Once we had explored as much as we could in the city of San Francisco, we headed to Angel Island and Ayala Cove for a little bit of nature and a change of pace. There are a few docks for boats, so while most people have to ferry it over, we pulled right on up like rock stars in Crazy Love (for a fee of course). Up, up, up we hiked to the top of Mt Livermore. At the top were really fantastic views of the bay in every direction. Unfortunately they don't allow you to dock overnight so we rounded the island and found a nice spot to anchor in China Cove. The island is beautiful and pretty much uninhabited once the last ferry departs. This particular anchorage was very calm in comparison to our previous experience at this island.

After a leisurely morning, we headed for a new spot and a view of the very new bay bridge. We stayed in Clipper Cove nestled between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena (another excellent place to anchor). The bridge was due to close Wednesday night for the holiday weekend so they could open the brand new portion Tuesday morning. I'm certainly glad I didn't have to worry about commuting in on Thursday morning.

Our next destination had to do with finding an excellent spot for preparing for our trip back south. Alameda, a very nice suburb of Oakland, had a grocery store and West Marine within walking distance of half a dozen marinas. We just happened to pick Marina Village and the best shower and bath facilities I've experienced to date.

We met up with Amy and Mom Krisch in Jack London Square Wednesday night in Oakland (a short 15 minute bus ride). We certainly did stop in for a drink at Jack's favorite watering hole. And did a bit more beer tourism at Beer Revolution and Trappist which has a stellar beer garden. Two must stops for beer lovers.

Thursday and Friday in Alameda made it possible for a West Marine stop, boat cleaning and work, provisioning, and planning our trip south.

On our last Saturday, we met up with Christine for one last hoorah, an excursion into suburbia San Leandro. The last NorCal brewery on our list, Drakes and the best truffle tots and burger at the food truck.

Sunday we took a very wet trip from sunny warm Alameda through the foggy central bay back to Richardson Bay where we started and positioned ourselves for exit out the golden gate.

This morning we left as high tide ended at 11:20 am through quite a bit of the Labor Day boating traffic, dodged one large boat, and exited the bay making a left heading south for a beautiful, sunny and calm trip to Half Moon Bay. Dave is still a little upset as the wind came from the southwest and we were hoping and were essentially promised by all we spoke to... northwest wind all the way home. Maybe tomorrow!

The plan south only has a few stops and mostly at anchor as we are tonight here in Half Moon Bay. We will only be able to update periodically as we get service and maintain this battery charge. Tomorrow we head to Santa Cruz (maybe I can convince Dave to ride the big roller coaster)... then Avila, Santa Cruz Island (Northern Channel Islands), somewhere in the LA area, Catalina (Cat Harbor), and finally San Diego (at least for a month or so before we head to Mexico.)

Getting to San Francisco

When we left the Petaluma Marina, we motored down the Petaluma River to anchor at McNears Beach for a night. The anchorage at McNears Beach was calm, warm, and uncrowded. We relaxed for the evening and headed to Quarry Beach on Angel Island the following morning. Quarry Beach had a significant breeze, a crazy tidal current, and lots of waves from the ferry traffic. It was an uncomfortable night at anchor - one of those nights where we had to hang on to avoid falling out of our beds in the middle of the night. Even though we were tired in the morning, we were happy to be heading to the big city for a few nights.

Brewpubs, Baseball in San Francsico

We had a reservation for 5 nights (Tuesday to Sunday) at South Beach Marina right next to AT&T Park. When we got the reservation, we had no idea how great this spot was going to be. Besides being next to the ballpark, it was close to public transportation, breweries, and the embarcadero. So many great things to do, what did we do first? Brew pubs of course!

Less than a mile walk from the marina is 21st Amendment. After a few pints there, we went around the corner to the Thirsty Bear for dinner. Sitting in the bar, I had an excellent burger and the tasters. Given the chance, I'd go back.

The Red Sox were in town for a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday series, so on our way back to the marina, we stopped in right field to watch a few innings of free baseball.

We had originally planned to anchor in McCovey Cove for the day game on Wednesday, the 21st, but decided to go to the game instead. Nosebleed tickets on Stubhub were only $14, so we bought three. Amy drove in from Fresno to join us for the game. Before the game we met up with our friend Christine (currently of San Francisco, formerly of San Diego) at Public House. Good times would be had with Christine.

After the game we headed to Potrero Hill for the Connecticut Yankee. After the pricey beer at the breweries and the ballpark, it was nice to be at a locals bar where refreshment can be had for 5 bucks.

It turned out to be a good night out with a little hiccup at the end. Carolyn, Amy, and I didn't follow Christine's directions to get back to the marina on the bus, so we ended up walking about 3 miles home. Oops! Its all part of the Crazy Love adventure.

