Best anchorage on the Delta not too far from the Bay

Hi all, looking to explore the Delta a little bit this weekend or next. If I am coming from Alameda, what are some places to visit that aren't too far past Richmond? Maybe not more than 30 to 60 minutes past Richmond at 10 to 15 knots. Are there any nice anchorages? Restaurants with docking? Etc.

Looking for a destination outside of the Bay.

Thanks!
Mike

Your time frame past Richmond won't really get you into the "Delta". However, you can check out Vallejo Municipal Marina on Mare Island Strait (about two hours past Richmond, two restaurants) or better yet, in my opinion, Benicia (about two and a half hours past Richmond). You need more time!

I second the Benicia idea. Nice marina, easy 1-2 block walk to town, safe area.

I don't advise walking around Vallejo at night.

Def check out Benicia. Great place to spend a afternoon. Lots of good eats in a historic looking town. Great place Spend the night also.

The Vallejo Marina has no on-site staff on weekends, and the guest dock is closed on weekends.

Benicia is the best stop; Martinez is adequate. Both are close to stores and restaurants.

Non-marina facilities aren't close at Glen Cove.

Thanks everyone! We ended up tooling around the Bay and went outside the Gate just to get a sense as to how the boat felt on the swells in the deep water channel. It was our first trip beyond the Gate other than a few times we had guests on the boat and just went under and turned back. Baby steps. Marine forecast looks great this weekend for a run down to Half Moon Bay. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

But Benicia is now on the to do list! Thanks again.

MichaelB1969 said:

Thanks everyone! We ended up tooling around the Bay and went outside the Gate just to get a sense as to how the boat felt on the swells in the deep water channel. It was our first trip beyond the Gate other than a few times we had guests on the boat and just went under and turned back. Baby steps. Marine forecast looks great this weekend for a run down to Half Moon Bay. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

But Benicia is now on the to do list! Thanks again.

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Michael, were you coming back into the bay on Sunday around 1430-1445? I was passing across the GG from S to N toward Sausalito and a beige color S44 passed from port to stbd toward Raccoon Strait. Boat name on the port side of the transom but I couldn't read it. Wondered if it was you at the time...now I'm really wondering!

FlyWright said:

Michael, were you coming back into the bay on Sunday around 1430-1445? I was passing across the GG from S to N toward Sausalito and a beige color S44 passed from port to stbd toward Raccoon Strait. Boat name on the port side of the transom but I couldn't read it. Wondered if it was you at the time...now I'm really wondering!

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Ha ha, gray hull, but that had to be me. I think I saw you about 1/8 mile or so behind me off to my Starboard side. In fact, I remember speeding up a little bit so that I kept a comfortable distance between the two. I also remember looking back again after a few minutes and not seeing you off my starboard side anymore! Ironically when I was headed out of the estuary earlier in the day I saw a boat that looked a bit like yours and was checking to see if it was FlyWright on the transom! I was trying to match the boat I saw to your avatar, which is tough.

After I saw you I headed to Sam's but there wasn't any room at the docks. Then I went to anchor just off Angel Island and totally screwed that up. My wife was controlling the windlass with the remote up on the bow and suddenly the chain was pulling the rope into the Bay at about 100 mph. The remote wasn't doing anything. I told her to stay calm and eventually the rope came to a halt. I assume because the chain hit bottom and the weight of the chain was no longer pulling the rope down? I went to the bow and tried to pull the rope up but the windlass top was moving but the rope wasn't being pulled up. I really wasn't sure what was going on, but fortunately my intuition told me to grab the windlass handle, stick it in the top of the windlass and turn. This tightened the windlass drum or something and then the windlass worked. I am assuming that loosening that nut on top lets the rode free fall? I guess I need to read the manual. After that we ate a late lunch and then the two of us looked at each other after a while and said "are we further away from that boat now?". Nah. Then more time went by and we looked at each other and said "Are we further away from that boat now?" Yes. Definitely. I am pretty sure I didn't let out enough scope and we dragged and my assumption is that eventually the anchor probably wasn't even making contact with the sea floor because we drifted into deeper water. I think I need more practice anchoring!!!!

Anyway, I need to check out the photo of your boat (instead of the avatar) so I will recognize you next time!

Best,
Mike

Like this with my Achilles inverted on the bow.

FlyWright said:

Like this with my Achilles inverted on the bow.

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Pretty boat! And I like how the maroon canvas goes with the wood trim.

Thanks. Got a pic of your transom? You can always PM me if you prefer. The tell tale for FlyWright is her red windsock on the bow in lieu of a burgee. There are a couple other 34 LRCs in the area with burgundy canvas but no other wind socks (yet).

There were whales reported just west of Alcatraz on Sunday as we were approaching Sausalito for a 2-day stay. We were enjoying a calm, dry and peaceful cruise up to that point. We diverted over to that area to see if we could spot any whales from a distance. Once we got in the area, we got slammed by the waves and wind gusting to 30 kts.

What a difference a few miles makes!

Yup, anchoring is as much art form as it is science. Sounds like your clutch needed to be tightened as you found out. Scope is imperative to anchor holding. 3:1 is my bare minimum. It's a steep learning curve, isn't it?

FlyWright said:

Thanks. Got a pic of your transom? You can always PM me if you prefer. The tell tale for FlyWright is her red windsock on the bow in lieu of a burgee. There are a couple other 34 LRCs in the area with burgundy canvas but no other wind socks (yet).

There were whales reported just west of Alcatraz on Sunday as we were approaching Sausalito for a 2-day stay. We were enjoying a calm, dry and peaceful cruise up to that point. We diverted over to that area to see if we could spot any whales from a distance. Once we got in the area, we got slammed by the waves and wind gusting to 30 kts.

What a difference a few miles makes!

Yup, anchoring is as much art form as it is science. Sounds like your clutch needed to be tightened as you found out. Scope is imperative to anchor holding. 3:1 is my bare minimum. It's a steep learning curve, isn't it?

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Yeah, that area gets rough. Is that the area called The Slot? Yes steep learning curve, although if my scope wasn't so steep I wouldn't have dragged.

BTW, when we headed outside the Bay, just after passing the Gate, we saw a whale to our left.

I'll send a pic of the transom.

BTW, when we headed outside the Bay, just after passing the Gate, we saw a whale to our left.

Just my luck!

Second to the Golden Gate, Raccoon Strait has the deepest water (up to 140+ feet) in the San Francisco estuary. The ice-age river bed was there when seas were lower and one could walk to the Farallon "mountains."