How To Expand the Navigable Waters of San Francisco Bay
If your boat draws four to seven feet or more, the navigable waters of the Bay are dramatically reduced. If your boat draws two inches to two feet, the area to explore is infinitely larger. A recent article in the New York Times highlighted six people who made the city better, including a gentleman named Rob Buchanan, whom they called “The Boat Rocker” because of all he’d done to help support waterfront access in New York Harbor. He’s helped develop community boathouses and is on the steering committee for the New York City Water Trail Association. A San Francisco Bay water trail was started for local small-boat sailors but is languishing. That doesn’t mean small-boat cruising stops.
The story reminded us of Max Ebb’s “Roll Your Own Water Trail” story in December, lamenting the current hibernation of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. This admirable project is meant to create more equitable access to the Bay while allowing more people to discover and protect the natural wonders of San Francisco’s magnificent estuary. People tend to protect what they know. As recreational access to the Bay gets limited by development, it reduces the number of people who get onto it or into it, and therefore want to care for it.
Despite the barriers, there is a very active small-boat community of sailors and paddlers who, as Max suggests, “roll their own” Bay tours, overcoming the hurdles along the way. These small-boat sailors and paddlers have far more Bay to discover than the average keelboat. Youth, Sea Scouts and community sailing programs continue introducing people to sailing, paddling, kayaking, rowing and even Bay swimming at the Dolphin Club and South End Rowing Club. At the same time, many other organizations work hard to preserve their shoreside footprints so they can introduce future Bay stewards to protect and enjoy our local waters.
It’s the people who are closest to the water who feel most inclined to protect it. That would include swimmers, kiters, boardsailors and small-boat sailors such as the very active Potter Yachters. We have a great memory of standing on the stern platform of a powerboat at the finish of the RCP Tiburon Mile swim from Ayala Cove to the CYC beach near Sam’s. As one of the very last finishers struggled with his last strokes past us to the beach, he looked up, saying, “This is stupid. This is what you do if you don’t have a boat.” We almost fell off the “yacht” laughing. Regardless of his opinion, we think getting into or onto the Bay with or without a boat is worth doing. In this era of promoting the health benefits of a “cold plunge,” diving in will surely become more popular.
Keelboats offer comfort and spectacular Bay sailing, but exploring the Bay and Delta in small boats greatly expands the possibilities and can be done with or without an official water trail. We hope the water trail continues to be developed so more kids can discover what their grandparents enjoyed. Either way, we love to see the adventures swimmers, paddlers and small-boat sailors have on the Bay. It doesn’t take a big boat to have a big adventure.
Read the New York Times story here.