One of the best things about sailing is the view. There are so many sights to see and appreciate from the water that just aren’t available to land-based eyes. Here’s a short list of some of the things I like to point out while sailing near San Francisco. Club members with the proper certifications can charter a boat or join a San Francisco dinner sail to see these attractions for themselves.
The Bay Bridge Troll
Original Bay Bridge Troll
If your childhood included the fable of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, you were probably terrified, as I was, by the thought that a horrible troll lived under every bridge you might have to cross. Luckily, the Bay Bridge troll is a benevolent one. As the story goes, ironworkers were fixing the Bay Bridge after part of it collapsed in the 1989 earthquake. Right before the opening day, they snuck in an iron troll and welded him to the side of the bridge, where he would only be visible to maintenance workers – and boaters.
The troll was retired during the recent bridge repairs. Per the request of concerned commuters, a new troll was installed to guard the Bay Bridge. You’ll find him atop pier E2, on the south side of the Bay Bridge’s new eastern span. Pier E2 is the first support column east of the ship channel, on the east side of Yerba Buena Island. He’s just under three feet high, so bring a pair binoculars or try zooming in your cellphone camera lens.
Bay Bridge Troll Today
Yerba Buena Light
On your way to visit the troll, you will pass one of my favorite sights on San Francisco Bay, the beautiful Yerba Buena Light, at the south end of Yerba Buena Island. It’s a charming structure, surrounded by century plants. Above it slopes a lovely lawn topped by the white Victorian-era keeper’s house that is home to a Coast Guard admiral. You can read more about it in my previous article about lighthouses.
Blossom Rock
For our next attraction, loop south of Yerba Buena Island, and pass under the west span of the Bay Bridge. Set a course bearing about 290° true from the shore of Yerba Buena where the Bay Bridge lands. In about 2 miles, you’ll encounter Blossom Rock buoy, marking one of the four major underwater rocky hazards on the San Francisco Bay. (Never fear — it’s only a hazard to vessels that draw more than 39 feet. Stay tuned, a fascinating article on rocky hazards in the bay is coming up.)
Blossom Rock is another fave of mine. It carries the name of the ship, the HMS Blossom, which discovered the rock when it ripped out the ship’s bottom in 1832. Blossom Rock is one of a number of places around the bay named for ships that sank there (yep, an article on that is coming too). Blossom was originally only 5 feet beneath the surface at average low tide. It has been dynamited several times to keep ships from harm.
Today, Blossom is the center of a virtual roundabout of shipping lanes. Keep an eye open because you are in the middle of shipping freeway here. Blossom is also an occasional hangout for sea lions, who like to climb up on the buoy to sunbathe. You’ll also note that Blossom carries a bell as a sound device to warn sleepy mariners. Ding-ding!
Alcatraz
Warden’s House and Lighthouse from the Water
After passing Blossom Rock, continue on toward Alcatraz. So much to see there: There’s the first lighthouse on the West Coast that is still an active navigation guide for mariners. Nearby is the spooky, burned out warden’s house. On the east side of Alcatraz, you’ll see graffiti that was recently restored by the National Park Service. It was originally scrawled by occupiers of the American Indian Movement, who took over Alcatraz for 19 months from 1969 to 1971. Some of that graffiti is visible to island visitors, but most is only visible from the water.
As you loop around Alcatraz, I recommend going counter-clockwise because it typically involves a tack rather than a gybe. Be sure to pass outside of the buoy that marks Little Alcatraz, the rock outcropping that is off the island’s northwest corner. No need to rehash HMS Blossom’s old trick.
Set a course of about 315° true from that buoy, you’ll approach the San Francisco mooring of the Jeremiah O’Brien, a World War II Liberty ship, at Pier 45. She was built in just 56 days in 1943, one of only two Liberty ships remaining of 2,710 that were built to aid the U.S. war effort. She still occasionally plies the bay under its own steam power. She’s looking spiffy after a recent haul-out and refit, and is currently having her boilers rebuilt. Her engine room made a cameo appearance in the film Titanic. So I guess seeing the ship puts you one-ish degree of separation from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
Jeremiah O’Brien, taken by Hornblower Cruises
Berthed a few dozen yards in front of the Jeremiah O’Brien, is the USS Pampanito, a World War II submarine. The Pampanito no longer leaves the dock under its own power, but like the Jeremiah O’Brien, it too is a venerable survivor.
Arriving at Pier 31 on a Clear Day
Make your way south along the San Francisco city front, and snap a pic of the World War II-era “Welcome Home” mural on the face of Pier 31. These are just a few among the views best seen from the water — the neon “Port of San Francisco” sign on the Ferry Building, the remarkable “Cupid’s Span” bow-and-arrow sculpture backed by San Francisco’s iconic skyline, and even the Bay Bridge’s massive steel support columns — are close by and worth the trip.