Page 42 - Sonoma County Gazette June 2017

Petaluma’s Longest Park
By Maggie Hohle
Sunday, June 4, is the 11th annual Day on The River. This event, held in Petaluma’s downtown turning basin, has become a start-of-summer mainstay in Petaluma, drawing hundreds of participants and dozens of volunteers. The fact that kids 12 and under boat for free makes it a happy day for families. Adults pay just $10.00. Parking is on Weller Street, by the River House. For its host, Petaluma Small Craft Center, it is a vision come to life; The Floathouse, a floating boat rental center planned to extend off of the public docks accessed by Baskin Robbins, will make every day a day on the river.
On June 4, from 10 am to 2 pm, this 501(c)(3) nonprofit offers its ideal Petaluma River experience: people of all ages and
abilities enjoying Petaluma from the
river, on the widest variety of motorless
watercraft possible.
To pull it off, PSCC gathers boats
and staff from local businesses, puts some of its own boats on the water, and calls on long-time local partners like Clavey Paddlesports and Petaluma Stand Up Paddle, as well as North Bay Rowing Club (NBRC) and He’e Nalu and O’Hana Va’a Hawaiian outrigger canoe clubs. The Hawaiian outrigger canoeists take visitors on short rides, and the other vendors help kids and adults board and deboard the various colorful craft. The turning basin explodes with color on this day, with flags flapping and kayaks cruising, giving everyone an exciting view of what Petaluma can become, with river access for all: A real river town.
Executive Director Greg Sabourin
founded the rowing club more than
30 years ago, owns a classic yacht, and has long been involved with wooden boat building. By bringing all of these clubs and businesses together on the first Sunday in June, he stresses PSCC’s enduring goal: building community through boating.
The group’s first facility, The Floathouse, a rental center that will float next to the public dock below TAPS, is shovel ready and merely awaits funding. $190,000 will keep the project on track for a spring/summer 2018 opening, which is truly a feat. The group has spent years planning, permitting, and writing grants, like the one that netted $180,000 from the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail to buy the pilings and docks. Part of the project requirements for the city and the grant was to build a public restroom, which will be on the River House side.
PETALUMA RIVER cont’d on page 43
42 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 6/17