As of today, October 1, the water around Belvedere has two main users for the month. Racers from the San Francisco Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club have the open bay. Migrating waterbirds have the 900-acre Richardson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, which closed this morning to every kind of watercraft and stays closed through March 31, 2027. Everyone else gets what is left: a few launch points at the edges of the bay, one evening on the lawn at Belvedere Community Park, and a stretch of Beach Road that is still a construction zone.
Here is how that division works, and where you fit in it.
The Line That Went Up Today
The closure comes back every year, and it is broader than many people expect. The annual neighbor flyer, which the City of Belvedere is circulating this fall, says it plainly:
"The Richardson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is closed to all watercraft including boats, kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards from October 1 to March 31 every year, per Richardson Bay Regional Agency Ordinance 92-1."
Kayaks and paddleboards are named outright. The sanctuary is a designated Important Bird Area managed by the National Audubon Society, and it sits on the Pacific Flyway. In these months, tens of thousands of migrating ducks, grebes and shorebirds stop there to feed on fish and invertebrates. The flyer's reason for the rule is short: "Just one boat can disturb thousands of birds."
Marked buoys and pilings show the boundary on the water. The Marin County Sheriff's Department can cite anyone who enters during the closure. For anyone whose usual paddle starts on the Richardson Bay side of the peninsula, the buoys matter more than a habit formed in summer.
The Open Bay Runs on a Race Calendar
Outside the sanctuary, October on the water is busy, and most of the activity starts at a clubhouse on Beach Road. The San Francisco Yacht Club, at 98 Beach Road, opens the month with the Express 27 and Olson 25 Nationals on October 2 through 4. Racers check in, sail on-water races, and have a Saturday barbecue and reception.
The schedule for the rest of the month, including the land events nearby:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 1 | Richardson Bay sanctuary closes to all watercraft, through Mar. 31 | Richardson Bay |
| Oct. 2–4 | Express 27 & Olson 25 Nationals | San Francisco Yacht Club |
| Oct. 3, 1–4 p.m. | 43rd Tiburon Wine Festival | Point Tiburon Plaza |
| Oct. 9, evening | Belvedere Home Made Film Festival | Belvedere Community Park |
| Oct. 9–11 | Lipton Cup, J/22s | Corinthian Yacht Club |
| Oct. 11, 1–4 p.m. | Native American culture and heritage celebration | Zelinsky Park, Tiburon |
| Oct. 17 | Auxiliary Cup | San Francisco Yacht Club |
| Oct. 18 | Round the Island Race | Starts off Pt. Knox |
| Oct. 24–25 | Women's 2V2 Team Race, canceled as of Sept. 30 | San Francisco Yacht Club |
| Oct. 30 | Scheduled end of Beach Road seawall work | Main Street to Peninsula Road |
Three of these races say a lot about how local this calendar is.
The Lipton Cup is a club-versus-club event. Corinthian runs it in identical J/22s, so the sailing decides the result more than the boat does. Up to 12 clubs with current PICYA membership can enter. As of September 30, Latitude 38 reported nine teams registered: Corinthian, Encinal, Inverness, Richmond, South Beach, San Francisco, St. Francis, Sequoia and Tahoe yacht clubs. Kim Desenberg of Richmond YC told the magazine that this year's event falls on the same weekend as Fleet Week, and that "the milder weather should suit the J/22s a bit better." Racing runs Friday through Sunday. Friday and Sunday mix short courses with Bay-tour races, and Saturday has up to seven races.
The Auxiliary Cup is SFYC's women's regatta. The skipper must be a woman who is an SFYC member or an eligible family member, and the whole crew must be women. Two races are planned on October 17. The competitors' meeting is at 10 a.m., the first start is at noon, and racing is set for the area around Knox, west of Angel Island, and the central Bay. The SFYC Auxiliary that the race is named for began in 1953 as a fundraising committee, and it now supports member activities and club fundraising, including youth sailing.
The Round the Island Race does not go around Belvedere. People reasonably assume "the island" means the one the club sits on. The 2026 notice of race lists two possible courses. Both start off Pt. Knox at a 1 p.m. first warning. One rounds Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, the other rounds Alcatraz, and both then round the yellow Southampton Shoal buoy and finish near Corinthian Yacht Club. The race committee shows a placard on race day saying which course the fleet will sail. In one earlier year, SFYC's recap says, light wind led the committee to send the fleet around Angel Island instead of the usual Yerba Buena course. Entry is free, and entries close at 4 p.m. on October 16.
