Need a good place to hang-out

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manticore999

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OK - I give up. We liked hanging out in Mayberry Slough because it was quiet and close by. The water skiiers have ruined it and it's time to move on. Any suggestions? We're at the Driftwood Marina, right by the Antioch Bridge. We'd like something relatively close (gas prices being what they are) that is quiet, where we can just drop anchor and hang out for the day.

Thanks for any help!
 
One of my favorite places to hang out is up on Disappointment Slough. Very quiet and very pretty, almost no waterskiers and not too far from Antioch. Well not that far. Head up river towards Rio Vista, hang a right on the SJ right before Decker Island and go back up river towards Stockton and once you pass Helen and Hermans hang a left on the next cut. Thats Disappointment. Really almost as close and maybe closer would be to go by Rio Vista on Cache Slough and head up to Shag Slough just west of the Sacramento Deep Water Channel. Both are a bit of a run, but well worth it.

DBH
 
I'd second DBH on the Cache/Shag Slough area NW of Rio Vista. No gas docks nearby, so the water skiers usually don't go there. Go slow in there until you get familiar with the area. Some of area is flooded and has lots of snags. I'd suggest you explore the area in your dink at a minus tide to get a good sense of the area. One time I discovered I was anchored on some very large tree roots. Had to wait for tide to come in before I could leave. It seems the tide changes in that area have a wide depth variance. +6 feet. But it is very beautiful! Let us know what you find.
 
Does anyone know anything about a 'cut' just after the west entrance to Mayberry? I seem to remember someone saying something about a duck club there, but I'm not sure? It seems to run in pretty far but when I went near it there were tons of weeds, making me think it might be really shallow. Does anyone know anything about this? Talk about close!

Also there's a slough down around New York island (can't remember the name of it and the charts are on the boat). It goes from the SJ through to the SAC.
 
Could it be Montezuma Slu? I haven't been there in several years, but at that time, no waterskiers due to long distance to gas docks. Also off of Montazuma is Nurse Slu and Suisun Slu. Those are fun areas to explore. Gas is at Suisun or across at Pittsburgh/Antioch. Stay in the marked channels to avoid shallow waters.

The slough from the SJ to the Sac can be tricky to navigate and choppy when it is windy. I don't know of any protected anchorages through there.

Good luck!
 
quote:
Originally posted by manticore999

Does anyone know anything about a 'cut' just after the west entrance to Mayberry? I seem to remember someone saying something about a duck club there, but I'm not sure? It seems to run in pretty far but when I went near it there were tons of weeds, making me think it might be really shallow. Does anyone know anything about this? Talk about close!

Also there's a slough down around New York island (can't remember the name of it and the charts are on the boat). It goes from the SJ through to the SAC.

Click to expand...


Hm, let's see... on the west side of Mayberry, on the straight section, there's a break that opens up into Donlon Island on the east side of the slough. I've taken a couple of 16 footers through there, but very carefully, it's shallow in there, I'd guess a draft of 5 feet or less in most areas. I don't have a depth finder, but it does seem like there's a slight bit of a channel (or at least a long straight area with an absence of weeds) that goes from that entrance over to the other side of the island, opening up at the ship channel of the SJR, north of West Island. I wouldn't go through there if my draft was > 2 feet unless I had a depth finder. It's shallow, and there are weeds. If you have Google Earth, load it up and look at the area I'm describing, and you should see a straight line without weeds through the middle of the island. I've done small raft-ups before right there in Donlon Island, a few yards off Mayberry Slough.

Other local areas I would suggest trying out:
I've seen raft-ups in Middle Slough, between Browns Island and Winter Island, north of Pittsburg. This may be what you're thinking of. It's a bit wider than Mayberry, but doesn't get choppy. Depths in there are no problem if you enter from the south side, but it's a little shallow coming in on the north side.

Anther place you could try is Spoonbill Creek. It's a slough north of the Pittsburg power plant, between Chips Island and Van Sickle Island. Right at the south entrance of the slough there's a very small protected and hidden cove that you can tie up in if you're careful getting in there. It just looks like a break in the grass, but you can get in there and hang out in the shade. Post a lookout on the bow to assist getting in there.

