Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline
Date: (Sun.) Mar. 13, 2016
Location: San Leandro, CA
Event Director: 
- 510.407.1876
Course Setter: Jay Hann
Type: C; Beginner courses and more; COOL event #5
What better way to greet Daylight Saving Time than to reset that clock so you can get up in time to head to Oyster Bay in San Leandro for some orienteering? Join us Sunday morning, rain or shine, for a romp by San Francisco Bay, and to enjoy watching the air traffic to and from Oakland Airport.
Due to the ever-changing nature of this park, course setter Jay Hann is still tuning up the courses, so final stats will be available later this week, but we can assure you that you will have a range of choices between 1–2 km to about 7 km, with a few requiring a high-capacity E-stick (more than 30 controls). See below for details.
Note: The date for this event jumped around a bit earlier in the year, but it is now settled, and the event will definitely be on March 13th.
Schedule
Don't forget to set your clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time!
- 9:00 AM – Registration opens
- 9:30 AM – Beginners' clinic instruction begins (free)
- 10:00 AM – Starts open
- 10:30 AM – Beginners' clinic instruction ends
- 11:59 AM – Registration closes
- 12:30 PM – Starts close
- 2:00 PM – Courses close, checkpoint control pick-up begins
Note that you can register and start on courses anytime between the open and close times above. Thus, for example, you do not need to be "punctual" at 9:00 (but you can if you want).
Beginners' clinics are short, repeating sessions that introduce the sport of orienteering, and provide enough instruction to be able to complete the beginner (White) course.
Everyone must check in at the Finish by 2:00 PM, and report to the E-punch tent, so we can have everyone accounted for and start checkpoint pick-up on time so those volunteers can get home.
After you finish, enjoy free snacks and refreshments, and socialize with other participants!
Event Fees
Event prices follow the (non-standard) $5/$10/$20 system—no dollars or coins needed—as follows.
Adults
- Members with suitable stick for their course – $10
- Non-members – $20 (includes finger stick and/or compass rental)
Juniors (under 21)
- Members with suitable stick for their course – $5
- Non-members – $10 (includes finger stick and/or compass rental)
Extra Maps
- $5 (for extra group members)
Courses
Here is how things stand as of February 16th. Notice that there are currently two courses with over 30 controls. This means that the SI-5 and SI-8 finger sticks won't work. Unlike prior events, we will not be lending out high-capacity sticks. If you don't have the capacity in your stick for the course you choose, you will either need to purchase a new stick or register as a non-member for $20, which includes a stick rental. Where is Santa when you need him?
How do you tell which finger stick you have? By its ID number, as follows:
- • ID number 1–499,999 = SI-5 (30 controls)
- • ID number 500,000–999,999 = SI-6 (64 controls)
- • ID number 2,000,000–2,999,999 = SI-8 (30 controls)
- • ID number 1,000,000–1,999,999 = SI-9 (50 controls)
- • ID number 7,000,000–7,999,999 = SI-10 (128 controls)
- • ID number 9,000,000–9,999,999 = SI-11 (128 controls)
If you are not familiar with E-punch, you can read about it here and here.
Here are the "pretty close to final" course details:
Course Length Climb Controls Navigation Course 1 (Elementary) 1.4 km 20 m 13 Easy Course 2 (Middle School) 2.4 km 50 m 12 Advanced Beginner Course 3 (JV) 5.7 km 95 m 19 Intermediate Course 4 (Varsity) 5.0 km 85 m 28 Difficult Course 5 (College Varsity) 6.9 km 130 m 34(*) Difficult Pink (Beginning Adventure Racers?) 7.0 km 50 m 42(*) Easy Long Orange (Adventure Racers) 8.5 km 135 m 29 Intermediate
(*) As noted above, these courses require a high-capacity E-stick.
Map Comments
Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline is one of those maps where you get something new each year. This year is no different.
Mud City: There is a flat-ish open area in the SW section of the map. This is recently-added dirt and it is really muddy, so much so that we removed routes and controls from this area.
Future Disc Golf Course: There is a section in the southern area marked as out-of-bounds. This was scraped last week in preparation for a disc golf course. You shouldn't have to cross it, and it is semi-muddy anyway.
There are many dogs off-leash in the park, and you should be able to run with your dog on Course 1, Course 2, and Pink. Courses 3, 4, 5 and Long Orange go through a "no dog" area.
We didn't see any poison oak at all.
There will be no drinking water on the courses.
Request for Volunteers
Yes, we want you! Help is needed with beginners' clinics, starts, finishes, refreshments, control pickup, ..., maybe registration, and probably E-punch. No prior experience is needed. Please contact if you'll be able to help (Thanks!).
Driving Directions
From north or south I-880 (Nimitz Hwy), exit at Marina Blvd West (#33B). Go right/west on Marina Blvd about 1.3 miles, to just before the main road bends left, to a short right-turn lane at Neptune Dr. Turn right/north onto Neptune Dr, and go 0.6 miles to the end. Park on the street.
There's a map here that shows the location of the event. (You'll need to drag the map to center the event, and zoom in, to see the surrounding details.)
Public Transit
Public transportation is poor in this area. Your best bet is BART to the San Leandro station, then walk (run?) or bicycle 2.7 miles, or hire a taxi cab. Better yet, maybe people can carpool...
Google walking/bicycling directions from the San Leandro BART Station:
- Head southeast on San Leandro Blvd toward Parrott St – About 5 mins, go 0.2 mi
- Turn right at Williams St – About 39 mins, go 2.0 mi
- Turn right at Neptune Dr – About 9 mins, go 0.5 mi – Total 2.7 mi