| 04/15/2008 | |
Greetings from San Francisco!! The crew of Seabird is very happy to be in this fine but chilly city. We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday with clear blue skies and unusually warm temperatures. Given that it was Sunday and a beautiful day every sailboat was out and determined to cross our path. We made it without incident to the South Beach Harbor Marina where we have been granted 5 nights by the Harbor Master. It is VERY difficult to find dockage in San Francisco and the surrounding ports for a boat of our length and beam. We have been trying to get space for 5 months and are very pleased to be here. We would like to extend our stay and will start to the search over again now that we are in the harbor. Off the bow of our boat is the imposing AT&T Park which is home to the San Francisco Giants. We have tickets for a game today and will brave the 50 degree temps just for the experience. Tomorrow is a Broadway Show and Thursday a Boat Show so we are making up for all the things we have missed while cruising in Central America. Prior to our arrival in SF we spent a couple of weeks in Monterey at Breakwater Cove Marina which is steps away from the Cannery and a short walk to town. We both agree that Monterey is a must stop as there is so much to do and everything is so accessible. Tuesday nights there is a Farmer’s Market that has wonderful local produce, flowers, crafts, music and prepared foods and the Aquarium is first class and worth a full day’s visit if you include the wonderful restaurant for lunch. We saw a few “first run” movies and of coarse sampled the local cuisine. The biggest treat for us was our little friend Oscar the Sea Otter that took up residence off our stern. He would come by to visit several times a day and it was impossible to do anything but watch him and laugh!! All chores had to wait for Oscar free moments. Just before leaving Monterey we took a trip to Tampa, Florida to watch the UConn Huskies play in the NCAA Women’s Final Four. We have been to several final four games always with our friends John and Ellyssa who joined us in Tampa for a very disappointing tournament. UConn had a spectacular season but unfortunately was defeated in the first game. We retreated to a bar for the second game and flew back to Monterey the following day instead of staying around to watch Tennessee win it all. It was bad enough that by chance we found ourselves staying in the Tennessee Team Hotel!! We made one stop en route to SF and that was the charming fishing port of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. What a lucky find as it reminded us of New England but with Dungeness Crabs instead of Lobsters for the main catch! Take a look at the pictures as each boat has an entrepreneurial spirit. Seabird was a big hit with the fishermen here and we had many visitors as we took on $4.00/gallon diesel!! Yup you read that right no more Mexican prices for awhile!! Until next time……………. | |