Cruise, sail, or row—there’s no end of ways to float your boat.
Jennie Morton wanted to do something different to celebrate her 40th birthday. She didn’t want to throw a formal party that her friends with kids couldn’t attend with their families. And she didn’t want to do something too kid-oriented, where her child-free friends would be bored stiff. So together with 60 buddies of various ages, Morton set sail from Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf on Adventure Cat, a twin-hulled catamaran, on a short day trip around the Bay.
“We had a blast!” says Morton, a technical writer from Mountain View. “There was netting between the two hulls, and the kids had a field day lying on that pretending that they were flying over the water. But for me the biggest thrill was going under the Golden Gate Bridge; looking at it from underneath is a view you don’t usually get. I think every local should go out on the water at least once in their lives, even if it’s just to take a ferry over to Sausalito.”
Morton isn’t alone in her assessment. Even landlubbers can fall prey to the romance of the sea, the endless expanse of rolling waves speaking of freedom from responsibility, of boundless possibilities. Long before science offered proof, people sensed that there was something refreshing and rejuvenating about sea air.
“We live in one of the best sailing environments in the world,” says Anthony Sandberg, founder of Berkeley’s OCSC Sailing School and club (also known as Olympic Circle Sailing Club), speaking on a cool but sunny April afternoon. “Anyplace else, if they had a day as beautiful as today, they’d be talking about it for months. Here, it was like this yesterday and it’ll be like this tomorrow and the day after that. You’ve got a 24/7 year-round sailing opportunity on your doorstep. But for most people here, their world ends at the shore.”
Many locals watch watercraft every day from the shore, but assume that boating is a pastime only for salty dogs with years of seafaring under their belts, or fat cats with time and money to burn. In reality, the Bay offers dozens of cruise and boat experiences for every skill and thrill level, as well as in every price range. From luxury day cruises to low-cost sailing lessons to do-it-yourself kayak tours, there’s a way for everyone to enjoy a day on the water.
BOAT SAILING INTO SAN FRANCISCO BAY. PHOTO BY JOSE C. SILVA.
Water buddies
Many tours hit the hot picnic spots in the Bay, including Treasure Island, Angel Island, and Alcatraz. After-dark tours showcase the lights of the Bay Bridge against the velvet night sky. Looking for a relaxing drift with an educational bent? Alcatraz Cruises (adult tickets start at $26) visits the Rock daily, and throws in plenty of info about what made the island prison so notorious. For history that’s less unsavory, visitors to the Oakland Marina can take dockside tours of the USS Potomac, which served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945, cruise the Bay with seagoing docents (adult tickets start at $45), or catch the July 4 fireworks aboard the presidential watercraft.
At the higher end of the scale, Celebrations on the Bay operates leisurely “TGIF” cruises out of Jack London Square in a two-deck riverboat-style vessel; the boat can also be chartered for private parties starting at $600 per hour. Tradewinds Sailing School in Richmond offers luxury cruises around the Bay and beyond starting at $1,000, as well as jaunts to Mexico, France, and Thailand.
A day on the water can be soothing and dreamy—like the relaxing Hornblower excursion that Tatiana Dayers, a 27-year-old quality assurance analyst from Daly City, received as a romantic birthday surprise from her boyfriend. Hornblower cruises depart from ports around the Bay, including the Berkeley Marina, and run from $120-$140 per person for a dinner cruise or a private function with 20 or more guests. Other expeditions are all about action and adventure. Jessica Jones, an executive assistant for Kineto Wireless in San Francisco, says she became entranced with paddling after renting a kayak in the Monterey slough area and chasing playful sea otters with a camera.
Even an ordinary trip to work becomes a special occasion when you go by boat. Huddling together with commuter friends as the vessel dips and rolls on the waves can be simultaneously exciting and cozy. For many passengers on the weekday Alameda/Oakland Ferry shuttles, the trip to work is anything but a dull haul.
“It’s definitely a social environment,” says Ernest Sanchez, who manages transportation services for the San Francisco Bay Area public agency, Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA). Several ferries initially began service as an emergency response to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Alameda/Oakland ferry was so popular that the transportation authority decided to keep it running—the others were phased out—and 20 years later, it’s still going strong.
“When we first started, we used old, one-hulled cruise boats,” says Sanchez. “When we got new, faster ships, people started complaining that there wasn’t enough time to socialize!”
