[Fleet9] Fleet 9 - Memorial Day Weekend - Cruise to Petaluma

Wed May 13 22:12:00 PDT 2009

Memorial Day 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
gauge there 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 operator to 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 him on 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 has invited 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. 

chas_herman at yahoo.com

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