Where to go Saturday Night, July 31

[admin]

For the convenience of the fleet, I've compiled a list of marinas where you may want to stay on the night of our start. I can give some of these my personal recommendation; others I've never been to, at least by sea. All opinions expressed are mine, not Latitude 38's. I've listed them in geographical order.

Loch Lomond Marina. (415) 454-7228. http://www.lochlomondmarina.com
Not far from our start, but if you have a problem or forgot something at the store you can bail out here and take care of it.

Vallejo Municipal Marina. (707) 648-4370. http://www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/GovSite/default.asp?serviceID1=218
Easy walk to restaurants and Vallejo Ferry. Better showers than Benicia Marina. A short way up the Napa River (Mare Island Strait) from Carquinez Strait.

Vallejo YC. (707) 643-1254. http://www.vyc.org/information/visiting-yachts-guests
Next door to (south of) the Vallejo Municipal Marina. They welcome reciprocal yacht club members for a free 24-hour stay. 

Glen Cove Marina. (707) 552-3236. http://www.glencovemarina.net
On the Carquinez Strait between Vallejo and Benicia. A Doo Dah sponsor.

Benicia Marina. (707) 745-2628. http://beniciamarina.net
Our least favorite showers, but easy walk to cute downtown and convenient stop for fuel, ice, etc. Pay close attention to depth on either side of the entrance.

Martinez Marina. (925) 313-0942. http://www.martinez-marina.com
Across the Strait from Benicia. Walk to cute downtown and nice Amtrak station. Ask about depth.

Pittsburg Marina. (925) 439-4958. http://www.pittsburgmarina.com
Our host for Sunday night. You can arrive a day early and stay put (but call and check with them first). Home of Delta Discovery Cruises, which has a Murder Mystery Sunset Dinner Cruise with a Pirate/Caribbean theme on Saturday night for $49/person. Call (925) 252-9300 for reservations. http://www.deltadiscoverycruises.com

Antioch Marina. (925) 779-6957. http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CitySvcs/Marina
Past Pittsburg, but not too far. Walking distance to Amtrak. We like walking downtown and along the river, but unlike Martinez and Benicia, we don’t recommend straying from the marina after dark alone. You’ll need to backtrack to get to Pittsburg on Sunday.

Another option is to anchor off China Camp in San Rafael. LaDonna can tell you more about this as she has done it many times! Do you have any other favorite anchorages or marinas I may have missed?

Christine Weaver, Doodette
Stink Eye, Laser 28

[erikdj]

We've anchored in China Camp several times, most recently during the 4th of July holiday weekend.  It's a very comfortable anchorage with a lot of space from McNear's Beach all the way down to Ratt Rock at depths of between 20 and 10 feet MLLW.  Holding is good in thick goopy mud and clay.  There's very little rolling and wave action even when it's blowing a stink in the Bay.  Currents tend to run strong with the ebb and flood, so I usually double anchor just to minimize swing and add some extra holding.  It's quiet, you can dingy to some nice beaches and tends to be a popular spot with boaters.  I recommend it.

[Brian F]

I'd be curious where 'most' people will be staying that night.  I'm planning on Benicia myself (I'm calling them soon to reserve as they are very popular this time of year)-it's a good distance and resting point.  (I was going to go to Pittsburg, but I don't think it's a great place to hang out for the day waiting for the Sunday night fun.)

As far as China Camp goes, I've anchored there many times, but it's not very far from the start.  It's a good place to go, except when the wind and tide are going opposite directions.  I've had my anchor line wrap around my keel twice, once I had to cut the anchor free. 

Brian Forster
NO AGENDA
Newport 30

[erikdj]

We decided to stay in Benicia.  We've already called and made our reservation with them. 

Agree with the sentiment that staying in China Camp is a very short hop, making the hop over to Pittsburg that much farther the next day..

E

[iliohale]

I know that Odyssey and us have a reservation for Saturday night in Pittsburg.

[toqer]

I've stayed at glen cove.  Very nice staff/facilities but there isn't a lot of close options for resupplying (ice/drinks/whatever) Recently dredged from what I hear though.

[admin]

Glen Cove is scheduled for dredging in August, beginning Aug. 2 at last word. Which doesn't mean you can't go there. I think they'd be happy to have a few of our fleet show up. I do recommend calling and making a reservation, and let them know the draft of your boat.

Jonathan and I have tentatively agreed to go all the way to Pittsburg the first day (but haven't made a reservation yet). That way, we can take a walk into Old Town Pittsburg to see what that's like. Never been there, but I'll let you know. Then we can be there to greet the majority of the boats coming in Sunday afternoon.

Remember if you are going to Pittsburg the first night that Delta Discovery Cruises has a Murder Mystery Dinner cruise for $49. Sounds like fun! Don't know what time they depart from Pittsburg Marina, but you can get more details at (925) 252-9300.

Christine Weaver, Doodette
Stink Eye, Laser 28

[admin]

Jonathan and I have made a reservation at Pittsburg Marina for the night of July 31.

[scwideman]

Rich and I are also going into Benicia on the way up and on the way back.  We have reservations on both ends.   We have to check the tides for Saturday to see when we can come into Benicia Harbor.  We draw 7 1/2 feet.  I can see that there are two boats so far coming into Benicia for Saturday.  We will look for your D cubed Burgees.

Rich and Shawn Wideman
Bumpy C&C 40

[firebolt]

We just made a reservation for Benicia too.

Mike, Jen, Nathaniel (7) and Jack (6) on Firebolt, a Laser 28.

[bobwalden]

Hi;

We wanted to go into Benicia this Saturday but they're full. Made reservations at Martinez instead. Is anyone else going to Martinez? Or will there be a big gathering in Benicia? If the latter, will it be OK to come in there and raft up with someone at the guest dock?

Bob Walden/Lori Tewksbury
Cal 39-2 "Sea Star"

[scwideman]

Bob, from what I understand, there is a cruise in at Benicia from Coyote Point YC and they are taking over both guest docks and the fuel dock.  Maybe if you call on Saturday there will be a cancellation or they might be able to squeeze you in at that time.  Water depth is an issue for us so they are putting us on "C" dock in a deep water (8 ft MLLW) slip so we won't go aground at low tide.  We will be there around 2:00ish.  Maybe some of the other DDDD cruisers are on a side tie. 

Shawn and Rich Wideman
Bumpy - C&C 40

[LaDonna]

We'll be anchoring out at New York Slough, most likely. But be aware that the plant across the river sounds some kind of alarms at night that kept waking up some of the more delicate flowers in our group. ;-)

[admin]

For those of you going to Benicia on Saturday, here's a caution from Ebenezer II, who was there last night:

BTW shoaling just inside the breakwater entrance to Benicia Marina has reduced depth at low water to 4 ft., due to "sand bar" according to the Harbor Master's office.

I draw 5'3" and we were unable to depart the breakwater at 0900 today because we ran out of water before we left the breakwater.  Low water was at 1030, so we turned back and waited; we pushed through at 1130, and sailed wing on wing in 20 Kts W all the way to Pittsburgh.