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.

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.

Founded in 1961; indirectly connected to the long-running Allemand Brothers boat yard. Public launch ramp.

Access: At the foot of Pier 54 in Central Basin.

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.

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.

Two launch ramps. No charge.

Access: Just north of the Napa Valley Marina. Moore's Landing restaurant is prominent just north of the second ramp.

Access: Opposite Coast Guard Island on the Oakland shore.

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.

This 350-acre riverside park offers a single-lane launch ramp with ample parking. No charge. On Highway 221 just south of Napa Valley College.

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.

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.

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.

There's a public boat ramp in Sausalito, but the ramp is in poor condition beneath the water and most people prefer to pay for the ramp at Clipper, where there is also parking available.

A reader comment from Tom Ochs: Make sure you get there at high water. The city hasn't maintained the harbor or ramp in years, and it has silted in quite badly. It is not unusual to see a boat approaching the ramp stuck in the mud. Get there at least on a 2-foot tide. It's that bad.