Tiburon Yacht Club Cruise to Napa Valley Yacht Club
Welcome to the Mustard Festival Cruise to Napa (March 14 to March 16)! WE ARE NOW SOLD OUT!!
What better way to celebrate California's agricultural and cultural bounty,
than a spring cruise to the Napa Valley Yacht Club? At almost the very end of the beautiful and windy Napa River, NVYC is a truly great cruising destination! Here is a land-based map showing the location, and here is the route by water. Here's a view of the NVYC itself:
A Word About the Cruise for First-timers
For those of you thinking about joining us on the cruise up to Napa for the first time, please don't worry about the shallow water or twisty river. Several of us who will be leading the group have been there many times - without going aground! The basic principle is this: stay in the channel and you'll be fine. With a little attention to the chart, depth and the tides you will be fine and you will be able to stay off the mud. In the old days (pre-2006) you had to give 72 hours notice to have the Imola bridge lifted. Those days are gone...there is a brand new high-span bridge in place with no such restrictions. They have also extensively widened the river basin upriver from the new bridge, so navigation there is no problem (there used to be some rather shallow spots in this part of the river, just S. of the YC.)
Here is some great guidance from Carolyn and John Mehaffy's terrific book "Cruising Guide to San Francisco Bay" on how to make the journey up to Napa:
"Immediately N. of the Vallejo Marina is the Mare Island Causeway Bridge. Bridge tenders monitor VHF channels 13 and 16, and they will also open the bridge if you give them one long and then one short blast from your horn. Plan on arriving at the bridge at some time other than peak traffic hours to avoid an excessively long wait. (Bridge tenders will not open this bridge between 6:30-8:30am or 3:45-4:45pm) Of all the bridge tenders we've encountered in this area, the Vallejo tender is unquestionably the friendliest and most willing to help.
"After you clear the mare Island Bridge, travel 0.6 mile to the Highway 37 bridge, a fixed bridge with a 100-foot vertical clearance. Past the highway bridge, the scenery changes dramatically, with few signs of civilization for the 12 miles from the bridge to the Napa Marina.
"The Napa River channel has at least 9.0 feet of water for the entire distance between Vallejo and Napa - if you stay in the channel. And therein lies the challenge. The water just outside the channel is often no more than 1 or 2 feet deep! While making this passage, keep the proper chart in hand at all times and your eyes on the channel markers. Local boaters warn that you should swing wide at Marker 7 because of shoaling. Looking at your chart, you will see that in some instances you'll not be able to go directly from one channel marker to another, but will have to make a curve to stay within the channel. As you transit the Napa River, watch your depth closely to keep from drifting (being set) out of the channel. When the depth begins to shallow significantly, slow down and re-find the channel again by slowly moving to port or starboard. (Editor's note: if you do touch bottom fear not..it-s mostly mud down there, at least in the flats around markers 4 - 9). Some good advice indeed!
Finally, here are some important links to the updated NOAA charts for San Pablo Bay and the Napa River.
Please come and join us on this fun cruise!
Cruise Up to Vallejo Thursday Night
Due to a rather unfavorable tide situation on Friday, March 14th, several of us (West Wind, Tigress, Blazer and Dancing Free) have decided to head up to Vallejo Thursday night, so that we can catch the better tide through the shallow stretch (between Mare Island and Brazos Bridges) on Friday morning. You are more than welcome to join us. We'll have details in the email! (I promise!)
The Main Event
In celebration of the mustard season, people come from all over to taste mustards from around the world and sip a few Napa Valley wines at The Marketplace ~ A Signature Event for Connoisseurs on Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16, 11am to 5pm at COPIA. COPIA is Julia Childs food museum, which hosts this event each year. COPIA is within walking distance from the Yacht Club so it will be easy access to the fun. Activities include fine arts and crafts presented by juried artists and artisans, and live performances of jazz, world, and classical music.
There is one catch .tickets for this event are at a premium so you may want to purchase them now. Look for updates in email and on the TYC Website about this cruise. Oh, and one more thing due to the fact that the festival is on the same date (March 15th) as TYCs St. Paddys Day party, we had to schedule both events. Sorry for that, and well no doubt miss seeing some of you.. .oh well!