Alameda Yacht Harbor

Overnight Chartering

After a few day charters you might be ready for more

extensive cruising in The Bay. There are lots of harbors and

marinas where you take a boat to spend the night. Sailors

who enjoy camping out will like the economy of overnight

cruising in the smaller boats but the features of the larger

boats will make it more comfortable. Spinnaker offers a

special weekender rate for the period of Friday evening

through Sunday evening. The weekender cost is discounted

by 10% from the cost of chartering two weekend days. Friday

night is included at no extra charge. At other times, there's a

10% discount for two or more consecutive days and a 20%

discount for 5 or more consecutive days.

Places to go include anchorages, private yacht clubs, public

marinas and parks. The best anchorage in the Bay is

Clipper Cove, also known as Treasure Island Cove or Yerba

Buena Island Cove. Clipper Cove is the name given when

the Pan Am Clipper flying boats were based there. This is

the coolest place to anchor during heat waves. Be sure to

enter at the northern end of the mouth of the cove to avoid

the shoal that extends from Yerba Buena Island at the

entrance of the cove. Inside the cove, there's plenty of room

to swing at anchor adjacent to Treasure Island Marina. A

cool breeze blows right over the causeway that connects

Treasure Island to Yerba Island but the water is flat and very

well protected.

There are dozens of public marinas around the Bay. Some

are privately owned and some are municipal but almost all

accept boats for overnight stays. A few harbors belong to

private yacht clubs. These are only open to their members

and members of reciprocating private yacht clubs. The

California Boater's Guide to the Harbors & Marinas of the

San Francisco Bay, Delta, Outer Coast & Hawaii is a good

guide to harbors with facility descriptions, maps, phone

numbers and other useful information. There's a copy in the

Spinnaker office for reference.

Popular destinations include South Beach Harbor near Pac

Bell Park in San Francisco, Schoonmaker Point Marina in

Sausalito, and Bellena Isle Marina in Alameda. These and

many others have restaurants nearby and other fun things to

do.

There are also a few parks where boats are welcomeS

notably Angel Island State Park. This park has picnic areas,

nature areas and historical areas dating back beyond the

civil war. There are slips available in Ayala Cove, first come,

first served during the daytime. These slips must be vacated

at sunset. There are mooring buoys in the cove where boats

can stay overnight. There is a use fee for the slips and

mooring buoys. Be sure to arrive early on summer

weekends as the moorings tend to fill by midday on

Saturday.

There's quite a list of possible things to do. These include

harbors with restaurants in San Francisco, Sausalito,

Tiburon, Richmond, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland,

Alameda, and San Leandro. In Oakland at Jack London

Square there's Yoshi's for Jazz. Pac Bell Park is right at

South Beach Harbor in San Francisco. Sail to a Giants

game! During a multiple day charter it's possible to sail as

far as Vallejo or even into the California Delta.

If you have an idea and would some advise, talk to the staff

at Spinnaker Sailing. Talk to us even if you're only curious

about cruising.

Visit us at http://www.spinnakersailing.com

Bob has been head instructor at Spinnaker Sailing since 1984