San Francisco Bay Tourism

Looking at our next leg, towards Pillar Point, I realized that a number of competing imperatives made picking up a time to leave difficult.

First, I'd want to hit the exit of the bay, going under the Golden Gate bridge at a time when currents would help, or at least would be slack.

Second, it'd be nice to leave early enough and before the end of morning or early afternoon winds come up. Every day NW winds come up to around 20 knots, gusting higher and create a little chop in the bay. Nothing too big, but it'd be so much easier to just leave earlier.

Third, it'd be nice to leave late enough so the fog has a chance to lift off and get burned by the sun, so we'd see the bridge and other attractions.

Di enjoying the private tourist tour boat

The more I thought about it, the less sense it made to exit the bay in one go, so we decided we'd take a day to do the tourist stuff and spend a night in Berkeley marina. Berkeley being only 9 miles from the bridge would allow for much better timing the next day.

I had hoped we could maybe overnight at famous Pier 39 marina, but they are working on their pilings this summer and not accepting any transients for the duration of the repairs.

We took a leisurely look around the bay, and I took Enfin real close to the city and the various famous piers, then followed the tourist ferries and boats to Alcatraz and more.

Enjoying the view

As usual the wind came up end of morning, but this time it would help us towards Berkeley after rounding Alcatraz.

Winds had picked up by the time we got to Alcatraz

Berkeley marina was very pleasant, being nestled in between various parks. A much easier and simpler life than trying to exit the bay in one day.

Enfin at Berkeley marina

Next morning, we left to time arrival at the Golden Gate bridge at slack tide, with no or little currents.

The fog was there, but not as dense as some days, and as we approached the bridge and went under, the sun did its job by burning the lower layer of fog. At least we had good sea level visibility: good for navigation. Then, just as we were exiting the bay, we caught a glimpse of the upper levels of the bridge and towers.

The fog is our constant companion along the coast

Good-Bye San Francisco. My solo adventure from Astoria is now over and normal life has resumed, with a full crew.

Good-Bye San Francisco

Still about 500 miles to Ensenada, Mexico. We'll take our time getting there. We're in no hurry. On the contrary, taking our time and getting to stop regularly is what cruising on Enfin is all about.