Founded in 1906, Aeolian Yacht Club is an all volunteer club that features deep water berths, guest dock, club sailboats and dinghies, wood workshop, and a clubhouse with a bar, kitchen, and dance hall. Aeolian Yacht Club is known for its Friday night gatherings.

Access: On the Southern tip of Alameda near the Bay Farm Island Bridge. Navigate with caution at low tide. See web site for detailed instructions.

Facilities include Svendsen's boatyard, chandlery, boat hoists, launch ramp. Home to Island Yacht Club.

Access: The last marina in the Estuary, on the Alameda side, as you're coming in from the Bay. Just past the southern tip of Coast Guard Island.

Small marina that is part of the Arques Shipyard. No public facilities.

Access: Follow the channel north into Richardson Bay. Take the left fork in the channel and head toward the fuel dock at the south end of Clipper Yacht Harbor. Arques is on the left as you approach the fuel dock.

Ayala Cove is not really a marina, but it offers marina-like docks for day use. Moorings may be used overnight.

Access: Ayala Cove is on the north side of Angel Island. Enter between the ferry dock and the moorings.

Newer marina on the west side of Alameda. Facilities include fuel dock, pumpout, tennis courts, Island Lighthouse restaurant, Ballena Bay Cafe, Ballena Bay Yacht Club, Club Nautique, Ballena Bay Yacht Brokerage, Cruising Yacht Inc. (brokerage), New England Marine Title, 24 Hour Pump Out Service, Pier 29 Restaurant. Crown Memorial State Beach nearby.

Access: Not on the Estuary! Access directly from the bay on the west side of the island. Watch the chart carefully and stay in the narrow entrance channel.

Home of the Berkeley Yacht Club and Cal Sailing Club. Fuel dock, launch ramp, boat yard. Doubletree Hotel. Skates Restaurant nearby.

Access: The area around Berkeley is mostly quite shallow. Before approaching the marina, locate the end of the Berkeley pier, which is in ruins, and stay in the channel on its north side.

Brickyard Cove is a housing development with 200 homes and apartments, most with waterfront docks, and a small marina. Home to Richmond Yacht Club.

Access: After entering the channel between Pt. Richmond and the breakwater, Brickyard Cove is about half a mile down on the port side.

One of the Port of Oakland marinas, managed by Almar.

Access: At the end of the channel in the Richmond harbor.

This extensive older marina is gradually getting much-needed upgrades. Home to much of the Sausalito sportfishing fleet, as well as Sausalito's only fuel dock and its best launch ramp.

Access: Clipper Basin 1 is adjacent to Schoonmaker Point Marina; Basins 2, 3, and 4 are several hundred yards north, past Marina Plaza and Arques Marina.

Access: Opposite Coast Guard Island on the Oakland shore.

Slips available for purchase as well as rental.

Access: Follow the channel carefully into the Emeryville area. It makes a sharp right turn after passing the first set of docks. Once you've made this turn, Emery Cove is ahead and to port.

Access: Follow the channel carefully into the Emeryville area. It makes a sharp right turn after passing the first set of docks. Once you've made this turn, Emeryville Marina is to starboard.

Home of the Alameda Yacht Club. From 1904 to 1929, this historic location was the southern home of the Alaska Packers Association ships, the last square-rigged sailing fleet on the west coast. The fleet was an important part of the Alaskan Salmon industry.

Access: Coming from the Bay, pass the northern tip of Coast Guard Island to port; Fortman Marina is then the first marina to starboard.

Facilities include the last surviving Alaska Packers Association building.

Access: Coming from the Bay, pass Coast Guard Island to port. Grand Marina is to starboard just past the island's southern tip. It is the second-to-last marina on the Estuary.

Many restaurants (including Jack's, Scott's Kincaid's, Il Pescatore, Tony Roma, Pizzaria Uno, Yoshi's) and shops at adjacent Jack London Square. One of the Port of Oakland marinas, managed by Almar.

Access: Entering from the Bay, Jack London Square is the first marina to port (past the container ship terminal).

The northernmost section of houseboats, closest to shore. No visitor facilities.

Access: Access only with local knowledge, and only at high tide.

Marina completely rebuilt in the late 1990s. Facilities include Loch Lomond Yacht Club, Arena Yacht Sales. and Andy's Local Market.

Access: Enter the San Rafael channel, staying within 100 feet of the row of green markers (only the port edge is marked). Before entering the San Rafael canal, make a sharp right turn into the side channel to Loch Lomond Marina, marked with a series of posts on both sides.

Access: Enter the San Rafael channel, staying within 100 feet of the row of green markers (only the port edge is marked). Continue into the San Rafael canal for about 1 mile, past the Marin Yacht Club. Lowrie's is on the starboard side just where the canal makes a turn to starboard.

Marina Bay is a relatively new marina built in the space occupied by the Kaiser Shipyard during World War II.

Access: Marina Bay Yacht Harbor is the easternmost of the Richmond boating facilities. After following the dog-leg to the left as the channel heads toward the Richmond Inner Harbor, look for the marked channel on the right that leads to Marina Bay.

Small, newer marina in front of an office park near the Bay Model, between downtown and the Harbor Rd. area.

Access: As Schoonmaker Marina veers off to the west, follow the edge of the marina. Go past the large Corps of Engineers dock. Marina Plaza is the next marina.

