Lake Berryessa is a man-made reservoir that lies between Sacremento and the Napa Valley in Northern California. It's quite large with places over 200 feet deep. It's mostly a speed boat place -- very few sailboats on the lake -- but it's large enough so that it's seldom too busy for sailing.
There aren't too many launch sites up the eastern (Sacremento) arms of the lake, but there are a number of good spots on the Napa Valley side, which is the larger section of the lake anyway.
The lake is a great place to learn to sail: Not too challenging, but large enough to test your skills. And if you get too hot, the water is really lovely -- just below body temperature, and quite deep and cool.
The wind in the summer is variable, but usually follows a pattern that you get used to after a while. Mornings are usually quite calm, but as the central valley heats up -- in the summer over 100 -- is creates a suction that funnels in wind from the coast. So, around 3:00 every afternoon white caps will begin to build, and you can sail until sunset. Then the winds disappear and there's great anchorage in the gunk holes where you can watch the sun set and make a nice dinner with no one around. (The speed boats usually disappear when the white caps arrive, and don't return till the next day.)
This picture was taken in January of 2001 from the top of a hill on an island. We dropped anchor and backed in right against the shore. From there we could step off the stern onto land, where we tied off the stern. |
