Even though the sun was barely above the horizon, the warm glow from the porthole forecast another sunny day but, lying in my bunk, I kept hearing a noise that I couldn't identify. Padding into the cockpit, I stood quietly, listening. We were totally alone in this quiet backwater, with towering willows creating a cool green glade for our sportfisher.

And then I saw what was causing the noise ... a pair of adult beavers were industriously showing a string of youngsters how to uproot some half-submerged reeds. As the inhabitant of a large city, my closest view of these creatures had been through the bars of a zoo cage, and those were bedraggled creatures indeed. But these were sleek and powerful animals in their native element and I sat entranced for half an hour, feeling as though I'd stepped into a Walt Disney movie. But this was just the start of another day, for beavers and sailors alike, in the magnificent California Delta.

Known more familiarly simply as "the Delta," this maze of crisscrossing waterways begins about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco and spreads over a wide area bounded roughly by the cities of Sacramento and Stockton. Three major rivers (the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Mokelumne) feed more than 1000 miles of navigable waterways and provide a varied scene for the cruising boater.

Though only a few hours from the gusty winds and chill waters of San Francisco Bay, the Delta is a world apart — warm days, calm anchorages and tranquil beauty.

Once a marshland, the modern Delta is a result of both man and nature. During the California goldrush, paddlewheel steamers plied the winding rivers carrying miners to the gold fields, but the real fortune lay in the rich soil buried beneath the waters. By the 1930s, levees had been built that reclaimed 55 islands from the marsh, and farming is now a major industry. Stockton and Sacramento are deep-water ports, and it's always startling to be anchored in silence and suddenly see the towering superstructure of a Japanese freighter glide past on its way to load cargo.

You're probably already familiar with the Delta, but you just don't know it. Hollywood has turned the area into a number of locations far from California, which shows how varied the scenery really is. It served, easily enough, as the Mississippi for Tom Sawyer's film adventures, but it was also the waterways around China for John Wayne's Blood Alley and just as quickly became Catfish Row for Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Once you're familiar with the Delta, you'll see it regularly on television as European canals, Southern swamps, African jungles and even as the California Delta!

Since cruising on the California coast is limited by an inhospitable shoreline, few anchorages, and often harsh weather, the Delta has become a new cruising destination. The white spars half-hidden behind trees might be a maxi-racer such as Windward Passage. Motorsailors capable of long offshore voyages can be found tied casually to a tree trunk while the owners frolic in the water. Sportfishers equipped with massive fighting chairs sit idle while their crews stalk the elusive bass and catfish among the reeds. Throaty runabouts zip water skiers through the natural slaloms of the winding channels, fishermen drift in their aluminum skiffs, and ferryboats of all shapes connect the islands.

Here, the mail is carried by a postman in an outboard runabout and the sheriff patrols by boat. You'll find fishermen chasing catfish among the reeds while, nearby, a large sportfisher is tied casually to the bank while the crew float in innertubes.

A rented houseboat is a popular way to enjoy the Delta, but these aren't Huck Finn-style floating shacks. Air conditioning, microwaves, and hot showers make these into resorts on the water. At day's end, simply toss a line around a likely tree, fire up the barbecue, and ponder the billions of stars visible far from city lights.

Dawn in the California Delta. The sun is barely up but the cafe at Herman & Helen's, a rustic tradition that combines fuel dock, grocery and diner, is already busy. A dozen men are hunched on stools at the counter over heaping plates of the hearty fisherman's breakfast. Several are burly, sunburnt truckdrivers from nearby farms, one is a ferryboat skipper, another is an off-duty bridgetender. Mixed in are a pair of Fortune 500 corporate executives who left their huge yacht by inflatable to enjoy a casual breakfast ashore. Over eggs and bacon, the conversations range from weather to fishing to sports, and everyone is enjoying the quiet warmth of a new Delta day. Across the channel, the beavers have already finished their breakfast of reeds.

It can get hot in the summer, but the spring and fall bring pleasant weather with an occasional trace of morning fog. Summer is also the busiest time, turning the winding waterways into a carnival afloat where secluded spots are rare.

Don't miss The Meadows, where lush jungle overhangs the still waters and you expect to see the African Queen around the next bend. We once spent three days without seeing another boat at Lost Slough, where it's quiet and green with water lilies and towering willows. At Mandeville Tip, you'll find a shoreside park, or you can stop at one of the many marinas and restaurants to get some nightlife. If you want to explore a ghost town, take a look at Locke, a community once populated by Chinese laborers on the transcontinental railroad.

Water skiers love the natural slalom courses of the twisting waterways, but remember that the deepwater channels are there for the ocean-going freighters headed for Stockton and Sacramento. Fishermen stalk bass and catfish along the shores, but most visitors find that the shade of an overhanging tree, a frosty drink, and a good book is all you need in the Delta. (916) 777-5007.