Napa River, California report

[wmcunninghamii]

I live on the California Delta. Been here for more than 20 years and done a lot of local cruising. I had never been up the Napa River though. A relative recently moved to Napa so I thought I would give the river a go and figure out what's what.

Thought I would post my recent experience because there is precious little reliable info on actually navigating the river. The info out there refers to damaged props and outcomes too terrible to contemplate.

All that negativity is pretty much hogwash. Common sense, low speed, a current chart, seamanship and a good depth sounder are really all you need. Chart soundings look pretty accurate in general but are not published for the last 4 or 5 miles of the trip to downtown Napa, probably because of constant variation due to silting, flooding and whatever.

So, first big question. Is it possible to navigate all the way to downtown Napa (defined by the small municipal dock located on the waterfront just south of the fixed 3rd St. bridge)?

Answer, Yes, as of 10/10/2020 it is very possible. As you approach a small turning basin which is basically what this area is, you transit a 500 foot fairly narrow (50 foot?) channel in about 8 -10 feet of water at mid tide. As you reach the basin the depth comes down to 6-7 feet. I imagine a low low tide you would see maybe 3 feet of depth, at least in the small area I was turning in. I was constrained by a bunch of kayakers going every which way. I would have liked to motor around just a bit to get a better feel for depth across the basin but no luck with that. The entire area is about an acre or two so it is not huge. Based upon what I encountered I would be very hesitant to attempt to anchor in the downtown basin. Plus there are a lot of people around so I am not sure it would be a comfortable/relaxing anchorage in any event. This was pretty much as expected based upon my land excursions to Napa. So, bottom line, you can get there if you watch the tides and don't draw more than around 5 feet. I draw 4 feet. You could certainly drop anchor for lunch or dingy in for lunch but I would be keeping tides firmly in mind unless you are a fan of mud. All of this layout can be seen on Google Earth.

OK, so where can I anchor? I pretty much took my Delta attitude with me: anything that is not a marked channel is an anchorage waiting to be discovered. Why spend $30 on a marina? There are a ton of little hidey holes along the river, I would like to have dropped close to the downtown area but waited until I was away from civilization further south. I anchored about 4 miles north of the Mare Island lift bridge. And it was one fantastic anchorage. 12-15 foot depth, good wind protection and absolutely fantastic views. Next time out I will try dropping a bit further up river just to get the "close in" vibe.

I have 50 feet of chain and 200 foot of nylon rode. I put a good chunk of the chain out in shallow water and pretty much stay in place (30 feet 7400#). I swing about 50 feet in typical wind and current. As long as there is no appreciable chop and it is not blowing 20Kts I am able to squeeze into a fairly small spot.

So there are plenty of places to anchor upriver for folks in smaller boats. Bigger boats will probably want to figure out how to reduce swing. If anyone has any info about the special laws/regulation regarding anchoring on the Napa River I would be interested in hearing.

With regard to marinas for those who are not into anchoring out. Depends on what you are up to. If you are looking for a day trip out and back, this could be done from the Vallejo Yacht Club or the Vallejo Municipal Marina both of which offer transit mooring.

If you want to get really close to downtown Napa, the Napa Valley Yacht Club is as close as you can get. It is about 1/2 walkable miles from downtown. Pricing would be $45 a night for my 30 foot boat. Probably the best bet for someone who really wants to visit Napa. I will stay there when I meet up with my newly arrived relative.

Finally there is the Napa Marina which is about four or five miles from downtown but is on the Napa side of the Mare Island lift bridge so you don't have to worry about the timing so much.

The Mare Island bridge is open for lift 0900 to 1900 seven days a week. It is kinda funny, I am used to a railroad bridge where I am often delayed due to oncoming trains. This bridge only serves a roadway and, from what I can tell, boats are the priority and drivers can wait. I had a whole line of drivers watching my 4kt transit against current. I am guessing they were pretty pissed after the 15 minute wait... oh well, buy a boat is what I say.

So that's my G2 on the Napa River. If anyone has any questions/comments. Now is the time.

[Chat de Mer]

Thanks for the detailed report! As you say, there isn’t much out there on this topic. We’ve been down this river in our catamaran to get it hauled and painted at Napa Valley Marina. We’d like to go back and anchor out just for fun, so your info is valuable! If you anchored about 4 miles north of the Mare Island bridge, do you think that was in Wombat Bay?

[sailingabe41ds]

Nice read...sounds like with a 7 foot draft I am not going too far up that river.

abe

[wmcunninghamii]

Originally Posted by Chat de Mer

Thanks for the detailed report! As you say, there isn’t much out there on this topic. We’ve been down this river in our catamaran to get it hauled and painted at Napa Valley Marina. We’d like to go back and anchor out just for fun, so your info is valuable! If you anchored about 4 miles north of the Mare Island bridge, do you think that was in Wombat Bay?

