Pillar Point Harbor Half Moon Bay

[Kalle Wirsch]

Hi everyone,
Is anyone familiar with Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, CA. Other than it being a bit remote from San Francisco, is there a reason why it might be less popular for sailors? Does it have berths for catamarans?

Thanks guys!

[Dsanduril]

Kalle, welcome to CF. I see you aren’t getting much traction on your posts, so I’ll reply as someone who kept a boat on SF Bay for decades, but it’s been a while.

Pillar Point is a wonderful harbor. It is a bit small and a fair amount of their dockage is reserved for commercial (fishing) boats. They do have something like three end-ties in the recreation area, and also some mooring balls that would work for a cat. I have no idea if anything is available. While I have visited PPH many times, I suspect it is not a favorite of recreational sailors because of location. By car it isn’t the most convenient, and when you leave the harbor by boat you are immediately in the big, bad Pacific Ocean rather than in the relatively calm (but sometimes windy) Bay. And there aren’t a lot of places to go from PPH to anchor, dock, whatever when day/weekend sailing.

In answer to your more general question (other thread) about Bay Area berthing, there is no central clearinghouse. You pretty much have to contact every single marina. There are a few companies that run a couple of harbors and might have information about their sister facilities, but that is not a given. Some of your selection comes down to where you want to be (Alameda, SF, Redwood City, Richmond, Sausalito) and some of it comes down to who has space.

How big is your cat? 40 feet is probably doable on relatively short notice, 50 feet not so much.

[fstbttms]

Pillar Point is like any other harbor on the Northern California coast. The sailing grounds there are typically rough and there are few nearby ports. The weather tends to be cold, wet and windy. So not the most popular place to sail. No idea about slips for catamarans. They do have a mooring field there.

[gonesail]

if you are a surfer you will be close to mavericks beach .. one of the most feared surf breaks on the planet.

[Stu Jackson]

It's a great place for a long weekend trip. It's 18 nm south of the Gate then the 2 + miles from the bridge to "Mile Rock." So a long day to get there from even the GGB.


There is a great harbor to anchor in,, which no one else mentioned. If you can't find a slip, or a ball, anchor out, it's lovely, and actually nicer than the docks.


IIRC, they don't take reservations, but give them a call. It's run by the county if I remember right. Some of the nicer harbormasters around. They also rent out 50A to 30A pigtails.


There are tons of "How to get into Pillar Point Harbor" posts I've seen, but please study up before you get there, it deserves respect. Once you've done it, it's child's play, but the first time can be disconcerting.

[Captain Bligh]

PPH likely has a pretty sever swell surge at certain times. I don't know for sure, but Santa Cruz down the coast has a bad surge at times.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kalle.

[Kalle Wirsch]

You guys are the best, learned and researched tons from your posts. Big bad pacific 😅
It seems there are relatively few cats in this area. Other than the water being too cold to swim in - why is that? One would think the conditions here would invite specifically multihulls.

[sail sfbay]

Just to add to the great points others have made I do not believe they have long-term berths for a catamaran (I have never seen one), possibly short term transient berth but to confirm call 650-437-4338. An internet search on "Pillar Point Harbor images" did not show any catamarans berth there. In the SF Bay you need to call each marina since catamaran berths are limited.

[Cpt Mark]

re multihulls, Theres still way more monos than multis. PPH is one of my fav harbors or a weekend sail. STUDY the charts very carefully and then STUDY them 10 more times. The reef which creates Mavericks is in your way going in. You need to go around it and while it well marked it's not red right returning.

[smith8273]

I have sailed there. Pretty much what others have said — the Pacific Ocean up here is a serious ocean.

The harbor is nice. Someone mentioned surge, I didn't find that to be true. The harbor has two breakwaters, big outer ring, then another one inside of that, so I don't see where surge would come from.

Between the two breakwaters is a giant anchorage.

[Jdeuel]

Regarding Santa Cruz, I can't imagine coming in on a 40' cat in anything less than perfect conditions. Any swell has the surfers lining up in the harbor entrance...

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by Kalle Wirsch

Hi everyone,
Is anyone familiar with Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, CA. Other than it being a bit remote from San Francisco, is there a reason why it might be less popular for sailors? Does it have berths for catamarans?
Thanks guys!

We love Pillar Point.

Most boat owners like to have easy access to their boats and be able to easily take their boat to where they want to go, both of which might make Pillar Point less popular with recreational boaters.

It's a small harbor and your only option for a cat would be endtie, so you would need to get on their waiting list and be patient.

Alternatively, the anchorage just outside the harbor is great. It is protected by a seawall but vulnerable to storms from the Pacific. We've weathered many gales there, some at anchor and some by ducking into the harbor in a transient berth.

Let us know if you have more questions about one of our favorite anchorages.

[SV__Grace]

Originally Posted by Jdeuel

Regarding Santa Cruz, I can't imagine coming in on a 40' cat in anything less than perfect conditions. Any swell has the surfers lining up in the harbor entrance...

Agree. The entrance is narrow with breaking waves on both sides. I suppose it's possible but personally I can't imagine navigating a big cat into SC harbor other than in the most benign conditions, which is all too rare on the Pacific coast.

[Don C L]

I was going to second that the anchorage is good. I added a photo here, I BELIEVE that the moorings on the upper part of the photo are for fishing boats only, but there is still plenty of well-protected room as you can see. It's been a while since I've been there. I grew up just over the hill from there, visited frequently. Cool and damp? Well yes. Big bad Pacific Ocean? huh? some of us like it just the way it is... as long as you're going downwind.
I've been stashing threads that may be of interest to you in the "Pacific Coast Sailors" group: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...t+sailors.html

I hope Barbara's Fishtrap restaurant is still there!