2 Weeks in the Bay Area and so much to see!
For the first few days in San Francisco, we settled in. We did a lot of boat cleaning and organizing and even more sleeping. Taylor took charge and planned a day-long date. We jumped on a bus, got kicked by a woman, sneezed on, farted on, and eventually made it to our destination. Nothing against public transit. In fact, the busses are incredible. But the one woman we might have brushed with our backpack was not so enthusiastic.
We went on a scenic hike, saw some cool old bathhouse ruins, hung out on the beach, and had a picnic. It was an awesome way to introduce ourselves to SF.
I was nervous about having wine on the beach. And I think technically it’s illegal. But we found out the vibe here is very accepting of alcohol in parks and beaches, especially during COVID. We quickly fell in love with the picnic culture.
We left the expensive marina and motored over to Aquatic Cove. A nice anchorage near fisherman’s wharf operated by the National Parks Service. It’s only open to sailboats so we took advantage of that exclusivity. People use the cove like a public swimming pool so it was full of swimmers. That made for one of the most complicated anchoring processes we’ve attempted thus far, but we were successful nonetheless. Another challenge was figuring out how to successfully lock up our dinghy on a packed public beach. It required buying a long bike lock and being willing to drag it way up on shore but we got it sorted and Scootie, to date, has not been stolen.
Taylor’s high school friend Nikki drove up from Cupertino to do touristy things with us. We wandered fisherman’s Wharf, got clam chowder in the bread bowls, looked at the sea lions, and had some prime people watching.
The next day was my turn to plan the adventure. Taylor had yet to experience real Ramen, so we started with a Japanese lunch. It was excellent, but I think our take away was that the fifteen cent ramen with a soft boiled egg will continue to be sufficient. And we might have to start growing sprouts on the boat.
Then we bussed to Alamo square, wandered the park with the famous SF painted houses (which apparently had something to do with the Full House house).
Then we got e-bikes and explored all of Golden Gate Park.
The park is huge and we got hungry, so we had to have our own picnic.
On the way home, we stopped at Buena Vista and enjoyed a famous Irish Coffee. Thank you to everyone for the recommendation. Although it was $18, it was worth it.
Yesterday we cruised over to Berkeley and tucked into the city marina. We are tied next to a retired Chilean couple who have done spring/summer in opposite hemispheres for 30 years until Covid forced them to have a fall on their boat.
They’ve been so welcoming. They immediately helped us tie up, adjust our fenders, gave us beer, offered us a ride for groceries/laundry, have tried to give us their folding bike, and have already rattled off an encyclopedia worth of knowledge of cruising this area.
We’re looking forward to more days enjoying the bay. Please send any recommendations if you have them!
