BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Does anyone here know the average speed of the river, specifically the deep channels along 1) Chicago Port, and 2) BayPoint/Pittsburg in the summer? Also, compared to the average water speed of Sherman island/Rio Vista?

The reason I ask is I could kite easily without getting underpowered with a 12 meter and a 6 foot surfboard, average wind speed of 15-20 mph at Sherman with steep flow or ebb.

Meanwhile, with the same wind conditions and gear, I have to work a little harder keeping upwind when riding near Port Chicago. I currently weigh 170 lbs. I could go up a kite size, but hate getting overpowered when the wind picks up later in the session.

Of course, I could always just pick up a HydroFoil and not worry too much about kite sizes, but that is not in my budget at the moment.

Rey

The farthest flow rate sensor (CFS) I can find on the Sacramento River is located in Freeport near Sacramento...
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?fpt
There doesn't look to be any ideal CFS sensors for the San Joaquin River at all... http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/sanj4Stages.html

If you're up to it, you may find something here...
http://www.water.ca.gov/dayflow/documen ... lowDoc.cfm

Those spots you talk about are heavily influenced by tide because they are in the deep water channel. Look for shallow coves with wind they are out there. Just do some research.

Thanks Yoda,

It is sad that the San Joaquin river does not get as much attention as the Sacramento river.

I use NOAA
https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaat ... id=9415144
to predict tide and current conditions, basically, I try to ride around Port Chicago at peak high/low tides, especially when I do water crossing from BayPoint to Fairfield. I have two to three hours during those period where I don't have to deal with a lot of current. It is so far my best option.

It would have been nice to have flow rate sensors near Port Chicago.

Yoda wrote:The farthest flow rate sensor (CFS) I can find on the Sacramento River is located in Freeport near Sacramento...
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?fpt
There doesn't look to be any ideal CFS sensors for the San Joaquin River at all... http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/sanj4Stages.html

If you're up to it, you may find something here...
http://www.water.ca.gov/dayflow/documen ... lowDoc.cfm

There probably are plenty of "sensors" around:

Before you make the trek to sherman or which ever other delta spot you ride always check currents. There are plenty of resources available, even windalert has a sea surface current model on their desktop version. If the flood is nasty you have limited options. Option 1 the best option is that its blasting 30+ so you dont give a shit. Option 2 ride a place with a shallow cove where the flood is not as nasty. Such as inside benicia or try to make it into sherman lake after launching. Option 3 just Foil harder to learn but once you foil the only tides you care about is if your mast hits the bottom close to shore. Body dragging out with a foil is just an awkward experience. In terms of average speed, average speed is around 0knts lol. Usually max flood is 3knts and max ebb is 3knts so it averages out. Bottom line check tide tables bring the right gear.
Good luck.

PS. pretty sure that is a crab pot bouy in the pick above not a sensor.

This is interesting...
http://baydeltaoffice.water.ca.gov/Delt ... erways.pdf
Scroll down to Page 21. It focuses on the Pittsburg area for tidal flows which equates to 5k-10k cfs.

You may find some useful cfs info here, but it looks like it stops at Rio Vista.
http://levels.wkcc.org/?D=hp3

Overall I agree with dboardfox and think the area you're inquiring about is too impacted by the tides to be measured precisely. There are too many variables involved that far downstream.

dboardfox wrote:Such as inside benicia or try to make it into sherman lake after launching.

I agree with the sherman lake part but benicia seems like its always flooding, probably due to a eddy or crappy wind, if you throw a stick in the water it always goes down wind unless your at dillon point