Just took a look at my chart, I think I was essentially off to the side of the river which is quite wide at this point. The coordinates are 38.158 x 122.296 approx.

[wmcunninghamii]

Actually you would be OK for most of it. I wouldn't let 7 feet stop you.

[Chat de Mer]

Thanks for the coordinates! We will get to practice our nav skills!

Our boat draws 4.5 feet, and we go in the Delta, so navigating is fine. Just looking for a place to anchor where we won't be in the middle of the channel or in someone's way. Don't want to hear a "thunk" in the night when someone runs into us because they almost never seen anyone anchored in the river.

[wmcunninghamii]

Originally Posted by Chat de Mer

Thanks for the coordinates! We will get to practice our nav skills!

Our boat draws 4.5 feet, and we go in the Delta, so navigating is fine. Just looking for a place to anchor where we won't be in the middle of the channel or in someone's way. Don't want to hear a "thunk" in the night when someone runs into us because they almost never seen anyone anchored in the river.

I draw almost the same. Of course a good anchor light is a must.

This is one of the things I like about the NR, the river is quite wide in many spots, if you actually see the location I Identified you are at least 200 to 300 feet away from any traffic... probably more. Not including the occasional fishermen who frequent the river. But these are few and operators appear to be responsible.

I do a lot of delta cruising, we should share favorite anchorages..

[GoGreen444]

Greetings! Thank you for this post.

I am moving a boat over land from Mississippi to the Bay Area in June.

I plan on splashing the boat at Napa Valley Marina. I have a slip for the boat at Glen Cove Marina.

The boat is a 30ft sailboat with a 4.5ft draft. It has a 27hp inboard Diesel engine.

Based on this post, it seems doable to navigate the river. Still, I am apprehensive about the time required to safely travel from Napa Valley Marina to Glen Cove Marina in Vallejo.

I am unfamiliar with the challenges the tide and current present to navigating the river.

I typically cruise at 4-5kts.

Based on this, can you offer any advice to help me develop a plan to safely navigate this passage from Napa Valley Marina to Glen Cove Marina?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, GoGreen.

[Chat de Mer]

Hi GoGreen444,

Your draft and hull speed are the same as ours, so you should have no problem navigating from Napa Valley Marina to Glen Cove Marina. The duration of that trip will vary quite a bit depending on the tides, but I'd say it would take 3-4 hours.

The issues to be aware of are twofold! First, you definitely need charts of some kind as some of the river can be shallower than your draft at times and you need to stay in the deeper part, which isn't always obvious without charts.

Second, you will need to have the Mare Island bridge raised to pass through, and that has a somewhat restricted schedule. You can find the schedule and the VHF and phone numbers to call to request raising here: https://marinas.com/view/bridge/jjuy...20p.m.%20daily.

Best wishes for your trip. It is a lovely one.

Eve

[Stu Jackson]

We've been up the river many times, in both our C25 and this boat before we moved to BC in 2016. Our draft is nominal 6 ft. Gauging the tide is important, but neap tides are your friend. We had a dozen C34s at the Napa Yacht Club! I've been all the way to Napa, too.


It is easy to navigate and a fun place to go.

[shrspeedblade]

Shhhhhhhh! Napa Valley Marina is my home marina and this is only allegedly my semi-private playground. Sailing in the Napa River sucks!

(Watch the mud shoals around the #7 green marker, they've moved out quite a bit.)

[carquinez]

wmcunninghamii - Thank you for your original post! We used it as guidance for a Labor Day cruise last weekend.

We sailed up river all the way to the Imola St. causeway (marker #34) before motoring the last mile to Napa Valley Yacht Club. They were absolutely wonderful and took great care of us. The next night we tried for Napa Valley Marina, but they were full for the holiday, so we anchored in the river 200 yards south of their entrance. We spent 3 magical nights on the hook and dinghied to the marina for supplies on the days in between.

I deployed anchors bow & stern close to the western/windward river bank. Lashing the helm with a little rudder towards the channel kept us off the bank during both ebb and flood currents. It was like having a tropical paradise to ourselves all night, with only occasional fishing traffic during the day.

Thanks again for inspiring us!

[wmcunninghamii]

I am happy to have provided some inspiration.

It has been a couple of years now, I need to redo the trip myself.

Lately I have fallen in love with a little anchorage on Potato Slough at 38 04N x 121 32E

But you really don't want to go there. It's way down on the Delta. I will be completely happy to enjoy it on your behalf.

[wefleenor]

You most certainly mean 121 32 W (or -121 32). Always nice to see others make my kind of mistakes.