Paradise Cove

This turned out to be a great little spot for an overnight on the backside of the Tiburon peninsula in Marin County. Left Sausalito in patchy fog at about 10AM on Friday morning and were settled in at Paradise Cove within an hour. We anchored in about 20 feet of water just to the North of the fishing pier at Paradise Park. Went for a row along the shore, with lots of harbor seals keeping me company.
As expected, there are some amazing homes along the shore here- most looking unoccupied. Saw a few boats fishing the area in the afternoon, but otherwise had the anchorage to ourselves. The bottom is mud/clay (with a robust population of tubeworms). Our Rocna anchor hooked up quickly and stayed that way through a few tidal cycles. Like China Camp the current can run pretty quick through here so you have to use a little horsepower to set your anchor well. Also like China Camp, you have to allow some time to wash all the muck off your chain and anchor when leaving. I did find that the mud here seemed to be less "sticky" and a little easier to wash off than the stuff further north along the Marin shore. Seems well protected from the West to South West. I think anything from the North or East would blow it out here, and make for a very uncomfortable stay. Conditions for our overnight stay were very nice, with light winds, mild temps, and moderate currents. Super relaxing spot and very close to home. Definitely plan on going back again.

One significant issue as far as comfort at this anchorage is the fact that the North bay Ferry traffic lanes running to SF run parallel to the shore here, and not very far off the anchorage. The big rollers that come in are as predictable as the ferry schedule, but if you aren't watching for them, they could reassemble the interior furnishings of your boat. We knew this going in, and chose this spot intentionally to test out our stabilizing rig. We have large commercial style downriggers that can rigged with Paravanes for stabilization when underway (more on this setup later), or with "flopper stoppers" at anchor.  I built the flopper stoppers from scratch using some old aluminum frames and semi truck mud flaps:

The flaps basically act as one-way valves when the boat rolls. When the boat rolls "down" they open and sink. When the boat rolls "up" they close and resist the upward motion. When they are hung on both sides of the boat they work in tandem, providing a strong opposing force to the roll of the boat. The long outriggers that they are rigged from provide a big "lever" and increase their effectiveness. The result is a big dampening effect that transforms the roll from waves or swells into a relatively gentle up and down motion. Here's a video from our trip (big wakes compliments of the Vallejo and Larkspur ferries):