Try a new tack on the Delta waterways with the Stockton Sailing Club

There are a few things you need to know about sailing in the Delta.

• Your sailboat may go aground. Even though the main channel is deep enough for ocean-going freighters, it’s not uncommon for boats to occasionally skid to stop in the muddy shallows. But not to worry. The tide inevitably rises, or a passing boater throws you a rope, and you float merrily away.

• You need to zigzag a lot to sail upwind. The rivers and sloughs are narrow in spots. Since sailboats can’t sail directly into the wind, you need to frequently zigzag — or “tack” to use sailor parlance. On the ocean, not so much.

• Expect to get lost. Presented with 1,000 miles of twisting waterways, Delta mariners may start to feel like a rat in a maze. Even veteran sailors can lose their bearings now and then. Thankfully, there are modern tools like GPS to aid in navigating back to the marina.

• You’ll have a blast. Be prepared to have fun. Sailing in the scenic Delta is an entirely different challenge than the high seas.

Just ask William Humphreys. He has plied the waters around Stockton for about 40 years. He knows what matters most to sailors: the wind.

Unlike the capricious air on Lake Tahoe or other inland bodies of water, brisk Delta breezes are fairly predictable. Humphreys said winds usually blow 10 to 15 knots from the northwest. Local sailors call them “Carquinez winds,” so named for the strait of the same name near Vallejo that’s been dubbed “the gateway to the Delta.”

Though the winds are energetic, the waves are not. Unlike ocean sailing, there are more ripples than rollers, a relief to those susceptible to seasickness.

“The Delta is very calm,” said Humphreys, a Stockton resident. “It’s very rare that you get rough water. You can get big winds, but you are never going to get really wet.”

Plus there’s so much to see: sea lions, birds and the picturesque vistas — not to mention, sunsets — found only in the Delta. On a sailboat, the only sounds are the whoosh of wind and water.

Humphreys is membership chair of the Stockton Sailing Club, which is situated west of Stockton on the San Joaquin River on Buckley Cove Way.

The club, established in 1933, has a 300-slip marina that accommodates yachts up to 50 feet. Smaller sailboats and dinghies are stored ashore and hoisted into the water on sailing days. The club, which has about 250 family memberships, is not only a meeting point for sailors, but supports racing and those who want to learn. There are sailing classes for adults and kids alike, including sessions that run during the summer.

Mary Schlenger admits she doesn’t have a lot of sailing experience. But that didn’t stop her and friend Faye Roberts from attending “Opening Day” at the Stockton Sailing Club in April.

“It’s such a gracious club,” Schlenger said. “They’re really helpful to set you up as a crew, or to get you more interested in sailing.”

Roberts, who said she loves the opportunity to get outdoors on the water, admires that you don’t have to own a boat to join the club.

For newcomers who want to get their feet wet, so to speak, Humphreys encourages stopping by the club’s midweek racing, which runs through August.

“Come out and find out what it’s about. We can always get people on boats for the Wednesday night racing,” he said.

Besides daytime sailing, the club is involved in more adventurous journeys. The Delta Ditch Run, which takes place every June, attracts as many as 100 sailboats for a race from Richmond to Stockton — 65 miles of sailing.

“I think people should try sailing the river,” Schlenger said from aboard the boat Dynamite. “I mean, even if they sailed the ocean or Santa Cruz, it takes a certain skill and technique to sail this river.”

Humphreys is a skipper himself, owner of a 30-foot Morgan cruising sailboat named Miss Savannah. He’s learned to adapt to the area’s peculiarities.

The river can get congested during the summer, with a wide variety of watercraft — motorboats being the most common. There can also be encounters with 600-foot freighters making their way to the Port of Stockton. On the ocean, that’s no big deal. But in the channels of the Delta, tight quarters can lead to anxious moments.

“Ships are pretty tolerant of us,” Humphreys said. “They’ll give you a horn blast if they don’t understand what you’re doing.”

Some sailboat owners have self-tacking jibs — a front sail that doesn’t have to be readjusted frequently. It’s a sailing rig that’s a rarity among boats that ply the bays and oceans but makes perfect sense in the narrow Delta rivers, where boats need to turn a lot. Also, many of the Delta boats have full-length keels instead of the deep fins that would make them more susceptible to running aground.

Just as in life for all of us, there are occasional bumps in the road. Or in this case, the waterways.

“We have a saying: ‘If you don’t run aground once in a while, you aren’t sailing in the Delta,’ ” Humphreys said.