Westpoint Harbor is a
marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
that opened in 2008 at the mouth of the
Westpoint Slough located in
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...
.
History
The first development on the site in the 19th century had been a shipbuilding yard with close proximity to a cement factory. After 1918, when the cement plant closed,
Leslie Salt
The Leslie Salt Company was a salt-producing company located in the San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds, San Francisco Bay Area, at the current locations of Newark, California, Newark, Hayward, California, Hayward and other parts of the bay.
Background
...
used the site as a holding pond for
bittern
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern" ...
.
The marina took over 19 years from when the idea was conceived originally to being constructed completely. Three years were spent obtaining the land from the owner
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated, is a privately held American global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in ter ...
who owns several nearby
salt ponds. An additional 12 years passed obtaining permits from various agencies to commence construction which took another four years due to heavy rains.
Private commuter
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
service carries passengers from the
East Bay
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...
and
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to the marina, with a planned expansion for more public service in the future.
The harbor and the
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission have been at odds for years over various regulations and permit enforcement with the commission in early 2018 attempting to levy more than in fines.
Recreational use
Westpoint Harbor also hosts the
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
Treeathalon every year, a
triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...
competition.
Gallery
See also
*
Port of Redwood City
The Port of Redwood City is a marine freight terminal on the western side of the southern San Francisco Bay, on the West Coast of the United States. This marine terminal is situated within the city of Redwood City, California. The port was d ...
*
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
*
Greco Island
References
Further reading
Westpoint article in Latitudes 38Westpoint article in Windward Ho!
External links
*
{{San Francisco Bay watershed
Marinas in California
Redwood City, California
Ports and harbors in the San Francisco Bay Area
2008 establishments in California