Dockstart

What is dockstarting? As explained by Gwen Letour:

Basically, using a large hydrofoil (for beginners, typically around 1600-2000 sqcm area), you can launch the foil by running with or jumping onto the foil board itself, and then using a “hopping” motion to propel yourself and the foil forwards. It’s a good workout, and improves your balance quickly.

Known good locations

Tidewater Boating Center

This dock is a rowing dock used by the Oakland Strokes. It is super long, and provides lots of running space. Since it is a rowing dock, there are no obstructions to hit your feet on, and the height is within a foot of the water surface, making it easy to get back up on the dock. However, there is pretty strong current that runs parallel to the dock, so if you are taking off in the direction of flow, then it can be difficult to get sufficient speed. Make sure to check the tides before going, and check the rowing schedule if you don’t want to be hindered by the rowers coming in and out of the water.

Dockstart Dojo

This dock is another dock that the rowing club here uses to launch. It’s small, but is a good height and is plastic, so there isn’t a high chance of damaging your foil. You can also pump in a straight line down towards the end of the marina and then walk back, which can save you some swimming. There’s a large group of local foilers who meet here. Current is negligible, but on lower tides the water can get pretty gross. As always, be conscious of traffic in the channel entering/exiting the marina. There is also a boat launch nearby which provides a taller, more challenging dock to launch from.

3rd Ave Floating Dock

Water here is shallow, so you need to make sure the tide is high enough to be able to dockstart here. Probably want at least +4 MLLT. This is a plastic floating dock, which the kite school uses in the summer to put their jet-skis on. I’m not sure if there is enough room during the summer with the jet skis to have a good start here, but it is worth a try.

San Leandro

This dock is at the Wes McClure boat launch, which isn’t really used. This is a boat dock, so it has cleats and is probably more than a foot off of the surface of the water. The water here isn’t very clear due to silt buildup in the area.

MLK Shoreline

This dock is open from the end of March to October, and has some activity. It is a big boat dock, so has cleats and pylons, but since there are two docks with pylons on opposing sides, you can still start from either of them. These are a bit higher from the surface of the water than a rowing dock, so could be more challenging to learn from. The water here looks good, and there shouldn’t be too much additional maritime traffic. There is some effect from the current, but since you are launching perpindicular to the current, it should be negligible.

Jack London Aquatic Center

This dock is a rowing launch dock that is public, and provides a long run-up for either regular or goofy starts. The water here is pretty clean, but it is right next to the outlet for Lake Merritt. I prefer going here on an incoming tide. There are some moored boats, but should have limited traffic.

Berkley Marina Dock

This dock (or set of docks) are well known and used in the foiling communnity, so should provide a good place to learn. The docks are nice and low, and are in a sheltered part of the bay. The current here shouldn’t be an issue.

Possible good locations

These are locations that I haven’t been to yet, but I looked at on maps and through street view, which seem promising.

Coyote Point Marina

This docks is near the boat launch at Coyote Point. You will need to swim to it and it’s not in great condition.

Eden Landing Kayak Dock

This dock is at the end of Eden Landing Road. Looks like water could be questionable, but a pretty low-traffic dock.

SF Embarcadero Steps

This is not a dock. These steps are on the Embarcadero in SF, and could provide a possible spot if you can start regular stance. I would be very cautious of the current here, especially since there aren’t very many good take-out locations up and down current from this location. I would probably only start here with boat support.

Bohol Circle Dock

This dock is a kayak launch for the estuary, and could be OK for regular launches, but I would avoid if you are goofy. The water taxi also parks here during working hours (weekdays), so you need to be careful of that as well. The low dock is on the inside of the larger dock, so to get any meaningful pump distance, you need to be able to turn out of the small cove and into the main channel. There will be traffic here, so be very cautious. Also, parking is limited here.

Freefoil (rock/beach/etc)

I haven’t gotten good enough at dockstarting yet to be able to get to this, but I am hoping that I am able to go to some alpine lakes over the summer and pump around. However, I think the Robert Crown Beach in Alameda could prove to be a great starting place using a ladder start. This beach is pretty shallow, so might be challenging for a beach start.

My Setup

I use an Axis Tray 110 + Axis PNG 1150 + 350 progressive tail + short red fuse, and it has been a great platform for me (185 lbs) to learn on. I put gaffer’s tape on the rails of the board since I kept hitting the dock, but it hasn’t completely prevented the board from getting dinged and scratched. I prefer regular stance, so my favorite spots have that bias.