Launch Ramps in Sausalito/Tiburon

[Alan H]

Planning ahead, here...

Who can tell me the situation with public launch ramps with some sort of provision for parking in the Sausalito/Tiburon area? I will need to put a 15 foot small row/sail boat in the water there and leave the trailer/truck for about 4 days, in June. It actually wouldn't HAVE to be a ramp. I could make a ballooney-tired sand-beach-buggy thingamabob and launch from the beach at Schoonmaker, as long as there was a place to leave my truck and small trailer for that length of time. ----- or something like that.

Night #1 of this Epic Voyage will be spent on the hook in Horseshoe Cove, so really the launch needs to be fairly nearby.

[Wylieguy]

Alan, Afraid not very good news. I know of no public launch ramp in the Tiburon/Belvedere area. Sausalito has a public launch ramp, but there is absolutely no parking that I know of. As you say, you could drag the boat into the water at Schoonmaker, but I don't know of any parking there or nearby.

The Clipper YH launch ramp is closed except for boats stored there. But you might call them and ask. They'd charge for parking your vehicle/trailer in their lot, but for doing that they might let you launch. I seriously doubt it, though.

Have you tried the Presidio Yacht Club? They have a marine railway - don't know that it's working, but it is a ramp to the water. Parking might be possible?

Other than that, the nearest ramp/parking I know of in Marin Co. is Loch Lomond - and that's a long ways from the GG. -- Pat

[BobJ]

How well does Vingilothiel tow? You might check with your sailing friends about alternatives . . .

[K38Bob]

Alan, Afraid not very good news. I know of no public launch ramp in the Tiburon/Belvedere area. Sausalito has a public launch ramp, but there is absolutely no parking that I know of. As you say, you could drag the boat into the water at Schoonmaker, but I don't know of any parking there or nearby.

The Clipper YH launch ramp is closed except for boats stored there. But you might call them and ask. They'd charge for parking your vehicle/trailer in their lot, but for doing that they might let you launch. I seriously doubt it, though.

Have you tried the Presidio Yacht Club? They have a marine railway - don't know that it's working, but it is a ramp to the water. Parking might be possible?

Other than that, the nearest ramp/parking I know of in Marin Co. is Loch Lomond - and that's a long ways from the GG. -- Pat

What Pat said http://www.boatingsf.com/listing/sausalito-public-ramp

[Alan H]

This is what I was afraid of. It seems like the best option might be to use the kayak put-in actually in Horseshoe Cove by the Coast Guard station. Load up the boat with gear and hope that nobody steals it. Then drive the truck and trailer to someplace where I can park it... and then put on walking shoes and walk back, or catch the bus. It's not ideal but it's doable. I'd walk 2-3 miles if I had to.

Bob, Vingilothiel tows great. My 4-cylinder S-10 doesn't even know she's there.

[Alan H]

Paradise Beach County Park may be the only other option.

Pat, I've tried the Presidio YC / Travis Sailing Center in the past and they've been remarkably unhelpful. Word is that you can't park overnight in Fort Baker. Launching there is no problem, there's a kind of horrible launch ramp, but I'll find a way. For day trips, it's great. For leaving the truck and trailer there for 4 days...nope.

[BobJ]

I meant behind another boat. Launch at Marina Bay's ramp in Richmond or if you have the lifting gear, the hoist at your new digs, row around to RYC and stick out yer thumb. Somebody might just tow you across to Yellow Bluff or thereabouts. What's the date?

[Wylieguy]

Alan, What are your plans? Maybe I missed something. What are the dates? Where do you keep the boat? I might possibly be able to help. -- Pat

[Alan H]

Bob and Pat....boat is 15 feet long, epoxy-plywood, weighs about 90, maybe 100 pounds. Boat lives in my front yard on a trailer.

Now you guys have got me thinking. I usually have a tonneau cover on the bed of my truck. However, if I take it off and put on the rack, the boat **Might** fit on the rack, or I can cobble something together. I know a bunch of young, strong guys who can help me get it up there. I pile all the gear in the truck bed and go.

Launch at Schoonmaker point, using the hoist. Yes, there's a hoist at Schoonmaker, it's just that there isn't much room around the hoist. However, a 100-pound plywood skerry is not going to be a problem. Drop the boat in the water, throw the gear into it, then go park the truck. I'm sure I can find SOMEWHERE in Sausalito to park the truck for a few days. Truck + trailer is conspicuous. Just truck, not so bad.


Launch day would be Friday June 17th, probably around 7:00 PM. I row/sail around to Fort Baker and Horseshoe Cove that evening, drop the hook, have some dinner, set up the sleeping bag on the sleeping platform and set my alarm for 5:00 AM.

Saturday, June 18th, low tide is 6:00 AM. ugh. I want to be outside the cove, rowing for Vallejo or Benicia not too much later than that. I figure the wind will come up around 10:30 - 11:00, so I'll start sailing after just 4 or 4 1/2 hours of rowing, taking it easy....which is a bluidy lot of rowing, but there you go. The boat will easily sail at 3 1/2 knots in a decent wind, a long afternoon of that will easily get me from, say Paradise Cay to the mouth of the river.

Sunday June 19th, up around 6:00 AM, catch the flood, get going and head for Bethel Island. I'm not sure which way I'll go. If I go around the north edge of Big Break and in that way, there's a bridge I'll have to drop the mast to get under as I approach the marinas on Bethel Island. If I stay in the San Joaquin River and turn off into False River then I don't have to drop the stick but then I'm in The Big River in probably A Lot Of Wind and Chop for longer. So Heck if I know.

Monday June 20th I sleep in a bit and wind my way through some sloughs and back to the San Joaquin sort of up by Tinsley Island , and row/sail down to Stockton. Hopefully, this not being a weekend day, it will be pretty mellow. I'm guessing that I'll be rowing a lot. --Spend the night on the boat in Stockton.

Tuesday morning June 21st, Mrs. Alan drives up, picks me up and takes me back to Sausalito, where I pick up the truck, take it to Stockton, load the boat and head for home.

I was going to do this last year, but I wasn't *really* ready and I kept trying to change the schedule to make it work with two other guys who wanted to do bits and pieces of it and I just got mad and said f**k it. This time the boat really is ready and I'm just doing what I want and if anybody else happens to want to come along, well, fine. But this is MY trip and I'm doing it how *I* want to do it.

[Wylieguy]

Alan - check your personal email. Pat

[#13]

Hey Alan, here's a suggestion for you (it's my technique for the trailer drop day before the ditch run): re-route your voyage to begin in Richmond (or in Oakland / Alameda). Drop the boat in the water, put the gear in, and then drive the truck and trailer to Stockton Sailing Club. Check the Amtrak schedule, the train heading to the bay area used to leave at 2pm. Take the train from Stockton back to either Richmond or Oakland (if heading further afield and you need Bart, Richmond- the systems share the same station). This way your truck and trailer are waiting for you at the end of the voyage, you've had a great train ride (once past the farms you run along the water most of the way, best viewed on the upper deck bar car), and a slightly easier voyage.
Just a thought.
Steve R.

[Alan H]

I want to sail from under the Golden Gate Bridge to Stockton. For two years I've had people saying Ooooh, you can't do that without the tides being this way, or that way. I've had guys telling me they'll come along, but only if they start in...Richmond, or whatever. That's fine.

But I want to sail from under the Golden Gate Bridge to Stockton. Fortunately a couple of sailing friends have come up with a way that I can launch in Sausalito, and I think it's gonna work. I'm jazzed.

Now, the train idea is a good one, #13. Thanks, I will absolutely look into that. It would be great if the Mrs didn't have to drive all the way to Stockton!