None of the race documents names a public viewing spot on shore, and the start is offshore. If you watch from land, you're on your own.
Where a Paddler Fits Now
With the sanctuary closed and the open bay busy most weekends, the practical question for kayakers and paddleboarders is where to launch. A few options are documented.
- Paradise Beach Park, 3450 Paradise Drive, Tiburon. Marin County Parks names it as a place to launch a kayak or canoe and warns that tides and currents there can be strong.
- Sea Trek at the Bay Model, 2100 Bridgeway, Sausalito. The rental page welcomes walk-ins. Fall hours run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through October 31. Winter hours begin November 1, Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sea Trek asks renters to stay in Richardson Bay and not go past the Trident and Scoma's area. Its page does not map the sanctuary boundary, so check the buoys yourself.
- Bayfront Park, Mill Valley. This city-managed launch at the northwest end of Richardson Bay has a dock with a kayak cut-out. A Bay Area Water Trail site report says it works only around high tide because the mudflats are exposed otherwise. That report dates from 2018, so for the closure line, go by the buoys on the water and the City's 2026 notice.
None of the public sources maps the closure boundary against these launch points. Before you head out, look for the buoys and pilings.
The One Night the Town Meets on the Lawn
With the water spoken for, the evening that gathers the most neighbors in one place this month is on land. The third annual Belvedere Home Made Film Festival is Friday, October 9, at Belvedere Community Park. It's free and family-friendly. About 30 short films made by community members will screen, each three minutes or less.
Several of the films come back to the water anyway. The Ark reports that Tiburon resident Mark Freiberg's "P Cay" grew out of drone footage of a small towboat he first saw from his window in Paradise Cay, a boat that later spent time working near Corinthian Yacht Club. Another entry, "Bad Day," is by Tiburon resident Nancy Freed and features her 8-year-old grandson, Oliver Scheer.
Timing as reported:
- 5 to 6 p.m. Be Ready Belvedere, the city's emergency-preparedness working group, holds a shelter-in-place event in the park. Volunteers hand out stay-box supplies to Belvedere residents registered with AlertMarin and help others sign up.
- 6 p.m. The Windsor Street Blues Band plays, with popcorn, hot cocoa and homemade soup.
- About 7 p.m. Films begin.
The City's notice lists 6:30 p.m. and suggests arriving early to claim a spot for a blanket or low-back chair. There's a drop-off point and limited seating on Community Road for older adults and anyone with mobility concerns. If you're not yet registered with AlertMarin, the hour before the band starts is an easy time to sign up.
The film festival falls on the first day of the Lipton Cup. Racing ends around the time the folding chairs come out.
The Shoreline Itself Is Still Being Rebuilt
The racers on the bay and the people on the lawn share one more thing this month: the stretch of Beach Road between them. The seawall stabilization project covers about 550 feet between Main Street and Peninsula Road. The Ark reported the main construction scheduled for July 27 through October 30.
The City's most recent progress update, dated August 18, said PG&E and Comcast had finished realigning utilities, MMWD had installed a temporary shut-off valve, and the contractor had put in a turbidity curtain and monitoring equipment. Excavation came first, with single-lane traffic during work hours. The scheduled end date was still Friday, October 30. The City's FAQ says the sidewalk from Main Street to 52 Beach Road is closed during construction and pedestrians are detoured.
No newer update has been posted since August, so treat October 30 as the planned finish, not a confirmed one. If you're walking to SFYC on a race weekend, or driving the Beach Road stretch toward Tiburon, expect the detour and single-lane traffic until the City says the work is done.
On the bay, three things change after October. The Round the Island fleet finishes near Corinthian on October 18. Sea Trek switches to winter hours on November 1. The sanctuary buoys stay in place until March 31.
At Kris Klein, we pay attention to how this shoreline's calendar affects the homes along it, from Beach Road construction to the months when Richardson Bay closes to boats. If you live near the water in Belvedere and want to know what your home is worth, request a home valuation and we'll go over it with you, block by block.
