Memorial Weekend Cruise to Petaluma
The Fleet 9 Memorial Day Weekend (May 23-25) cruise is to Petaluma. This is always a fun place to visit and is one of the more popular cruising destinations in the area. This is also a long trip, 7 hours from Alameda. Getting to the mouth of the river should give us some sailing into northern San Pablo Bay. Once we get into the river the wind slows down and we usually end up motoring. This is quite a scenic river surrounded by wetlands and vineyards.
Migration is planning to leave Alameda at 8:00 AM on Saturday the 23rd to arrive in Petaluma around 3:00 PM. This will have us at Red Rock~ 10:30 and at marker #1 (N34.02.72 W122.25.60) of the Petaluma Channel ~ 12:00 PM. There is a flood in the morning that we should be able to ride most of the way up the river.
In case you are unable to meet up with us on the bay, here are instructions to get you from Petaluma Channel Marker #1 to the Turning Basin.
From Marker #1 it is important to keep in the channel as it narrows, as there is usually some cross current. Look aft to make sure you are aligned with your forward view to help keep you on the channel. You should see at least 14 feet in this part of the channel. If you see less than 10 slow down and turn to get back into the center of the channel. There is a 30 degree turn to port at marker #5 and 6, then slight turns again to port at #13, #15 and #17 to get you to up the mouth of the river. Once you pass #19 you are now in the river looking forward at the open RR Swing Bridge. This part if the trip from Marker #1 to the RR Bridge should be ~ 1 hour.
From here the river has been dredged and is deeper than the channel in San Pablo Bay. If you follow the channel markers and keep an eye on your depth gaugethere should be no issues with the depth. In the last 4 years we have gone twice a year and had no incidents with club members getting into shallow water. As a landmark about 1 hour past the RR bridge you will pass a marina on the right, I think it is Lakeville Marina. From there it is 1 more hour to the Petaluma Turning Basin. As you near Petaluma the Petaluma Municipal Marina will be on your right. Go past this marina, through the open RR swing bridge and under the HWY 101 fixed bridge. The river narrows at this point, but there is little current effect at this point, just stay towards the middle of the river.
This is usually where I call the D Street Bridge operatorto give him 10 to 15 minutes to get to the bridge and be ready for you when you get there. D Street is the only bridge that needs to be opened on this trip. Once you go through the D Street Bridge you are at our destination, the Petaluma Turning Basin. We usually side tie and raft out as needed.
Notes on the D Street Bridge.
This bridge needs 24 hours notice. I will notify himon Friday of our estimated arrival time on Saturday. If you think you will not arrive before 5:00 PM, call the operator to notify him of your late arrival as soon as you can. This is usually not a problem but he is supposed to go home at 5:00 PM. If there is a problem contacting the bridge tender call Chuck Herman's cell phone, I will have the bridge operator's cell phone #.
D Street Bridge 707-778-4489 or VHF 9
Chuck Herman 408-482-4683
The mooring fee will be $20.65 per night. There is a drop box for this at the Yacht Club.
There are minus tides early in the morning all 3 days, with highs late in the afternoon, so all portions of the trip on the river will be on rising tides. We will be going with the current on Saturday and against the current on Monday. The turning basin at Petaluma was dredged a few years ago, so there should be no problems once we get to Petaluma.
We will be communicating on channel 72, and monitoring 16.
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Special Notice:
Petaluma Yacht Club hasinvited us to their "Tropical Island" party that weekend. They have events planned from Friday to Sunday, but we would miss the Friday and Saturday daytime events.
The cost is $50 per adult (I will see if we can get a discount for the events that we will miss) and this is what you would get:
Saturday 7PM Tropical BBQ Dinner
Saturday 9PM Dancing, unknown if it is a band or DJ
Sunday 9 to 11AM Brunch
Sunday 2 to 5 PM Games
Sunday 5PM Winning team's "Beer Weigh-In"
This might be fun, but also could be crowded with all the other boats that will be there join in. We usually don't have a problem entertaining ourselves, and I am not pushing this as a club activity.
If you are interested in the Yacht Club Party, let me know.I need to give them a headcount by May 16 if we are going.
If we don't go to the yacht club we will plan to go out for dinner on Saturday and/or Sunday nights. There are many restaurants to choose from and we will pick one when we get there.
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Contact Chuck Herman if you plan to go on this cruise.