We were up early on Thursday, Sept 10, to make the passage
into the big city. We wanted to be sure
to ride the tide in and go under the bridge as it flowed. Unfortunately, there was no wind and we found
ourselves in heavy fog - which stayed with us until we reached the Golden
Gate. Fortunately we have a good radar
system and between that and the chart plotter we were into the main bay and the
sunshine by lunch time.
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| Trolling along the Potato Patch |
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| Golden Gate Bridge appearing out of the mist |
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| Proud captain |
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| We did it! |
We headed over to the welcome dock at the San Francisco
Harbour thinking we might stay a week.
We had really enjoyed our stay there the last time we were here, five years ago, but
were quite shocked to discover the rates had doubled – now $2.00 (US) a
foot. We decided to try for reciprocal
privileges at the St. Francis Yacht Club, a little farther in the harbour, and
were given two nights at a reasonable rate.
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| St. Francis Harbour boat haven view - Ka'sala dead centre |
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| SFYC front view |
This club is the premiere sailboat racing home of Olympians, America’s
Cup, Rolex Big Boat sailors, etc. Its walls
are covered with medals and trophies, as well as paintings of famous
boats. There are not many (if any) cruising
sailboats on their docks and the club was preparing for the Rolex Big Boat
series, which begins next week. Some very
amazing racing machines and their crews arrived each day. The clubhouse is sumptuous with several
dining rooms, event areas, fitness room, showers, etc. The entire front is lined with enormous
windows, giving breathtaking views of the harbour and the Golden Gate Bridge. On our first evening we enjoyed a lovely
dinner in their bar, watching flocks of pelicans drifting by as the red glow of
a fiery sunset lit up the western sky.
Ah! Civilization! (https://www.stfyc.com for more pictures and info)
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| Sunset over the GG Bridge |
With Ka’sala safely docked, we took the first afternoon and
walked all the way to the touristy area of Pier 39. We noticed there weren’t as many tourists as
there had been the last time we had visited, but that could have been because
school was now back in session. We
retraced our footprints and enjoyed being among people again. On our second day Doug built the bicycles and
we rode up to the Bridge and back through the Presidio before returning to
Chestnut Street in the Marina District for a lovely fresh veggie filled lunch
in a sidewalk cafe.
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| Birthday Girl! |
Later that evening
we walked down to Fort Mason to take in the “Off the Grid” food truck
event. About 35 of these vehicles had
formed a big circle like a wagon train, serving everything from ribs, curry,
hamburgers, crème brulee, Korean BBQ, tacos, cotton candy, to fish and chips
and everything in between. Inside the
circle was a craft beer tent, cocktails and wine, as well as live music. Hundreds of people sifted through, lined up,
took pictures, milled about and seemed to be having a very good time. The average age seemed to be about mid
twenties, but we didn’t feel out of place.
However, it was a windy night and very cold, so we didn’t linger.
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| Off the Grid |
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| Stunning sunset on a chilly evening |
Today we are anchored in the Aquatic Park Cove behind the
breakwater and right beside the historical Hyde Street Pier.
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| Although not in this aerial shot, we anchored just inside the breakwater behind the curve to the lower left |
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| Antique scow with motor leaving the Park - Alcatraz in the background |
The bay is home to a very active
swimming club and as we came in there were dozens of them in the water. I stood at the bow to make sure we didn’t run
over any of them!
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| Posted signs at the entrance to the Aquatic Park Cove |
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| Swimmer or seal? |
Behind us is the streetcar
terminus and the Ghirardelli Chocolate factory.
The city rises behind toward the financial district and tenderloin. Coit Tower overlooks from the east and the
hill leading to Fort Mason is on the western side.
Tomorrow we will head to the Emeryville Marina across the
bay between Berkley and Oakland.
Cruising friends Carl and Cristina have helped us find a berth there
where we plan to stay for at least the next two weeks. There are a lot of boat chores to be done,
not to mention laundry. We are looking
forward to spending time with our friends, catching up on our sleep and taking
it easy for a while. There are great
bicycle paths over there and a good public transportation system to give us
access to the city if we so desire.
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| Alcatraz - this one is for you, Wesley |
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