Golden Gate Park

For Thursday, we planned to spend the afternoon and evening in Golden Gate Park. We took the train to get there mid-afternoon and walked West to see the beach and windmills. We saw the windmills from a mile offshore before we passed under the gate, so we wanted to see them in person. They're impressive up close.

In the middle of the park is the California Academy of Sciences. Rosie and I enjoy museums, but the tickets for this one are $35. Fortunately, they have a Nightlife event every Thursday evening where the tickets run $12 and, and, wait for it...they set up a bar on every floor with a specialty cocktail. If there was an event with booze you knew Rosie and I would find it.

Toronado

On Friday morning we saw The World's End and were so inspired that we headed off to Toronado for a pint. Toronado San Francisco was one of my "wish list" items for this trip and it didn't disappoint. They even had Death & Taxes.

After a few at Toronado, we moved on to, not greener, but other pastures that need not be discussed here.

Three Musuems & a Failed Attempt at a Cable Car Ride

On Saturday, Carolyn and I started the morning with a walk on the Embarcadero to the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market which definitely takes the cake for best farmer's market we've seen in California. They had everything: pizza, sandwiches, mexican, italian, and more on the hot food side, and everything you can expect on the farmer's side. We had a pizza for lunch and came home with Chanterelle and Shitake mushrooms and marinated pepper relish. On a later trip we picked up sourdough and parmesan.

After the market, we walked through the financial district towards China Town hoping to catch a ride on a cable car. While trying to find the cable car stop we ran into the Cable Car museum. I never thought about the meaning of cable car, so I was surprised to learn that cable cars are propelled by a cable moving underneath the street.

Then we tried to get on a cable car. We waited at the stop nearest the museum and saw three cable cars, but they were full and the drivers told us to "catch the next one." Bummer! No cable car ride for us, so we walked toward Fisherman's Wharf.

At Aquatic Park is the San Francisco Maritime Museum. We took the free tour which amounts to walking down the pier and looking at the ships from afar. We didn't pay to go on the ships because we had other sights in mind.

Onward we marched to Fisherman's Wharf. It was crazy busy! We got out of the crowd by going in Boudin. They have a museum and bakery viewing area on the second floor that's worth a visit. The museum covers more than just the bakery. The company is so old, there was a bunch of history about the 1906 earthquake that Carolyn and I had been looking for.

At that point Christine caught up with us. We headed to the bar where the Irish Coffee was first served in the U.S. - The Buena Vista. In addition to out-of-this-world Irish Coffee, they have excellent Guinness and clam chowder. Then we were off to China Town for dinner.

Sunday morning arrived and we weren't the least bit prepared to vacate our slip in the city. I extended our stay by one night - for the grand sum of $35. Sunday was dedicated to provisioning for two nights at anchor - one at Angel Island and another at Treasure Island, but we'll leave that for the next post.

Sonoma

Our intention for sailing up the Petaluma River was a stay in Sonoma County where good wine and beer flow. We had visited Sonoma 5 years ago for a wedding and had such a good time it has been on our list to return. It did not disappoint us one bit. The bus picked us up right in front of the marina on Tuesday afternoon and dropped us right in the middle of Sonoma. We stayed on the square at the same hotel, walking distance to numerous tasting rooms, two wineries, and a delicious cheese shop.

The sun shone everyday giving us perfect pool time mornings and wine tasting afternoons. Sonoma's farmers' market is on Tuesday evenings where two stages were going with music and again drinking in a park is completely acceptable. Our hotel also happens to have a wonderful restaurant and we had a lovely date night with a great waiter who convinced the chef we did indeed need a burger for dinner with our sparkling wine (apparently it is only on the lunch menu). Three nights away from Crazy Love and we were like parents anxious to get back and check on her in Petaluma.

Petaluma

Late Friday morning, the bus dropped us back at the marina. After getting the travel bags put away, we headed downtown for a late lunch/early dinner at Dempsey's. Coincidentally, Dempsey's is also a brewery so we had the tasters and an enjoyable double IPA for dinner.

I wanted to hit Lagunitas while we were in Petaluma, but it is several miles from town. While Carolyn and I walked around town after dinner, we got a call from our new friends, Kris and Ramona. We had met them earlier in the day at the marina. They were heading to Lagunitas Taproom for live music and a few pints and wanted to know if we'd like to join them. Hell yes! The Lagunitas taproom is a full-on beer garden. They have a few dozen wooden picnic benches with heat lamps. It was open seating and the place was full, but Carolyn and Ramona charmed a nice couple into letting us share their table. We had a few pints and were out of there by 9pm.

