Cruising the Bay for a Good Meal
The Bay is a fabulous place to sail, but unlike in many parts of the world, the idea of cruising or going for a day trip to a destination can be more challenging. It’s hard to find a guest dock, and also hard to find legal anchorages. When you do anchor, there aren’t many welcoming places to tie up a dinghy. However, the obstacles don’t make it impossible. We’ve tried to keep the Boat-In Dining page on our website updated, most often with the help of readers who let us know of changes.
Reader Tyler Backman, who sails his Wyliecat 30 Sylkye and his Sage 17 Goshawk, let us know of some more updates. He passed along that both Assemble Restaurant and Black Star Pirate BBQ in Richmond have closed permanently. The Black Star Pirate BBQ location has now been replaced by a new restaurant called Sailing Goat. He added, “However, I think it should be marked with a (!) for ‘watch your depth.’ The marina [where] it is located, Point San Pablo Harbor, is completely silted in and all vessels sit on exposed mud at low tide, so many sailboats can only go there briefly during really high tides.”
He also let us know that the famed Trident Restaurant on Bridgeway in Sausalito has closed. Part of the restaurant’s history is its former celebrity patrons, which included the Rolling Stones, Joan Baez, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin (and likely many more). Richardson Bay off Sausalito has been cleared of permanent anchor-outs, but it does still allow anchoring for up to 72 hours, making it a good destination for local cruisers or those passing through. You can see the designated anchoring area on the chart here.
San Francisco, Jack London Square in Oakland, Treasure Island and Redwood City continue to have good spots to dine not far from the shore. Finding good places to anchor or tie up can be a challenge in the Bay Area, but we still think the sailing and cruising are just as good as when Jack London was cruising these waters over 100 years ago.
If you have some suggestions or updates for our Boat-In Dining page, let us know here. Or share some of your favorite Bay Area cruising destinations (which may not be in the Bay) in our comments below.
If you’ve got a boat, why not do some exploring? If someone was passing through from the PacNW on their way to the Ha-Ha, where would you suggest they visit in the Bay Area?