What to see in San Francisco?

[MattGER]

Hi All!

I'll be in San Francisco in April and am looking for suggestions where to go and what to see there related to boats and maritime tradition.

Of course I will visit Fishermans Wharf and the Maritime National Historical Park but maybe there are interesting sites/boats that are less obvious?

Thank you!

Matt

[Canoeyawl]

There are two WW2 vessels floating just a few piers south of Hyde street (on Pier 45) Pampanito submarine and Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty Ship

[Johnjohn]

The Spaulding Marine Center/Arques School of Traditional Boatbuilding in Sausalito are worth a visit. Ferry from SF or short drive across Golden Gate. Contact them for visiting policies/times. The San Francisco Bay Model is in the same neighborhood, but maybe only open limited days. John

[Yeadon]

Bay Model is a must see.

[rgthom]

The South End Rowing Club is right inside the maritime park, just to the left after entering. They maintain a fleet of wooden whitehalls, plus a few bigger wooden rowboats. You need to be a member and get a checkout to take a boat out on the bay, but if you call ahead they are usually happy to do a tour (and include the Dolphin club next door). It has been a few years since I visited, but they hosted invitational events and welcomed our home built rowboats for a race around the bridges. https://serc.com/rowing/

[Bruce Bateau]

It's not exactly wooden, but the fast commuter ferry from downtown SF to Oakland will get you zooming across the bay, into the interesting marinas and docks on the east side for just five bucks. It's a blast, there are lots of boats there, and you can visit the lightship Relief over there (oakland), which is way cool.

[MattGER]

Excellent suggestions, thank you all very much!

I will only have one day at the waterfront at leisure so I will try to visit the rowing club and take the ferry across to Oakland (and back).

[MattGER]

Did I say "get up early" yet ?

You sure you can't squeeze in another day ? Or maybe a week ? You need at least three days just to hit the highest of the high spots.

Thank you very much for all the info! I will get up early and seize the day ;-) Maybe I can make it so that I have another half day, we'll see...

[sandtown]

Bay Model is a must see.

Yes, and right next to it is another "must see", the amazing https://callofthesea.org/about-us/ou...atthew-turner/
call ahead.

And rent a bike down by Fisheran's Wharf peddle across the Golden Gate, and to Muir Woods (redwoods) - 15 miles one way

And make time for the 4 hour drive (one way) to the stunning Rockefeller State Park - more redwoods.

[MattGER]

So much to do and see! So little time!

A bike ride across the bridge sounds fantastic - as long as the weather is right I assume.

[Ted Hoppe]

I guess you don't want to go sailing... I know some people and may have a few ideas.

Image-03.jpg

[StephanT]

Thanks for the advice! I have a short vacation in San Francisco in April and I was looking for interesting places to visit other than the marina.

[MattGER]

I guess you don't want to go sailing... I know some people and may have a few ideas.

I always want to go sailing :-)

Just not shure how that would work out. I'll only have one or two days where I'd be free....

Great photos btw!

[rbgarr]

A SF sailing story: My godfather owned a 50' all-teak Rhodes yawl (Xanadu) on Cape Cod when I was growing up. It was bright blue and I thought it was the greatest thing to be invited to go out sailing with him. At the end of the days' sails when my dad would come to pick me up they'd sit in the cockpit smoking and having a drink or two while I was left free to sail Xanadu's pram around the harbor.

Decades later I was on business in SF and went down to look at the boats on their finger piers in the Marina District. There was XANADU! The then owner was aboard and invited me to go sailing. I couldn't that day but my business trip allowed for time do so another day. It was a sunny, typically windy day out on The Bay reaching back and forth spray flying everywhere. She'd been painted a bright red but all the teak woodwork and carvings down below done by her Hong Kong builders remained as I remembered.

I just looked her up to see if she's still there in case you might be able to get a ride aboard. No luck but I did come across some fascinating legal cases involving lawsuits, expert witnesses, etc., levied against the yawl and her owner (which he won) back in the 90s. It's interesting reading: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal.../1104/2577760/

For my middle daughter's tenth birthday we flew out to SF. We walked out onto the Golden Gate Bridge and spent a half hour in the wind looking out over the ships and sailboats below, a highlight of the trip. Recommended. Enjoy.

[MattGER]

I just wanted to say thank you, I had a great time in San Francisco!

As I wrote before I had little time for sight seeing as this was a work trip but we made the best out of it. A trip across the bay to Sausalito was the highlight of the trip closely followed by the visit to the historical pier. Folks there were very friendly and we were able to see many of the ships there in great detail. There were only a handfull other visitors so we got to have long chats with the rangers as well as some of the volunteers working there.

[MattGER]

Not a wooden boat but one that really caught my eye, anybody know what boat this is?

IMG_5462.jpg

[nrs5000]

Look like an Alerion of some sort.

[MattGER]

Look like an Alerion of some sort.

Thank you! Looking at their website I‘d say it is an Alerion 30.

[JazzyB]

I wanted to see a dentist in San Francisco a while ago, I went there in a hurry from Cincinnati and I had a serious problem with my gums and I could not visit my own dentist in Cincinnati, so I tried to find best dentist there like my own but I couldn't, then one of my friends told me to visit RDM Dental there and atlast I found someone like my own