San Francisco Bay has been the site of human occupation for approximately 5,000 years. The indigenous people were from four tribes; Coast Miwoks, Ohlones, Wintuns and Yokuts.

There was abundant supplies of fish, shellfish, game, otters, seals and vegetation. Otter and seal pelts were used for clothing. Shelters, baskets and tools were made from the trees, reeds and other foliage. Their canoes were built from the hollow stems of the Tule reeds, which made them light and buoyant. These tribes were mostly eradicated by the Spanish and Mexican missionaries and ranchers known as Californios; American seafaring traders, gold miners and soldiers. 

The earliest written account of San Francisco Bay was by Juan Manuel de Ayala in August/September 1775. He was responsible for charting the area for the Spanish.

In 1846 California was taken over by the United States and in 1850 became the 31st US territory. The attraction was the discovery of gold near Sacramento and the population swelled from 300 to 25,000 in a few months. Squatters took over the Californios’ land and ranches with ships littering the Bay, used as hotels, brothels, lodges , etc. Over a short period of time the extensive gold mining caused the Bay to become silted up from millions of tons of sediment rushing down the Sacramento River, changing the shoreline and depth of the Bay forever. The ships deteriorated and were abandoned and formed the foundations for new waterfront establishments, some of which remain today under the floating homes.

Chinese Immigrants flocked to the Bay to work in the mines and to build the transcontinental railway in 1869. Their intention was to make enough money to return to China to afford a better life for their families. Many stayed and consequently a huge China Town exists still bustling with people.

In 1873 the first cable cars were introduced for transportation around the city but by the 1890s electric street cars and trolleys almost replaced them. By the 20th century buses fuelled by petrol were introduced. Today all three exist in harmony with one another and are a fun way of travelling around the city.

Between 1882-1908 the Bay was the Whaling capital of the world.

In 1906, a massive earthquake followed by three days of raging fire, decimated the city, pausing its growth. Once again the coastline was reformed due to the debris from the catastrophic event filling in Mission Bay. In 1915, the Panama Pacific International Exposition opened on Treasure Island to show the world the rejuvenation of the city.

1939-1940 the opening of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, linked the city with Oakland, Sausalito and surrounding areas towards Sonoma and Napa Valley. Later in 1956 the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge completed the circle of the Bay.

The Bay area became the centre of the Pacific coast war effort during WW2, particularly after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Richmond was the shipbuilding centre that spewed out military ships at an amazing  rate to boost the US fleet.

Present day, ferries charge across the Bay to the various islands, pleasure yachting and racing has become big in the Bay together with a lucrative sports fishing industry. 

We arrived in a heatwave over the Labour Day weekend and we soaked up the heat wearing clothes that had been packed away for 18 months. For the first few weeks we worked on Amelie, having her hauled at KKMI Sausalito in the cleanest most efficient boatyard. She was anti-fouled, polished, dinghy lift plates reinforced, “Wally” was sent to France for some TLC and our backstay tensioner was sent back to Harken to be rebuilt. Apart from the cost the experience was smooth without stress, informative and well organised. 

We anchored in Richardson Bay between Sausalito and Tiburon, enjoying our views of the yacht racing and getting our watermaker pump installed. “M” transported us to the local supermarkets and cigar shops with the odd beverage enjoyed in cafes and bars.

Tiburon (means Shark in Spanish) is a Victorian waterfront village and former railroad town. From 1884 the San Francisco - North Pacific railroad ended here to allow passengers to use a ferry to get to the city, before the bridges were built. Commuter and tourist ferries still run to the city and Angel Island. We enjoyed a light lunch and glass of wine in Ark Row which are 100 year old former floating homes, built on filled in mudflats.

Whilst here we decided to take the bus over the Golden gate Bridge and walk back over it into Sausalito. This iconic bridge walk was so exciting and helped by clear views over the city and out into Drake’s Bay. Although we weren’t keen on Downtown Sausalito we found the area the locals go to and had an amazing French lunch.  

We were fortunate to meet a local couple who gave us great local tips regarding anchoring and future plans. So our next anchorage was East Garrison Bay off Angel Island. Ten thousand years ago the island was part of the mainland and became an island by the rising oceans at the end of the ice age. This island was named by the Spanish navigator Ayala but inhabited for the previous 2,000 years by the Coast Miwoks, occupying four villages in 1775. From then onwards the island had various functions; Russian sea otter hunting base, cattle ranch, rock quarry, civil war fort, US cavalry HQ, prison vegetable farm for Alcatraz, POW camp, quarantine station, Nuke missile facility and Immigration centre. In 1962, Angel Island became a California State Park. We parked “M” and spent the day climbing Mount Livermore at 240 metres with fantastic views over the Bay.

During the day we were swooped by Turkey Vultures, Red Kites and Eagles and Debbie caught a glimpse of a scurrying Angel Island Mole, not found anywhere else in the world. A challenging hike but enjoyable.

We used this anchorage to chill as we knew our city visit was going to be full on.

