CA - Lake Berryessa outside of Sacramento: a sailing lake?

Hi all,

If any of you have sailed this lake to the west of Sacramento, please let me know what your experiences have been. It looks to be a pretty decent sized lake but when I use Google Earth to zoom in on the marinas I only found 2 sailboats in slips. In our experience this is not a good sign. Thanks.

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

The main part of the lake gets good wind most afternoons, some of the fingers are in wind shadow and that makes it difficult. Put in anywhere on the main body and you'll be fine.

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Calcommon

Thanks for the reply. Can you also tell me when the water temp is tolerable with a wet suit on?

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

Just stay clear of the Glory Hole!

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Wow. This reminds me of an undersea volcano off the coast of Grenada that was active when we were on a cruising cat charter down island. The Coast Guard didn't want anyone anywhere near it in the event it went off. I understand that they can create a sink hole like that but much, much larger!

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

Berryessa is a great lake to sail on, it has been going through a lot of changes in the last few years with government and county taking over most of last and privatizing the marinas. still a great lake to sail on. if you are driving that far you should really check out CLEAR LAKE in lake county

Actually I was thinking of it as a possible place to retire to and be able to go sailing right out our back yard

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

As sharkfeed2000 mentioned they have pulled all of the private traillers off of the lake. The concessioniars are to maximise the day use as opposed to long term users of the lake, or atleast that's the party line! I used to ski the lake in April and May with a long suit, and go well into September. I'm sure the fishing sites will post the water temps, The Fishsniffer comes to mind.

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Calcommon

Hi Cal and all,
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you said "pulled all of the private trailers off of the lake. And are they shutting down the marinas or just privatizing them?

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

When the river valley was flooded the concessionaire's were given very long leases, 50 years if I remember correctly, well as the leases matured the concessionaire's didn't have an incentive to maintain the infrastructure, why make capital investments when the future of the lease is unknown. Next many of the trailers at the resorts, at one point in the hundreds, were literally in the same families for decades. Some people felt this limited lake access. So after many lawsuits the net result was to remove all the trailers, and put the resorts back up for bid. There was a two year period of mass confusion, but there getting it back together now.

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Calcommon

Ah, now I understand. Thanks for the clarification!

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Warmest regards,

Doc Reid Hester
www.drinkerscheckup.com

I am new to this board and to sailing. I live near Berryessa and was wondering the best place to launch at. I have tried sailing folsom lake, but this time of the year there doesn't seem to be too much wind. Seems the wind is always blowing on this side of the valley.

Any advice?

Stay away from the Public ramp. Its 2 lanes wide and its at the bottom of a canyon. The wind swirls and the power boater don't like to give way to a sailboat under sail!!!

The North end is better for sailing where the mountain slopes are much gentler.

The problem has been the north end resorts/launch ramps have been closed for the last couple of year. They are now supposed to be open, I would call first.

per web site:
Chaparral Cove (Putah Creek) is Open: Re-opened by the Pensus Group at the far north end of the lake - open for launching, RV & tent camping. Open 6 AM to 9 PM during the summer. Early morning fishermen can leave their launch fee in the drop box. Use the Reservations Icon on the Pensus web site, http://berryessalake.com, 602-977-7358.

You might also want to check out one of the local fleets http://www.hobiefleet2.com sails a number of lakes in your area. Fleet 281 is another very active group that sails Clear Lake, Tamolas Bay and they are talking about maybe doing a funsail at Berryessa.

Cork Guy H18, H18, H18, Driveway sale has begun.

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Corkguy H18, Tiger, Wildcat

Fleet 281 is going to have a fun sail on May 7 and 8th at Chaparral Cove (North end of the lake). Bring your boat and practise for the upcoming div 3 regattas!

Please contact me if you would like more details.

Brett H18's
corkguy1390 (AT) sbcglobal.net

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Corkguy H18, Tiger, Wildcat

The May fun sail went well other than a little rain on Saturday night. 5 18's showed up for the event. Wind was good both days.

The campground has a good 4 lane ramp and there were Porta Potties. Tables and fire pits were supposed to be added soon.

Our group had a fun time and would like to return for another weekend.

Corkguy

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Corkguy H18, Tiger, Wildcat