A Sacramento River Cruise
Over Labor Day weekend, my wife Cate and our daughter Brooke and I cruised up the Sacramento River to the Sacramento Yacht Club and back. It was a wonderful four-day journey with fabulously sunny and warm weather.
Our yacht, Papillon, is a 2021 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440, 44-ft long, with a 7.5-ft keel draft and 62-ft air draft. The shallowest point was in the first mile of the Sacramento River, where our depthsounder briefly read 4 feet below the keel. River current averaged about 1.5 knots.
We left the City of Brisbane Marina on Friday and sailed across the Berkeley Circle and under the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. A following breeze on San Pablo Bay made for a pleasant run to the Carquinez bridge. The Benicia-Martinez railroad drawbridge was the first bridge where we needed to request an opening. From there, we transited Suisun Bay and were surprised to see hundreds of giant windmills on our port side, rotating slowly.
We pulled into the Delta Marina in Rio Vista at high tide, with sufficient depth at the entrance, and docked in a guest slip we’d reserved in advance. They use the Dockwa app for reservations, or you can call (707) 374-2315. Natalie and Monica are super-friendly and helpful. They introduced me to the Tides Near Me app, and their store had a USB-to-Lightning charger cord to replace the one we’d left at home!
The marina has a fuel dock, shorepower, fresh water, restrooms and an RV park. At the dock, we met Kevin Bacon, his wife Melodie and their daughter Savannah, who were also cruising aboard their 45-ft cabin cruiser Hunter. They took us on a tour of downtown Rio Vista, which is a sight to behold: a throwback to the 1950s. Dinner at Foster’s Bighorn Restaurant and Bar is a must. It doubles as a taxidermist’s museum, with about 75 different specimens. Get the burger made from ground bison, elk and beef.
