How Low Can You Go? Very, Says San Rafael
We don’t want to make too big of a deal about the completely normal seasonal tides ebbing and flowing into and out of our winter lives. But as we walk our beat through San Rafael, the bottom of the ebb is pretty dramatic-looking on a waterway that was only partially dredged in 2011, and hasn’t been fully dredged since 2002.
The Canal’s problems are exemplified at its bitter end, near Terrapin Crossing and Montecito Plaza, where the super-low tides pull nearly all the water off the mud.
We’ll have the ‘latest’ on the efforts to get the San Rafael Canal dredged in the February issue’s Sightings. Spoiler alert: There’s no real news to report, other than the continued efforts of concerned citizens — such as Nadine Urciuoli, the CEO of the newly-formed San Rafael Channel Association and general manager of Helmut’s Marine — to lobby the federal government to allocate the funds to dig the darn Canal.
Is your local waterway in need of a dredge? Please let us know by commenting below, or emailing us here.
As a child I lived in San Rafael and spent lots of time enjoying the “canal” waters. So many people and boats did the same… It was an awesome water playground for people with boats to enjoy life. Too bad it is not even close to that now. With the money it seems counties spend on so many other silly things, it would be great to see the Canal area come back for families of boaters to enjoy again with some regular dredging.