Big fun
Verne Bryant, owner of SF Bay Whale Watching in San Francisco, encourages his passengers to emerge from their shells. “I always tell people when they get on this boat, ‘Your first duty is to talk to a stranger,’” he says. “‘We all have something in common here: We all got up at 6 a.m. and now we’re all out here and we’re going to help each other to see a whale.’”
A shared thrill cements budding boat friendships. “You never forget the person who showed you your first whale,” says Bryant, who fell in love with the giant sea creatures five years ago on his first whale watching tour. While the crowd huddled around one side of the boat to catch a glimpse of a large humpback, Bryant wandered leisurely to the other side—where he got a private show when the whale swam under the boat and out the other side.
The Bay is along the seasonal migration routes for a number of different whales, including blue, gray, and humpback. Other animals, including seals, sea lions, and otters, often swim alongside vessels cruising the Bay. Sailors are accustomed to their playful antics, but newbies can be surprised at just how curious these animals get about human visitors. Sharon Schrum of Adventure Cat occasionally sees pods of young dolphins racing along with the boat.
“Whales have such personality,” says Bryant. “Some, like humpbacks, have a real sense of humor; they have an enlarged pectoral fin that they slap against the water and it sounds like the crack of a gunshot. They’re so huge but they’re never mean or hostile.” You can take a photo tour with SF Bay Whale Watching for $59, or spring for a sealife-spotting expedition to the Farallon Islands or the outlying continental shelf ($110-$125).
Aye aye, Captain
Hanging over the railing to ogle whales and feel the spray in your face is enough to ensure a good time at sea. But some get the bug so badly that they want to stand behind the wheel themselves. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities for people who yearn to pilot their own craft rather than just going out for a relaxing ride.
Oakland’s Lake Merritt offers a great starting point for would-be sailors who are more accustomed to terra firma. Visitors can rent rowboats, sailboats, kayaks, canoes, or pedal boats for a day on the lake from the Lake Merritt Boating Center, run by Oakland’s Office of Parks and Recreation. Sailing lessons are available for kids, and any child who receives certification through the center’s training program can use boats free of charge until they turn 18. For all others, boat rentals run $10-$12 for an hour, with a $20 deposit. The center does not accept credit cards, so bring cash. “Lake Merritt is a lagoon so you’re protected from the big swells and there are no motor boats except rescue boats,” says Sarah Herbelin, Lake Merritt’s boating supervisor. “This is the ideal place to learn boating before moving on to more open waters.” (Jack London Aquatic Center, also under the umbrella of Oakland’s Office of Parks and Recreation, caters to more advanced boaters.)
Foot-operated pedal boats are a popular starting option, especially suited for kids, seniors, and families. Their intuitive handling and slower pace means you can take them out on the lake with no training at all. Many neophytes also enjoy paddleboats like kayaks and canoes on the lake or in the calm Oakland Estuary. Although they have a longer learning curve than pedal boats, they offer more speed and control over movement.
“It’s common for people to get hooked deeper than they thought they would,” says Keith Miller, owner of California Canoe & Kayak in Oakland’s Jack London Square. The store offers rentals ($15 per hour) and classes, including a starter course ($59) that can get a beginner up to speed on fundamentals in just half a day.
“There’s nothing like taking a stroke and feeling the boat glide,” Miller adds. “You can get to places you can’t usually go. You can explore tidelands and marshlands. Seniors can go out with binoculars and bird watch. Athletic folks can get their adrenaline rush. To feel the connection to water is glorious; it’s the lifeblood of the planet.”
Hey there, sailor
In contrast, sailboats take longer to master, since their reliance on unpredictable winds makes them a challenge to even practiced crews. Huge and expensive, these craft are often thought of as the domain of the privileged jet set. But several local organizations do their best to make sailing accessible to the rest of us. Treasure Island Sailing Center conducts classes for kids and adults in stand-up paddleboard, kayak, sailing, keelboat, and dinghy; the cost ranges from $25 for a two-hour paddleboard lesson to $300 for a weeklong sailing camp. U.C. Berkeley’s Cal Adventures offers sailing classes ($150-$195 for an eight-hour weekend for adults; $185 for five days for kids) out of the Berkeley Marina; fledgling windsurfers, paddleboarders, and kayakers can also cut their teeth with a five-day session ($185). And then there’s the Cal Sailing Club at the Marina, a volunteer-run nonprofit which offers inexpensive, short-term memberships that include free lessons, and opportunities to sail in exchange for swabbing the decks and other useful nautical tasks.
