Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Hi, I'm looking to take my 25'FK SR to the bay area for a little sailing over a week. What are the options for putting in?
I have a trailer with extended hitch pole for a deep ramp. My original plan was to put up in Stockton and take the river and delta down to the bay over the course of several days. Then a couple of days of the bay and then back to stockton. (May have been a little ambitious)
Looking to do this In January, unless the weather would prevent it. Otherwise I would have to wait until August.
There are quite a few municipal launch ramps around the Bay Area, and others that are privately maintained (but available to the public). Here are some resources:
I won't try to influence your choice of destination or cruising grounds, but if you spend most of your time motoring down or up the rivers you'd be missing out on so much. If you launch down closer to the Bay, instead of up in Stockton, you might enjoy a more balanced trip.
By the way, for cruising the Bay and Delta region with a FK you'll need to be very careful; we have a lot of "skinny water" and significant tides. People go aground a lot in the Delta region.
The other issue is your timing. As you know, in January we usually have too much wind (storms) or too little (time between storms). You'll be motoring a lot. In August, on the other hand, we get clear weather and that highly-reliable afternoon breeze every day. If you get here in January the Delta could be nice (between storms), but bring multiple fuel tanks. If you come in August, plan on spending more time down here on the Bay, and figure on some lively, world-class sailing - this ain't lake sailing!
The trouble with a destination - any destination, really - is that it interrupts The Journey.
Lee Panza SR/SK #2134 San Francisco Bay (Brisbane, CA)
You can't do much better than advice from Lee. I would draw your attention to the Berkeley Marina which offers ready access to bay sailing as well as visitor slips. Weather is everything and, as Lee says, it's very variable.
Tim Keating 1985 C-25 TR/FK #4940 Midsummer Lake Don Pedro, CA
Get back in touch when you're about ready to come up, and I'll arrange to meet up with you somewhere in the North or Central Bay to take pictures of you under sail. I take pix of our beer can racers during the summer; nothing "artful" but nice anyway. The fact is that we never get to see what our boats look like underway from beyond the lifelines without getting wet. Oh, and if you'll be sailing on the Bay in August, make sure you're prepared to tuck a reef in your main and either partially furl your headsail or you have a relatively small sail you can fly (my working jib is about a 95%, and I usually furl it partially when I'm beam-reaching up or down the Bay on Summer afternoons).
The trouble with a destination - any destination, really - is that it interrupts The Journey.
Lee Panza SR/SK #2134 San Francisco Bay (Brisbane, CA)
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.