We headed back to downtown Petaluma to the excellent Taps for a few more pints. They have a BIG list of craft beers. The beer list size and quality compare favorably to the Toronado in San Diego. After a pint or two there, we headed back to the marina and called it a night because Carolyn and I had a big day planned for Saturday!

Santa Rosa

We did a little cleaning on the boat in the morning and walked 2 miles into town at 11am to catch the Route 48 bus to Santa Rosa. Our destination in Santa Rosa? Russian River Brewing, of course. I am a big fan of sour beers and this place makes some excellent ones. We got the "taster set" of 14 beers, 7 of them sours for $15. A killer deal.

After the taster and a Temptation we walked two blocks to Third Street Aleworks for one pint before hitting the 4:30pm bus back to Petaluma.

It is now time to leave the Petaluma Marina. We tasted some great beer and wine. We drank a bottle of wine in a public place and didn't get arrested.
We soaked up some Sonoma County sun and we made some new friends. I hope the rest of our trip is this nice.

On Monday the 13th, Carolyn and I took Crazy Love up our first river - its entirely possible Crazy Love has been up a river but we don't know what happened during her first 28 years. We motorsailed the 25 or so miles from Richardson Bay to the Petaluma Marina. Getting to the entrance of the river took us under the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. We headed up the river on a rising tide because at low water, the river is no deeper than 4 feet in many places. Running aground in the river didn't sound fun but with a rising tide, if we did hit the bottom we would only have to wait a few hours for the tide to lift us off. Fortunately we didn't run aground.

At the entrance to the river there's a train bridge that is open most of time. As we approached, the bridge was closed to allow a train to pass, so we got to watch the bridge open up. As Monday mornings go it wasn't a waste of 5 minutes.

The trip to the beginning of the river was typical San Francisco weather (cold!). Passing the train bridge at the beginning of the river brought a wonderful change...the sun came out. In less than two miles, I went from long underwear and three jackets to boardshorts, flip-flops, and no shirt.

The river twisted and turned for more than 10 miles until we arrived at the Petaluma Marina. The harbormaster is closed on Mondays so we waited until Tuesday morning to get ourselves a slip. Since we didn't have an assigned slip for Monday night, we tied up at the launch ramp dock. In most places, especially San Diego, this draws the attention of the police, but no one said a word. It was a successful application of better-to-ask-for-forgiveness-than-permission reasoning.

We got a slip for 5 nights at $24 a night with the plan to leave on late Sunday morning.

We're heading to the El Dorado Hotel on the Sonoma Square for a few nights in a real bed.

Carolyn and I wanted to explore Sausalito and we weren't confident about the dinghy dock situation, so we got ourselves a slip at Clipper Yacht Harbor for three nights at $1/ft plus a three dollar a night charge for power. The nerve! The marina was clean, with recently renovated restrooms with heated floors and lots of hot water. The luxury!

There was a lot to do and see in Sausalito. On our first day, we walked a mile and a half into town for Friday Night Jazz. Can you believe it, they allow alcohol in a public park. In San Diego, we'd be considered criminals for listening to music and having a glass of wine. The missing ingredient here is any sort of warmth. When the concert started at 6:30pm, the sun was still warm, but the cold breeze was uncomfortable even in jeans and a jacket. While we were still in the park we decided the Bay isn't the best home for us when we return to real life. I mean...if mid August isn't shorts and t-shirt weather there's a problem unless we're talking about the Southern Hemisphere.

On Saturday, we went to the Bay Model Visitor's Center. It is a warehouse sized model of the San Francisco Bay and surrounding water used to simulate tides. We're geeks, so we enjoyed a three hour visit.

After the Bay Model, Carolyn made an amazing Clam Chowder that she's written about in the In the Galley section on this page.

On Sunday we walked to the modest Sausalito Farmer's market at Dunphy Park. It had the essentials, but wasn't worth hanging around like the some of the other's we've experienced this summer; notably Santa Cruz.

The farmer's market was on the way to town where we hopped on a bus to Mill Valley for some beer tourism. Our destination was Mill Valley Beerworks. We sampled some beer, had a snack, and walked around town. Mill Valley is beautiful town with tall (I assume redwoods?) trees everywhere and a town square worth checking out if you are ever in the area.

Our trip to Mill Valley didn't last but a few hours, an enjoyable few hours, but we had seen enough so we hopped back on the bus to Sausalito. For dinner in town we planned to hit a tiny restaurant with a green awning that said simply Hamburgers. The line, for takeout only, was 25 people deep. We waited in line on the sidewalk for 30 minutes until we could squeeze in the door to order. It was worth the wait, on par with In and Out or Five Guys.