Reflection of rural
swimming or simply floating on an inner tube. Spring
American bridge
and fall bring gentler temperatures, while winter is
in the delta area.
bright and cool with an occasional low fog to keep
crews snuggled in their berths.
With passages deep enough for ocean-going
freighters, yachts of all sizes can enjoy this area, and
you might see a maxi-racer like Windward Passage in a
quiet anchorage, or a big sportfisher tied to a tree with
its massive fighting chair empty while the crew stalks
bass amongst the reeds. Many of the anchorages,
such as Lost Slough and The Meadows, have tall trees
overhanging the waterway, creating cool green glades
for long weekends of silence.
on the main channels, water-skiers skim smoothly
along for miles while the postman delivers mail by
boat and schoolchildren take their dinghies to catch
the school bus. Hollywood discovered the Delta years
ago, and it has served as everything from China (John
Probably one of the best-kept secrets of San Wayne’s “Blood Alley”) to Catfish Alley (“Porgy &
Francisco sailors is the immense cruising ground Bess”). It has a genuine ghost town, once occupied by
A
ce
of the Sacramento Delta, sixty-odd miles north up the Chinese labourers on America’s transcontinental
n M
San Francisco Bay. With 1,000 miles of navigable railroads, and you can row a dinghy up to the
dO
n;
waterways fed by three major rivers, the delta has mainstreet, where the buildings once served as opium
e
RSO
deepwater ports at Stockton as well as at California’s dens and brothels. House boating is popular on the
eM
nce
capital, Sacramento. once a lowland that was Delta, with dozens of companies leasing fully equipped
RRA
reclaimed in the 1800s by creating levees, it is a world vessels by the week.
: Te
A whit
O
M
e egret
away from the cold blasts of San Francisco. Summer Whether you call it Frisco (which you probably
launches itself
T
O
.c
temperatures can soar above 100 degrees F to form don’t want to do with any natives within earshot) or
PHO
from a tributary
of the Sacramento
the low pressure that sucks the wind through the The City, there’s no place like San Francisco for exciting
i
S
T
O
ck
©
delta. Golden Gate, and the salt-free waters are perfect for and varied boating. n
DeCeMbeR 2008 YACHTWORLD.COM 39
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