The mooring ball in Drake's Bay is the property of the USCG, and I don't think they are wild about others using it. That said, they are seldom there to use it or check on it themselves.... It's also not as protected as spots closer to the beach, but be careful and don't anchor so close that a wind shift or drop will put you aground. Much of the Bay is 25 feet or less. If it's calm and you use chain, starfish may attach themselves to the motionless chain overnight--it's polite to knock them off with a boathook before they get crushed in your anchor roller when setting off.
As for the Pinole Shoal Channel in San Pablo Bay, the following is from the Code of Federal Regulations (33 CFR 165.1181(e)(2)(i)):
"(2) Pinole Shoal Channel RNA: (i) A
vessel less than 1600 gross tons or a tug
with a tow of less than 1600 gross tons
is not permitted within this RNA."
(RNA means "Regulated Navigation Area". The exact lat/lon boundaries of this and other RNA's in SF Bay are given earlier in the section--I believe this is the only one with general prohibition for small vessels.)
This restriction is also described in a small paragraph above the mileage scale in the lower right hand corner of the San Pablo Bay chart (#18654), a portion that is cropped off in many (spiral) bound chart books. In any event, the restriction is referenced in pink/red type just under the channel.
I would have tossed this up sooner, but the language used to be at 165.1114--it got moved and slightly rewritten (from 20 ft. draft to 1600 GT) when they put all of the post 9/11 Homeland Security "security zone" stuff and I had to go find it. (My home charts are old.)
BTG
