Angels Island Birthday Weekend Info
Angel Island Birthday Weekend Info
March 22 to March 24, 2019
Hi everyone! I’m turning 44 this year and keeping the tradition of what I started last year - camping at Angel Island in March to celebrate my birthday. It’s a low season for the island but it’s usually really beautiful and serene. I hope you can join us for either overnight or a day trip on Saturday. There’ll be a bbq on Saturday afternoon, so you can also just join us for that.
Campsite and Backpacker info
Our campsite is only 1.5 miles from Ayala Cove where the ferry will drop you off. It has a steep trail from the cove up to the main fire road, so don’t pack too much or you’ll be sweating lots. The camp site is called site 10 or kayak camp. It’s a group tent campsite with garbage and a small bbq stand.
There are quite a few flat places that you can pitch your tent, probably big enough to fit ten 2-3 person tents. Make sure you bring your rain flies, since we’re still in spring and it could rain or dew heavily.
There are no wood fires on the island but we’ll either use the bbq stand or a fireman to have charcoal fires for warmth and bbq.
There are bathrooms about a 3 minute walk from the campsite with running water. There’s water on the top of the hill from the campsite. We’ll have a large water container at the campsite that we can refill, so you don’t have to go up there every time you need to refill your water bottle.
No wifi at the campsite but cell signal is pretty good if you walk to a clearing.
Day Hiker/Biker Info
If you’re only planning to come for a day hike or a bike ride, Saturday will the best. You can take a ferry, hike and join us for the bbq. I’d recommend biking because you’ll be able to see more of the island that way. If you’re an experienced hiker and would like to lead a hike from kayak camp at 11:30am - let me know.
9:45am first ferry leaving Pier 41
10:00am first ferry leaving Tiburon
10:30am Day hikers meet at ferry terminal, drop off stuff at the campsite on the way if needed
11:30am Hikers depart from camp
1:30pm back to campsite and have bbq
3:00-3:30pm leave for the Ferry
3:30pm last ferry to Tiburon
4:15pm last ferry to Pier 41
Food Info
For day hikers, bikers and paddlers, bring something to share for the BBQ.
For overnighters, we’ll do group breakfasts and dinners. We’ll need volunteers for the following:
Friday night dinner
Saturday morning easy breakfast
Saturday night dinner
Sunday morning long breakfast (I’m doing this one)
If you want to volunteer for for one of the above, make sure it’s an easy one pot meal. Best if it is pre-made and can just be heated. We’ll have a small commissary with the basics, a two burner stove, and two pots.
Paddler’s Info
For Saturday day paddlers: If you want to circumnavigate Angel Island with us and paddle on Saturday, you’ll be on your own in terms of paddling to and fro Angel Island. I recommend you put in at Tiburon, it’s the shortest distance from the island crossing Racoon Strait. Meet us at 9am at the beach between Point Stewart and Point Lone. There’s a couple of pilings for the old pulleys sticking out of the water, you can’t miss it. We’ll paddle around the island and you can paddle back to Tiburon during slack at 3:3pm after the bbq. Note you’re on your own for the Racoon Strait crossing, so make sure you have a partner/partners or feel confident as an advance paddler to do the crossing alone. Racoon strait is an active ferry and boat channel and there can be a lot of boat traffic from various angles.
Parking at Tiburon can be somewhat tricky, but there’s a few parking lots around Sam’s restaurant. You can put in at Sam’s restaurant and around the ferry terminal.
For overnighters: Pick up at 1pm Richmond Marina Bay Yacht Harbor: https://www.mbyh.com
You can park overnight at the harbor parking lot. The gated entrance is $12 per day for 24 hours, it will only let you stay 48 hours. But you can go into the office and pay extra $12 for the third day if needed.
Board and equipment: I won’t be able to bring boards for you. If you want to paddle the Richmond to Angel Island and back (7 miles one way) and rent a board, you’ll need to pick up a board from Mike’s Paddle in the morning and drive it to Richmond. Same on the return. Also same for the day paddlers for Saturday - you’ll need to figure out how to transport your own board or the rental board. Since it’s my birthday - rental is discounted. 🙂 Best to use a 12’6 or 14 if you have your own board - boards shorter than those will be too slow for the trip.
Camping equipment load at Richmond: at the same time that you put in, we’ll load your camping gear onto the boat and we’ll meet the boat at a beach near the campsite. Please make sure you pack like you’re going backpacking, there’s a steep trail from the beach to the campsite. Packs need to be waterproof because we’ll be transferring them between boat and land. Make sure they are packs like this: https://www.nrs.com/product/55014.02/nrs-outfitter-dry-bag. You can also get several smaller ones if you want to separate your stuff, sometimes that’s helpful with a wet tent and ivy that needs to be dried later. Make sure they are not this kind - they are not really waterproof: https://www.rei.com/product/124300/sea-to-summit-lightweight-dry-sacks-set-of-3
Friday
Tide Info
8:50am slack
11:16am flood 2kt
2:30pm slack
5pm ebb 2kt
Timeline
10am Sail from Alameda to Richmond (Mike, Judy, Zach & Sacha)
1:00pm Meet at Richmond Harbor, load gear onto boat and paddle to Angel Island
3:00pm Load gear from boat to campsite
5:00pm - 7:00pm bbq or dinner
Saturday
Tide Info
6:00am Ebb 2kt
9:30am slack
12:00pm flood 1.85kt
3:30pm slack
6:23pm ebb 1.86kt
Ferry Info
9:45am first ferry leaving Pier 41
10:00am first ferry leaving Tiburon
3:30pm last ferry to Tiburon
4:15pm last ferry to Pier 41
Timeline
8am easy breakfast
9am Paddle around the island
10:30am Day hikers meet at ferry terminal, drop off stuff at the campsite on the way
11:30am hikers depart from camp
12pm prepare for bbq
1:30pm bbq ready - eating and happiness
3:00pm hikers leave from camp to ferry
3:30pm last ferry to Tiburon
4:15pm last ferry to Pier 41
7pm dinner
Sunset hike
Sunday
Tide Info
6:30am ebb 2kt
10:30am slack
12:50pm flood 1.5kt
4:30pm slack
Timeline
8am easy breakfast
9-10am hike up to the top of the island
11am pack up the camp and onto the boat
12:30pm arrive at Richmond
2:30pm sail back to Alameda