If you sail in from SF Bay you do have to watch the tides and make it through the river entrance on a flood tide. But the prevailing winds tend to blow you up the river to Stockton. (Not sure how it is to head towards Sacramento.) In the Delta itself the waterways are very spread out and not very strong currents. I never heard of the floating campgrounds. Sounds great! We used to launch at Herman and Helen's Marina where some friends had their boat, and the Marina rented out this thing called a "camp-afloat." It was a flat houseboat base that one could rent and then drive a motor home or trailer onto instead of renting a whole houseboat. (Houseboating is big on the Delta.) We stopped at one small marina once, I think in the Rio Vista area, where the outhouses were labelled "Inboard" and "Outboard." Bobbie