Consider normal Northern Hemisphere weather patterns. The weather
tends to move from West to East, which makes for a totally different
coastal condition, for sailing.
Think of SF Bay as an oversized Boston Harbor ... there are many places
to go in a larger area.
Sailing in Winter on the West Coast, is more normal than rare, but at
any time of year, sailing offshore, especially from Point Conception,
North tends to require some greater distances and greater pre-planning,
than you may be used to....the closest thing to NE for Islands, etc.,
for cruising is Puget Sound, etc..
I'm being vague and skipping details, but sense that's what you are
interested in.

Intenost wrote:
Hello,

Hope this goes better then the last time I tried posting here.

Anyway, I'm contemplating a job-related relocation to the Bay area from New
England. I'm hoping to get some comments on the sailing scene in the Bay
Area as compared to the Northeast (Mass/RI/Maine) coasts. I do mostly day
sailing with a few 2-3 days weekends and a couple of week long trips per
year. My weekends are usually up to Cape Ann or down to the Plymouth, and
the week long trips are usually to Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket, or P-town
and the Stellwagen bank for whale watching.

While the weather and the wind seems pretty decent in the Bay Area, I'm
wondering about the following:

-Is there a variety of places to visit, anchor, go ashore and explore like
there is in the Northeast, or is sailing mostly criss crossing the bay?

-How is sailing in the off-season? Even in Boston there are hardy souls
that do winter sailing/racing (kind of cool in the snow!) but I was
wondering how common it is for people to get out in the winter season.

-If I didn't want to buy a boat right away (I think the local housing market
will take care of that) are there any recommended clubs to check out,
preferably that have a fleet with boats in the 24' - 30'-something size? I
mostly sail J-30's, and sometimes C&C 33's with an occasional J-24.

I get a sense that I'll miss all of the islands and harbors here in New
England. But I'm not sure what kind of destinations lie inside and outside
the Bay. And of course it's closer to Seattle, and the San Juans, where I
really like to charter for a week and sail, and in the Bay it seems an
exciting ride is pretty much guaranteed on a regular basis.

Comments appreciated!

Thanks!