Up the River
We go there all the time! My in-laws live in Petaluma so we sail from Alameda. It is a great sail up. The river meanders for 13 miles through farm land. Its funny too look across the fields and see other sailboats cruising on the land! Watch out in the spring if you have allergies. The hay fields kill me unless I wear a dust mask. That gets some weird looks. Just watch the tides and try to get to the mouth of the river at close to high tide. The channel out into San Pablo Bay gets silted up around marker 13 after the winter rains. It gets dredged after that. We always stay at the Petaluma Marina (707/778-4489 ) down from the town so that we don't have to hassle with the drawbridge. Its shallow at the entrance, so get it when the tide is not at the lowest point. There is a great Italian restaurant across the street. Its only a 20 minute dinghy ride into town from there. E-mail me if you want more info at allan_hadad@notes.seagate.com Allan "Alchemie"
