“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats,” said the water rat to the mole in The Wind in the Willows. The tidal estuaries of the Petaluma River and part of the Napa River prove perfect venues for testing that claim this summer.
As a community and a municipality, we’ve begun to recognize that the Petaluma River is a precious natural resource. Or rather remember that it is. (Maybe you know about The River Access and Enhancement Plan.) Before the Butter and Egg Days parade (theme: Legends of Petaluma), I was searching for proof that George P. McNear was not the only Petaluma resident to enjoy time recreating on the water (he rowed a single scull when he was home from Cornell, where he was on crew). I found it: photos in the library depicting “Canoe Races on the Petaluma River”, dated 1964.
Now we’re back at it; it seems every business on the river has already aligned itself with our lovely slough or is beginning to orient toward it, from Water Street Bistro, Rivertown Feed and Riverfront Gallery and the community meeting house known as Aqus Café to the re-named River Plaza (formerly Golden Eagle) and newly announced Riverfront development proposed by Basin Street Properties.
And we're playing on the river again, in droves, through Sunday boating at the River Heritage Center to learn to row programs by North Bay Rowing Club, summer camps for teens put on by the Petaluma Small Craft Center, which is solidifying plans and fundraising for The Floathouse small craft rental center in the turning basin. Day on the River, this Sunday, June 2nd is yet another boating event for the general public, at Foundry Wharf.
The canoe races of the 60s, which included sailboats and kayaks too, have given way to the Petaluma River Marathon and Half Marathon on Labor Day weekend; the Wine Country Rowing Classic in October; and the Post-Thanksgiving Annual Turkey Relay and Mixer at the North Bay Rowing Club, not to mention art boat races at Rivertown Revival in July.
Invited to the blessing of the canoes a few months ago by O’hana Wa’a, an outrigger canoe club that paddles on the Petaluma River but found a new home at the Napa Valley Yacht Club, I explored the banks of the Napa River, which also turns into a tidal estuary downstream from the city. I found a sister city feeling there, checking out the River Terrace Inn, the Napa River Inn, and Fish Story Restaurant.
And it turns out that boating beckons in Napa too. On Sunday, June 9th, you can visit by boat or board, via the 1st Annual Napa River Paddle Day, where $10 at one of two launch points gets you a hot dog lunch at the Club and the camaraderie of others equally enthralled by messing about in boats.
It’s summertime. Go get in a boat and find out just how easy life can be.
