Bay Access Update
September 18, 2007

In this issue:Welcome to the e-newsletter

  • Sojourn—2007
  • Sojourn—Angel Island Weekend, 10/6-7
  • Sojourn—Red Oak Victory Overnight, 10/13-14
  • Sojourn—Sonoma Creek Watershed Celebration, 10/22
  • South Bay Salt Pond Restoration
  • Wildlife Viewing Guidelines
  • Splash for Cash

Welcome to the e-Newsletter
The Bay Access e-newsletter is a quarterly notice of Water Trail-related news and items of interest delivered to your email address. It contains news briefs about Bay Access and the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail that can’t wait for the semi-annual print newsletter. An html version with photos and links is available on the website,

Sojourn-2007
The 5th Annual Sojourn is a benefit designed to showcase the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail through a month-long series of aquatic adventures that allows us to experience special areas of the Bay where we have been able to create unique opportunities that are not easily available to boaters or the general public. The fees charged include an annual membership in Bay Access.

October 6/7: Angel Island Camp Out
This weekend marks the height of the Fleet Week Celebration and there is no better place to watch the parade of ships and the Blue Angels perform than Angel Island. Paddlers and rowers will converge on the West Garrison on Saturday morning and set up camp near the Quartermaster Building before settling down to watch the spectacle. Supper will be a pot-luck barbeque followed by fireworks.  Open Bay skills are required. The fee for this weekend event is $30

Kayakers and rowers will depart from Dunphy Park in Sausalito. Contact Fred Cooper for further information and to register, fred.i.cooper@sbcglobal.net or 925-631-0709.

Dragon boats will depart from the Berkeley Marina. Other launch locations are also possible.  Contact Paul Nixon for further information and to register at 415-647-5183 or pnixonsf@yahoo.com

October 13/14: Overnight on the SS Red Oak Victory

Kayakers will overnight on the historic World War II Victory ship, the SS Red Oak Victory.  The ship is being restored as a museum and part of Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park in Richmond. She was built in Richmond and, after service in three wars and as part of the Merchant Marine, is once again home, docked in Richmond. http://www.ssredoakvictory.com/ Overnights on the Red Oak Victory are by special arrangement only, so this is a rare opportunity.

We'll launch Saturday, at 1 pm, from the Marin Rowing Association in Corte Madera where there is good overnight parking. Other launch locations are possible as well.  We'll cross the Bay, and arrive at the Red Oak Victory around 4pm to land, explore the ship, and enjoy an on-board barbecue dinner prepared by the volunteer staff at the ship. You can bed down anywhere on the ship for the night.  We'll have a continental breakfast the next morning before paddling back to our vehicles at the Marin Rowing Association. 

Open Bay skills are required for this event. The fee, including dinner and breakfast, is $50.  Contact Casey Walker for further information and to register for this event at walker@walkerlawfirm.com or 415-337-7864

Monday, October 22:  Sonoma Creek Watershed Celebration
Bay Access will join the Sonoma Ecology Center and Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) in a flat-water paddle along Sonoma Creek from the Larson Family Winery (near the Highway 121 Bridge) to the Highway 37 Bridge. This beautiful and little-visited, ten-mile stretch of creek is under tidal influence as it meanders through vineyards and marshland.  This trip is suitable for novice boaters.  The fee is $30.

Contact Bo Barnes for further information and to register for this event at bobo3@rcn.com or 415-334-4077.

For those interested in joining the hike (10/18-20) that begins at the headwaters of Sonoma Creek, and explores the entire watershed on foot, contact Arthur Dawson at the Sonoma Ecology Center, 707-996-0712, x111 or Arthur@sonomaecologycenter.org  You can also check out their website at www.sonomaecologycenter.org 

Get Involved—South Bay Salt Pond Kayak Launch

Provide input to the design of a kayak/boat launch that the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is planning for Eden Landing near Hayward.  The Project is planning this launch site as part of its Phase 1 restoration and public access actions in the 15,100-acre salt ponds area. The conceptual project was presented at a July 27 public meeting of the Project's newly formed Eden Landing Working Group. Public comments and suggestions on the design will be sought at the group's second meeting, which will likely be held this winter.  Contact:

Ariel Ambruster
Assistant Facilitator
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
Center for Collaborative Policy
510/843-7624 office
aambrust@yahoo.com

Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) and Bay Access Team Up to Place PADDLE Posters Around the Bay
The Paddlers’ Wildlife Viewing Guidelines, originally developed by Marin Open Space, Department of Fish and Game, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association and Bay Area Sea Kayakers, have been reprinted by Bay Access and will be placed at kayak launch spots all around the Bay by members of the BASK Environmental Committee.  Look for them at a launch site near you.

Bay Access Joins Save the Bay in the Splash for Cash Campaign
On August 29th a Bay Access-led group of kayak volunteers paddled to McCovey Cove to help raise money for Save the Bay’s conservation efforts.  The Splash for Cash program, sponsored by DHL and the Giants, paid Save the Bay $10,000 to have ten kayakers on the water in bright yellow “DHL” kayaks during each of ten Giants’ games.  The groups suited up and hit the water at City Kayak’s new home on Pier 40.  After paddling to McCovey Cove they hung out, picnicked and watched for splashing balls.  Doing good doesn’t get much easier than this!