The largest marina on the Estuary, this space was home to the Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding Division, which built ships during World War II.

Access: Opposite Jack London Square on the Alameda side of the Estuary. The second marina on this side.

Access: Opposite Jack London Square.

The Napa Valley Marina is the only large public boating facility, other than launch ramps, on the Napa River. In addition to covered and open slips, there's a guest dock, a fuel dock, and a large boatyard. The boatyard has room for more than 250 boats. With warmer weather and cheaper rates than anywhere else this close to San Francisco, the boatyard is a popular site for large owner-managed projects.

Access: Enter the Mare Island Strait between Mare Island and Vallejo and proceed 9 miles north. The marina is about 6 miles south of downtown Napa.

One of the Port of Oakland marinas, managed by Almar.

Access: Across from the north-east end of Coast Guard Island, on the Oakland side.

Home of the Oakland Yacht Club, which manages the entire marina.

Access: The third marina on the Alameda side of the Estuary as you enter from the Bay. East of Marina Village.

Paradise Cay is a housing development with backyards facing docks on man-made canals. There's a new marina that can accommodate boats to 115 feet with up to 24-foot beam on end ties. Two pump out facilities, lots of parking, and new rest rooms. Home of the Tiburon Yacht Club.

Access: On the east side of the Tiburon peninsula, just north of Paradise Park.

Small marina just north of, and immediately adjacent to, Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Many classic wooden boats. No guest slips.

Access: Pelican Yacht Harbor appears from the water to be part of Sausalito Yacht Harbor. Heading north from the bay, the entrances to Pelican are the last two openings in the breakwater (just after the "Taj Mahal" houseboat).

Marina on the east side of the Pier 39 tourist mecca. Slips for sale or rent.

Access: Follow the breakwater on the east side of Pier 39. The entrance is near the shore.

Includes 12 house boat slips

Access: North of San Rafael Bridge. Go past the Brothers and bear to starboard around Point San Pablo. The marina is half a mile east of the point.

Access: The first marina past Jack London Square on the Oakland side of the Estuary.

The northermost marina in Richardon's Bay.

Access: Stay carefully in the Sausalito channel, passing all the other marinas and many houseboats. At its northern end, the channel turns to port into Richardson Bay Marina.

Access: Enter the channel into Richmond, following the sharp left turn into the inner harbor. The Richmond Marina is almost all the way at the end of the channel, to starboard.

The San Francisco Marina includes two separate areas, called the West Basin and the East Basin (also known as Gashouse Cove). The gas dock is in the East Basin, adjacent to Fort Mason. The West Basin, at the other end of Marina Green, is home to the St. Francis and Golden Gate Yacht Clubs.

Access: The West Basin is the closest marina to the Golden Gate; it is east of Chrissy Field. The East Basin is a few hundred yards to the east, and is easily identified by the large warehouse piers of Fort Mason on its east side.

A concrete, two-lane launch ramp, with boarding floats, is available at no charge 24 hours per day. Both diesel and unleaded gasoline are available from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Access: The Channel, which begins south of the Oakland airport, is approximately two miles long with a width of 200 feet. It is dredged to a depth of -7' MLLW. There are 14 channel markers, 6 of which have flashing lights.

Small marina adjacent to the old Sausalito Marine building and the public launch ramp.

Access: Turn to port after passing Sausalito and Pelican Yacht Harbors. Sausalito Marine Harbor will be ahead of you, to the right of the launch ramp.

Southernmost marina in Sausalito, adjacent to the central downtown area. It is one of the older marinas, but it has been very well maintained. Owned by Herb Madden, Jr., whose father built the original marina -- much smaller than today's -- in the 1930s.

Access: Sausalito Yacht Harbor is the first marina you reach heading in from the Bay, just past the Spinnaker restaurant.

A relatively new, full-service marina. Side-ties can handle yachts up to 220 feet long. Guest slips often available by prior arrangement. Café at marina. Sandy beach that can be used to land or launch kayaks and dinghies.

Access: Head north in the Sausalito channel. After passing the Sausalito and Pelican Yacht Harbors, stay in the channel as the shoreline veers away to the left. The channel approaches the shoreline again at Schoonmaker Point, making the marina easy to identify.

The newest San Francisco Marina and the only one not on the north side of the city, South Beach Harbor was built in 1986 by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. It then found itself in the fortuitous position of being next to the new ballpark. Home to the South Beach Yacht Club. Free pump-out stations.

Access: After heading south under the Bay Bridge, South Beach Harbor is on the right, just before SBC Park.

Access: Enter Clipper Cove from the east side of Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands (the cove is formed by the space between them). Stay toward the starboard edge of the cove.

One of the Port of Oakland marinas, managed by Almar.

Access: The last marina on the Estuary, just before the Park Street bridge.

Largest marina in the north bay, with both covered and open berths, restaurants (Sardine Can and Zio Fraedo's Restaurant), fuel dock, chandlery, and boatyard (Vallejo Boatworks).

The largest houseboat marina in Sausalito. No visitor facilities.

Access: The houseboat area is at the north end of Sausalito, past all but one of the marinas. Large parts of the houseboat area have little or no water at low tide, so approach with caution and only at high tide.