The North shoreline is an area of historical and modern sights. It includes the Embarcadero, the waterfront boulevard links all the piers, Hyde Street Pier, Fisherman’s Wharf, Aquatic Park and Angel and Treasure Islands, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

Pier 39 is one of the old piers that has been turned into a tourist attraction with a marina. We stayed here for a week exploring the city by foot, cable cars, trolley buses, metro and bendy buses. Fisherman’s Wharf is within a couple of blocks away with some authentic maritime interests but mainly a huge tourist area. We enjoyed Lou’s Fish Shack here listening to the Groove Riders playing Blues, Motown, Beatles and Pink Floyd. Near by is the old Ghiradelli Chocolate factory with shops all over the city selling this famous chocolate……not one of our favourites. Downtown incorporates North Beach (“Little Italy”) where we had some fabulous meals; a bustling China Town; Russian Hill where it is claimed the Russian fur traders were buried; Nob Hill, the iconic film scenes of the cable car travelling up and down this famous hill and Lombard Street with the “world’s crookedest street”. This street has eight sharp turns on a 40 degree slope which was constructed in the 1920s to allow traffic to descend the steep incline. Beautiful houses and flower beds adorn this artefact.

San Francisco’s Cable Cars have been operating since 1873 and remain the world’s only operating underground cable Cars.  The museum not only told the story of their history but remains the hub of the surviving three lines with the giant sheaves driving the cables under the streets.  Whenever we could we jumped aboard these magical cars.

We spent a day walking about a third of Golden Gate Park. This park is the largest cultivated park in the US reclaimed from sand and scrublands in the 1870s. The park is constantly interspersed with major roads with various activities on offer in the park with attractions such as the Japanese Tea Garden, de Young museum, Shakespeare Garden, Botanical Garden, Rose Garden, lakes and magnificent trees. The busy roads were not an attraction to us and Central Park NY is still our favourite city park.

One of the nicest walks was over on Ocean Beach with views out into the Pacific. We walked from Lands Ending to Eagles Point on sand baked trails, once again some challenging parts to the walk and we felt as if we had earned our lunch.

One of the highlights of our city stay was a random message from Debbie’s oldest schoolfriend, Sue and her husband, who happened to be in the city. We hadn’t seen one another for twenty years but keep in touch via Facebook. They also hadn’t met Stephen. We met up on Amelie and the boys kept their distance whilst Sue and Debbie caught up on each others news, non stop chattering and laughter.

While Amelie was safely moored up to a dock we took the opportunity to hire a car and drive north into Sonoma County, to visit the Russian River Valley. This area is predominantly vineyard country with a cool climate affected by fog from the Pacific Ocean. Luckily for us we were there on a hot, hazy October day, visiting two vineyards, buying cases of Pinot Noir and Bubbly. We continued our drive along the Russian River, passing through quaint Duncan Mills and on to the Pacific Ocean at Jenner. Words cannot describe the beauty of this area, although the vines looked sun scorched and crisp, with a backdrop of rolling, brown hills. We stayed overnight in the refurbished historic Fountaingrove Inn and then back to Amelie to stock up our “cellar”. Little did we know that one week later the Inn was razed to the ground due to the worst wildfires in history, vineyards and homes destroyed, many deaths and hundreds of people unaccounted for. The bays in which we were anchored were covered in burnt debris, visibility was very poor, the air smelled “burnt” and the sun turned red from the burnt particles in the atmosphere. We were 60 miles from the fires!

After Pier 39, we moved Amelie to Clipper Cove off Treasure Island, in shallow water and thick blue clay. Treasure Island was constructed in 1939 for the Golden Gate Exposition, with its “Art Deco” buildings and close by the east span of the beautiful Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, which is illuminated at night. During our time here we enjoyed aerial acrobatics and displays by the US Naval Blue Angels F18s and the Canadian Snowbirds for “Fleet Week”, an annual celebration and appreciation of the US military. The Treasure Island Yacht Club welcomed us as temporary members, so we could use the dinghy dock and their bar. We were warmly greeted by the members, the dress code was extremely informal and the bar bill refreshingly cheap.

The highlight of this week was celebrating the arrival of Bubbles under the Golden Gate Bridge. We met them on “M” taking photographs of their arrival. Champagne, wine, beer and good food flowed for the rest of the day, catching up on six months of each other’s news. We spent the last week of our stay in various anchorages with Bubbles before setting off south.

Paradise Cove is a beautiful spot off Tiburon Peninsula - the site of the 1904-1930 US Navy coaling station. We took “M” up Corte Madera Creek, under the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge into the lagoon of floating homes, reeds and rushes with masses of birdlife, dodging the odd high-speed ferry.

The last day in the bay was one of odd jobs, collections, provisioning, farewells and a last supper at the fabulous French restaurant, Le Garage, joining another Oyster 53, Ratty’s Wisdom.

Our Oyster convoy of Amelie and Bubbles departed early one morning for southern anchorages.