Thinking about boating to Napa, CA? Think again.

[Ronnie]

For context I live about 90 minutes south of Napa, CA (aka Wine Country). Downtown Napa is adjacent to a navigable River (the Napa River). I have never boated there but have been looking for a new day or weekend boating destination and Napa seemed perfect for my wife and her friends. I think it would be nice to boat or jet ski up, eat and taste wine in down town Napa, maybe even stay the night. With a his in mind I drove to Napa to look at the boating facilities this past weekend.

I will get right to my conclusion, it’s not worth the effort or risk to boat or jet ski to Napa. Why?

1. The time on water trip will either be really short (8 miles from the closest boat ramp, Moore’s landing at cutting wharf drive) or really long (I estimate at least 30 miles from the boat ramp in Napa to my launch ramp in San Leandro (next to Oakland International Airport).
2. There are few or no places to stop and get off the boat along the way, Moore’s landing is one of them. Overnight parking is not allowed.
3. the guest docks are free but on a first come first served basis, you can’t reserve space.
4.The guest docks limit use to the hours between 8a and 11p unless you request and receive approval to stay overnight.
5. The army corps of engineers made the river near Napa a little wider in some areas to reduce the chance of flooding in the down town area. This inturn made the River shallower/more dangerous to boat on.
6. Somewhere between the closest public boat ramp and downtown Napa Is where the no wake zone starts. Specifically at marker 26 which is not something I could see from the road. Worst case it’s 8 miles in a no wake zone, best case is it’s less a than a mile.
7. I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but there isn’t much to see on the way to downtown Napa, just levy’s and unclear river water.
8. As usual, it would be much faster and less expensive to drive to Napa instead of boat there. There are many public parking lots in downtown Napa all of it free. By comparison, parking in old town Sacramento is $35 per day (pre pandemic pricing).




Since I didn’t boat there I admit my conclusion may be wrong, maybe it’s a great experience so I invite anyone with the experience to chime in. However I note that I looked at you tube videos and read blogs by people who have sailed to Napa and kayaked near Napa. I could not find any where someone boated or jet skied from the main channel in SF bay to downtown Napa. Since the Napa river can be very shallow and narrow, Most boaters stop at Moore’s landing and Uber to Napa from there.

 

[zipper]

What about launching your new boat there? When you have seen enough, roll it up, throw it in the back of the car and go drink some wine.

 

[Ronnie]

What about launching your new boat there? When you have seen enough, roll it up, throw it in the back of the car and go drink some wine.

We thought about that but there are closer and better places to use our inflatable kayak and sup. Plus we only have two so bring long friends is out. There is a rental business based on the guest dock so maybe that would work for a group but my wife and her girl friends would probably opt out and just go wine tasting instead.

There is also a gondola tour near downtown. The condola holds up to 7 people including the captain/engine. The tour is about an hour long but costs $150 per person and when we visited it was all booked up for the weekend. I’m sure i could not get my friends to get on a gondola at that cost to see a lot of what they have seen for years for free. That is, a lot of brown/brackish water and sides of levees. Sure the tour is near down town Napa but for comparison, I could take a ferry from Oakland (20 minutes away from home) to SF or Marin for about $15 each way.

 

[Quad]

Have you talked with any of the smaller marinas on San Pablo and Suisun bays to see if they allow launching and overnighting of vehicles? I've been up by a few of them in the past and while they're fairly packed with long-term slip holders, they may have some launch options. That'd put you a lot closer to the river vs starting from San Leandro. More protected waters too. I've commuted on the ferry from Alameda to SF a number of times and that water can get rough!

 

[Ronnie]

I’ve launched out of Benicia but they only have 4 to 6 tow vehicle and trailer parking spots. The last time I launched there i realized that the bot ramp is shorter than my trailer such that my rear trailer wheels were off the ramp hang in mid air/water, so I don’t launch my boat out of there anymore. My friend lives in Vallejo but I would not be comfortable leaving my suv and trailer there over night. I might check out Richmond next but right now the cons are outweighing the pros where boating to Napa is concerned.

 

[wardial]

Ronnie! Whoooa. Long time no talk bud! Yeah, I've always wondered about the trip up to Napa. On the other hand, what about taking it up the river to Petaluma? Dock and stay at the Sheraton right there. Never done it. Aside, I'm living in Alameda now - island life! =D And not too far away from you. How about another trip up to old Sac!?

 

[Ronnie]

@wardial, Petaluma??? I never thought to boat up there. Didn’t know about the river, dock or the Sheraton. I’m going to start to checking it out now.

i am planning to hit Sacramento at least twice maybe three times this season, probably on waverunners not the boat. Need to check if the work on the guest dock is done and if the city is maintaining the area again. I went last September and it was a mess, only half the dock was available, boaters dumping their full trash bags right onto the dock, even a homeless (not boatless) guy living on the dock during the day and sleeping on his boat at night. Was my boat more or less secure with him there all night? The city just let the dock go. If things have improved I will try and plan another group trip up there this season. please stay tuned.