BTW, when the charts are on the boat and you're not, I suggest using this link below for charts: http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/PacificCoastViewerTable.htm
 
donlonisland.jpg


There's a shot of Donlon Island. See that straight shot through the middle? That's what I was referring to.

Also, you could take a look at Cabin Slough. It's just west of Mayberry, between Sherman Island and Kimball Island, the south entrance is pretty much straight across from the Fulton Shipyard launch ramp. It's skinny. There are two parallel sloughs, one with houses and one without. Watch out for weeds on the north entrance to Cabin Slough and stay close to Sherman Island coming out of there. A friend of mine has fouled on those weeds so many times.
 
Thanks for the great suggestions. I don't know why I didn't just include a photo (duh!), but here's the place I was thinking of ... Seems really 'weedy' at the opening ....

169316473-M.jpg


Probably should have labeled it better, but that's Mayberry to the right of the 'arrow' where the boat is coming out of.

'Middle Slough' is the one I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name!! Thanks westdelta!

We're going to be checking some of these out this weekend (I hope) and I'll report back on what we decide.

In the mean-time, keep those suggestions coming in!
 
westdelta.......thanks for the NOAA chart link! How often have I wished......oh well. I do now.
It sounds like you are our resident west delta expert! Great information here.
 
To clarify, according to the government charts, the boat manticore refers to is coming out of Mayberry CUT. Mayberry SLOUGH is the dog-leg passage between Donlon Is. and the unflooded portion of Sherman Is. It runs from the upper left corner to the right side of westdelta's picture above.

Thanks to both of you for posting pix that show everyone what you're referring to!

BTG
 
The Suisun Cutoff area, in back of Ryer, Freeman and Snag Island is pleasant as well. If you can nose into Spoonbill (not sure how big your boat is), that can be a nice hidey hole, depneding on what's biting (above and below the water line..

George
 
Nice pictures, although they are quite old, since the floating junkyard at the eastern entrance isn't shown.
 
Thanks BTG, not being accurate about what the names of the sloughs and cuts are just causes confusion!

NimitzToo - yeah, these pictures have to be, like, 2 years old or so. The junk is accumulating over there. There's now what appears to be 2 abandoned boats tied up to the 'island' just to the left of the entrance in WestDelta's photo. I'm thinking we should just change the name to Mayberry Junk Yard - it would be more appropriate!

So ... doesn't anyone know about what the 'arrow' I have on the photo points to?!

And ... on another topic ..... jeeze it's hot out!! We were out yesterday and it was just too too hot for us. We're going to go out and buy a small, cheap window AC tonight. I figure when we're staying overnight in our slip we can kind of set it over the hatch to cool the interior down a bit. At least then we'll be able to stay overnight. I REALLY wish I would have gotten the AC/Genset package when I bought this boat!
 
quote:
Originally posted by manticore999

So ... doesn't anyone know about what the 'arrow' I have on the photo points to?!

Click to expand...

That is Cabin Slough. The islands on either side are Sherman and Kimball Island. As you can see, there are two parallel sloughs with a little strip of an island in between. The slough on the right (as coming in where your arrow shows) has a number of houses along there who don't appreciate wakes. The other slough has nobody living along it, and is a bit narrow. When a friend of mine is trying to tune up his engine he'll take it over to that slough and race up and down to check his top speed (about 35 kts). Although you can get a little bit of a current through there, it never gets any chop at all from wind or anything. Also, there are lots of weeds on the north entrance to that slough, so be careful over there.
 
Boy! Youse guys are wierd. You really like to go where you might get stuck and never be seen or heard from again? That's scarrrrrry stuff for me. The eastern end of Suisun is as far as I've been into that maze.
 
Shot, take that 20' SRV of yours and explore around some. Keep your eye on the depth finder, look out for seaweed/grass and take a look around! Just go idle speed and be prepared to quickly lift the outdrive or put it into neutral. Using g00gle to find the channels before you go out is a good idea too. The main problem I have with those type of anchorages is the mosquitoes during the summer.
 
quote:
Originally posted by NimitzToo

Nice pictures, although they are quite old, since the floating junkyard at the eastern entrance isn't shown.

Click to expand...

Check out the view from this link:
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=33.716238&lon=-118.295605&z=20&r=0&src="msa
 
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