Scott Petersons old fishing/wife dumping grounds) is usually calmer and a shorter route to Ayala Cove on the north side of Angel Island, across from the Tiburon Peninsula. Angel Is. is a great place to picnic and the cheapest parking lot in all the Bay Area
$2/day for a slip, $5/day for a mooring ball. The westerly route will take you past Alcatraz and around Pt. Knox and Pt. Stuart, thru Raccoon Strait to Angel Is.<br /><br />Oh, about Alcatraz
it is a park, no one owns it, although there are a bunch of Native Americans that will disagree with this, nonetheless, the pier on Alcatraz is a public pier. Any vessel can dock there to load and unload persons and supplies only. The Red & White ferries would like you to believe they own it, but the dont, the govt does. You can drop and/or pick up friends and family at the pier but you must immediate depart
but to where? There are no anchorages nearby.<br /><br />We usually go from Alameda to Angel Is. via the westerly route in the morning and returning by continuing to circumnavigate the island, returning from the north, after the chop has come up in the afternoon. If you decide to go this route, in the morning you will pass by the single largest piece of concrete in the world (literally, it is!), its known as Mile Island, the place where the two suspension spans of the Bay Bridge join. Try not to smack into it, but notice there is one of those green Potra-Pottas on it
why?<br /><br />Later, as you gain experience in the bay you will want to head north and into San Pablo Straits and on into the delta
to get lost and become a statistic or on the news or something
people go in the delta and never come out
<br /><br />Speaking of danger
it comes in two flavors in the S.F. Bay
Blue & Gold, and Red & White
the ferries. They are of the opinion the navigation rules were written for everyone except them. Stay clear of the ferries!!!<br /><br />Suggestion:<br /><br /> - 1) start in the Oakland/Alameda estuary
its close to you, its free, its easy, and its calm water. You can tool around and choose if you are comfortable with whatever conditions are going on in the bay.<br /><br /> - 2) Get yourself a copy of NOAA chart #18649
that would be the southern S.F. Bay (chart #18654 is the northern bay). You can see the sounding for all these places I mentioned
and see why I cautioned you to stay away from southern Alameda
depth=1ft or less. Hint: buying NOAA charts directly from NOAA (phone order or online) is often cheaper than local marinas, there is no shipping, no tax, all charts are sent rolled in a tube, priority mail, and just show up on your porch in a couple of days.<br /><br /> - 3) Give serious consideration to taking a boating class. They are from free to really cheap. They will cover the laws and rules of navigation
the stuff that didnt matter in the lake
it does in the bay!
