Napa River

D

deltabighat

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We are planning a short overnight cruise up the Napa River after the first of the year. I did this one 5 or 6 years ago without difficulty and had plenty of water under the boat. Does anyone know if that is still the case and do they have any new overnight slips or other amenities since my last visit up there.. We will be coming from the Rio Vista area and will be in a 24 ft Trophy. Thanks

DBH
 
Did they finally finish the new docks in the downtown area?
 
I haven't been to the marina, but maybe a look at Google and a call to the harbor master will help. I cruise to a friend's dock located in the row of houses on the west bank just before reaching the marina. There's a shallow berm to starboard in the S turn just before reaching the houses that's poorly marked. Stay close to the green markers to port on your way there to avoid the shoal.
 
Might be worth a drive to see what's up with the downtown city dock at the end of navigation and see if they allow overnights. Otherwise the marina or yacht club are nice, but you need a cab into town, Great cruise! The river has historically been maintained since there is some commercial traffic. They were working on it the past few years as part of a flood control project. The tricky part has always been the first leg out of Vallejo near the power lines.
 
I spent Aug-Sept of this year at the Napa Valley Marina and the trip up the river was fine. After the HWY29 bridge you have to watch your course and not be sight seeing. We went at far as the Imola Bridge and turned back. We could see the Napa Yacht Club. Had 9 feet at normal tide at the low places. However, the river above HWY29 Bridge gets shallow fast if you cut too close to the banks.

The only place I know you can stay is the Napa Valley Marina.

http://picasaweb.google.com/113615358580311562427/NapaRiver

The trip on the Napa River.

Mike
 
Tricky is not the word for it...but there are cruise ships that run during the summer.
 
I was in downtown Napa last week - no docks.

"The tricky part has always been the first leg out of Vallejo near the power lines."

YES it's tricky! We do not have GPS and that area is tricky as is hard to spot the channel and you also do not want to get close to the buoys in the bends before or after the power lines.

I helped a friend bring his boat up with GPS and that was easy. If you have GPS don't worry - just go with the incoming tide for a nice ride.

The one area you could find rough is the mouth of the Mare Island Straits. Depending on tides and river flows... it can be the roughest spot on the Bay. We keep our boat nearby and do a lot of fishing by the HWY37 bridge and even on a nice day the trip through that are can be white knuckles.

Mike
 
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