Rediscovering Cruising San Francisco Bay on Mother’s Day
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. We ran into our friend Kevin Moore and his family on the docks at the Corinthian Yacht Club on Mother’s Day weekend. At his wife Tori’s request, “Our tradition for Mother’s Day is for me to pick a surprise destination within three hours and plan a weekend getaway,” Kevin explained. “The key is it has to be someplace we’ve never been before. The pandemic posed a real challenge, but taking the boat was a great solution. We spent one night at the dock at the Corinthian YC [they’re members] and one on the hook in Paradise Cove.”
The Moores are partners in the Catalina 270 Blue Ribbon II, which they keep at Pier 39. The Catalina 270 was an upgrade from their prior boat, the Catalina 27 Blue Ribbon. Kevin and crew have actively raced both boats in the Corinthian Friday night beer can series despite sailing the long delivery every Friday from Pier 39 to Tiburon and back. So heading across the Bay to Corinthian was not at all unusual. They’d done it many, many times before, but not as a cruising destination.
The trip did entail some real-life adventures — they had to sail onto the guest dock at CYC on Sunday because the engine wouldn’t start. Kevin said, “It felt like old times,” since, even with the newer boat, they had some age-old issues.
After the trip, Kevin said, “I’m inspired to plan a longer getaway somewhere up toward the Delta. I wonder if you know of any not-too-far-upriver anchorages, Or, someplace I could look up that info,” (Check out all the story links from the Delta Doo Dah.) We’ll throw that out to our readers: What do you think? Benicia? Other ideas? This summer is a good one to stick around for a sailing staycation on San Francisco Bay. The nice thing is you can ‘shelter in place’ but your ‘place’ can move around. Where are you thinking of going, and what would you recommend? Drop your thoughts into the comments section below.
With kids in a 27-foot boat I’d consider Benecia or Vallejo or Martinez. When businesses are open, Benecia and Martinez provide easy walks to restaurants. A 3-day cruise might be to the Vallejo YC day 1. On day 2 down the Mare Island Strait and up into the lower end of Suisun Bay under all those bridges, a look up into the valley, and then back to Benecia in time for dinner – perhaps at the BYC if they’re serving. Day 3 an early start back down to SF. The hard part is day 3, so plan that day with an ebb on the way back.