Berkeley’s OCSC Sailing School conducts comprehensive professional yachting classes (a four- to five-day course runs $700-$900) that turn stumbling novices into able boathands in just a few days. Learning your way around a boat is surprisingly easy, says OCSC founder Sandberg, although, like many skills, it may take days to learn and years to master. OCSC also offers skippering courses that, in a few weeks, can prepare you to captain your own sailboat.
“It gives you such confidence to do it yourself,” says Sandberg, who began boating as a child in Hawaii, eventually sailing as crew on a square-rigged ship across the Pacific when he was only 16. Since then, he has sailed dinghies, schooners, modern grand prix racers, and even iceboats everywhere from Argentina to Turkey. Sandberg says that he created OCSC to make the sport he loves affordable and accessible to everyone.
“It doesn’t require a lifetime to learn how to sail,” says Sandberg. “Nobody thinks that you can’t learn to ride a bike unless you grow up riding, but people have that idea about boats. When you’re driving, you’re hurtling down the road at 70 miles per hour, making snap decisions while you’re eating, listening to the radio, talking on your phone. On a boat, you’re moving along at just five to 10 miles an hour, really taking your time to enjoy yourself. And that’s what’s really fun.”
——————————————
Mike Rosen is an East Bay writer and frequent contributor to The Monthly. He’s going fast and he’s got a nautical-themed Pashmina afghan.
Ships Ahoy
Adventure Cat, Pier 39, Dock J, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, (800) 498-4228; adventurecat.com.
Airship Ventures, NASA Research Park, Building 20, South Akron Road, Moffett Field, (650) 969-8100; airshipventures.com.
Alameda/Oakland Ferry, Pier 9, Suite 111, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, (510) 522-3300; eastbayferry.com.
Alcatraz Cruises LLC, Pier 33, Hornblower Alcatraz Landing, San Francisco, (415) 981-7625; alcatrazcruises.com.
Cal Adventures, 124 University Ave., Berkeley, (510) 642-6400; recsports.berkeley.edu.
Cal Sailing Club, 124 University Ave., Berkeley; cal-sailing.org.
California Canoe & Kayak, 409 Water St., Oakland, (510) 893-7833; calkayak.com.
California Spirit-Yacht Connections International, Pier 40 on The Embarcadero, San Francisco, (650) 737-8093; yachtconnectionsinternational.com.
Celebrations on the Bay, Jack London Square, Oakland, (877) 499-4229; celebrationsonthebay.com.
Commodore Cruises & Events, 2394 Mariner Square Drive, Alameda, (510) 337-9000; commodoreevents.com.
Gondola Servizio, 1520 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, (510) 663-6603; gondolaservizio.com.
Jack London Aquatic Center, 115 Embarcadero, Oakland, (510) 208-6066; jlac.org.
Lake Merritt Boating Center, 568 Bellevue Ave., Oakland, (510) 238-2196; sailoakland.com.
OCSC Sailing School, 1 Spinnaker Way, Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, (510) 843-4200; ocscsailing.com.
Red and White Fleet, Pier 43 1/2, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, (415) 673-2900; redandwhite.com.
San Francisco Duck Tours, 2627 Taylor St., San Francisco, (415) 431-3825; bayquackers.com.
SF Bay Whale Watching, (415) 331-6267; sfbaywhalewatching.com.
St. Francis Yacht Club, 700 Marina Blvd., San Francisco, (415) 563-6363; stfyc.com.
Tradewinds Sailing School & Club, 2580 Spinnaker Way, Richmond, (510) 232-7999; tradewindssailing.com.
Treasure Island Sailing Center, 698 California Ave., Building 112, San Francisco, (415) 421-2225; tisailing.org.
USS Hornblower, DoubleTree Conference Hotel, 200 Marina Blvd., Berkeley; Pier 3 on The Embarcadero, San Francisco, (415) 438-8300; hornblower.com.
USS Potomac, 540 Water St., Oakland, (510) 627-1215; usspotomac.org.
