CA bay area locations??

[89BigBlock]

Just relocated from MN! I dont want to give up the sport but coming from the land of 10k lakes, the bay area is not much of a Water Ski domain Can anyone recomend a lake or a club in the Bay Area to join?

[gweaver]

Not sure where abouts you are, but there's plenty of water to be had. If you're in the north bay, Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino are possibilities. I've put my boat in the Petaluma River (it's salt water, but I have closed loop cooling). East bay has the delta, lots of areas to put in and ski.
There's also the Berkeley Water Ski Club or the 'Fun and Sun' club.
If you happen to be in the North Bay, shoot me a PM and we'll grab a beer or something.
Greg

[strad]

I bought my boat in the SF Bay area, and it has a Golden Gate Waterski Club sticker on it. They maintain their website (I visited the website) so they might be worth a call. edit: I take that back lol. Apparently the club got in trouble with the county for some reason -- they may not have a facility any more. The web site is still up but appears to have not been updated since 2006.

edit: the family I bought the boat from are all slalom skiers, and they said the San Joaqin Delta is great skiing. They said the water's pretty brown but it's smooth. Of course you'd expect brown water in a delta area -- lots of suspended sediment.

[rodltg2]

Unless your in the North Bay, there a plenty of places to go. Unfortunately some maybe further than others dependng on location. The best public water would be the Delta. Miles and miles of glassy water and lots of ski clubs with slalom courses. If your into slalom, there is also Santa Clara Waterski Club. They ski on a perc pond and maintain a course on it. However I've heard mornings are the only good times as the wind picks up in the afternoons. There is also Foster City lagoon , there is a course there and a small open water area, but It is salt water. There is also Berkley Waterkski Club, also salt water, they ski there every Wednesday in the summer for a slalom league. South of San Jose there are 3 public lakes, no courses. Lake Anderson, Coyote Resevoir and Calero. They are small lakes and only good on weekday mornings.

[Rossterman]

Berressa lake has a ski club & cove dedicated for skiing and a not too far out of the bay area.

Mn may have more lakes but you will probably get twice the ski season length here vs. there- may through october!

[rodltg2]

More like March - November. Its almost 80 today with no wind. If I wasnt working I would be out skiing.

[GoneBoatN]

Originally Posted by 89BigBlock

Just relocated from MN! I dont want to give up the sport but coming from the land of 10k lakes, the bay area is not much of a Water Ski domain Can anyone recomend a lake or a club in the Bay Area to join?

I'm in the East Bay. Plenty of water to be found and had. Lakes are a bit of a ways away (average a couple of hours). I just started using the Delta myself but got to say I'm hooked on it.

Lakes I'm familiar with:

Lake Berryessa - north of Vacaville. A few good fingers on the south end. One finger at the north end. Big body of water where the winds kick up in the middle of the day and then is too choppy. Best for early mornings or early evenings.

Lakes in the central valley:

Lake Don Pedro - The campgrounds are pretty much a party zoo. Lake turns choppy from all the tubers.

New Melones - Go up the Stanislaus river arm as it narrows down and is in a canyon so sheltered from the wind. This area dog-legs every so often so rollers don't travel too far. Nice water until around the dead center of the day. Nice campgrounds - no morons typically.

Lake Shasta - way north. We do a vacation week there at Tsasdi Resort cabins along the lake. You'll find posts about Shasta on TT.

Other lakes that I know of but not first hand:

Rollins lake - West of Sacramento.
Bullards bar - Getting a bit out there.
Tulloch Lake - Just past Don Pedro. I here of good flat water there.

The Delta - not much to look at. Then you realize there is flat water to be found there 24 x 7 x 365. OK, minus a few months when it is fogged over and a little too chilly for some. Even when it is busy, you can find places to go - there is just miles, and miles and miles of it. Narrow channels so rollers don't travel far. During high season, mid summer, I go there on mid week day late afternoon/early evenings - not too many people out. Non-prime season, go anytime you want. I've been hitting the Delta every weekend since the end of August; fall is an excellent time of year here.


Get a copy of "Recreation Lakes of California". You can find it at Orchard Hardware for one. Also get a map of the Delta if you plan to go there. Your local marine dealer and/or water sports pro shop will most likely have both available.

So going with the rule of "no Pictures then it did not happen" here are some from the Delta yesterday near Holland Track/Old River/Orwood area:

[GoneBoatN]

Originally Posted by rodltg2

More like March - November. Its almost 80 today with no wind. If I wasnt working I would be out skiing.

I'm shooting for November this year. I think I'll winterize after Turkey Day.

Typically we start again in April because that's when we stop snow skiing/boarding.

[maristardd]

FYI - Lake Anderson in Santa Clara county closed for the season due to low water level.

[Tsumi]

Originally Posted by GoneBoatN

I'm in the East Bay. Plenty of water to be found and had. Lakes are a bit of a ways away (average a couple of hours). I just started using the Delta myself but got to say I'm hooked on it.

Lakes I'm familiar with:

Lake Berryessa - north of Vacaville. A few good fingers on the south end. One finger at the north end. Big body of water where the winds kick up in the middle of the day and then is too choppy. Best for early mornings or early evenings.

Lakes in the central valley:

Lake Don Pedro - The campgrounds are pretty much a party zoo. Lake turns choppy from all the tubers.

New Melones - Go up the Stanislaus river arm as it narrows down and is in a canyon so sheltered from the wind. This area dog-legs every so often so rollers don't travel too far. Nice water until around the dead center of the day. Nice campgrounds - no morons typically.

Lake Shasta - way north. We do a vacation week there at Tsasdi Resort cabins along the lake. You'll find posts about Shasta on TT.

Other lakes that I know of but not first hand:

Rollins lake - West of Sacramento.
Bullards bar - Getting a bit out there.
Tulloch Lake - Just past Don Pedro. I here of good flat water there.

The Delta - not much to look at. Then you realize there is flat water to be found there 24 x 7 x 365. OK, minus a few months when it is fogged over and a little too chilly for some. Even when it is busy, you can find places to go - there is just miles, and miles and miles of it. Narrow channels so rollers don't travel far. During high season, mid summer, I go there on mid week day late afternoon/early evenings - not too many people out. Non-prime season, go anytime you want. I've been hitting the Delta every weekend since the end of August; fall is an excellent time of year here.


Get a copy of "Recreation Lakes of California". You can find it at Orchard Hardware for one. Also get a map of the Delta if you plan to go there. Your local marine dealer and/or water sports pro shop will most likely have both available.

So going with the rule of "no Pictures then it did not happen" here are some from the Delta yesterday near Holland Track/Old River/Orwood area:

Lake Tulloch is only good in early mornings or early season/late season. Past 9-10 o'clock in peak season it gets too rough for good slalom ski runs, and past 12 it's pretty hard to wakeboard as well. 2-3 o'clock is a nightmare, you've usually got at least 3-5 boats in the same area at the same time, since it's such a small lake. Also, there are houses right on the lake, so lots of families that don't know anything about boating. There's a small cove that's good for wakeboarding/skiing, since the wakes dissipate really fast, but tubers seem to love going in there and do S-turns and whatnot. They never seem to go out into the open part of the lake. Crazy jet skiiers as well, cutting in front of boats, and going the wrong way. Lots of drivers there do power turns all the time as well, as well as lots of wakesurfers.

Don Pedro (from what I've heard from one of our neighbors that occasionally goes there) is good for skiing up until 12-2. It's a lot more open, and there are less people. I guess everyone went from Don Pedro to Tulloch because you could actually buy houses that are on the lake at Lake Tulloch.