Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
PIER 1 ½ AND THE FERRY BUILDING
On a crystal clear day in early March, the forecast of 5-10 knots did not disappoint. There was a slight swell from the ocean as I crossed the Bay toward San Francisco from the north in a building flood.
On the way over I photographed Treasure Island. It is being transformed into something, I’m not quite sure what that will look like. If I could tie up somewhere over there I would explore more, but because there is no place to do that. I can’t and neither can you.
My understanding is that a new marina is being built to replace the old one. Who knows how long that will take to complete? The new one will have no small boat slips. Instead, the slips will 45’ – 60’, meaning that, regardless of how small your boat, you will have to pay for a 45’ slip. I wonder if that means that two 20’ boats can share a slip? Probably not. I won’t even ask.
If you live in the east bay it will cost you at least $8 to cross the Bridge in order to get to your boat. In order to get to your slip from the East Bay you will have to pay the $8 bridge fee. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. For sure things are changing over there.
My destination was Pier 1 ½ , one building over from the Ferry Building. It took exactly two hours from Richmond, 6.4 nautical miles as the crow flies.
How does the “rebuilt” Pier 1 ½ look? Well, you tell me. Here is a photo. At low tide it looks sort of rough and rusty, which sounds like the title of a cowboy movie. The pier is shorter than it used to be but I definitely appreciate the effort made to maintain it. There aren’t many options available for sailors to access the city from the water, and beggars can’t be choosers.
When I arrived I remembered the reason friends give for not sailing their own boats over there: The surge was strong: Almost violent. I had forgotten that I had put all four of my big fat fenders into storage. Why had I done that? Because I wouldn’t need them when I was anchored out. That was really dumb of me, because fenders are necessary if you plan to tie up at this Pier. I jury rigged fenders by using my seat cushions but they were flat and inadequate. I felt guilty leaving Dura Mater there.
Inside the Ferry Building, the vendors seemed optimistic. This was a week day so it wasn’t jammed, but the shops looked clean and well stocked. That Ferry Building is one caffeinated place. I counted at least seven different places to buy coffee.
There were many many opportunities to purchase pastries that looked and smelled heavenly. It was hard to keep from reaching into my pocket for my credit card, but I showed admirable restraint. Plus I knew that I had a pecan roll back at home.
Two large shop spaces promised that they were “Coming Soon!”, and Gotts is expanding. Boulettes Larder, my favorite restaurant over there, is still in business. That bodes well for the Ferry Building, and it is still my favorite place to go in the City.
A relatively new space called Fog City Flea Trading Post is at the southern end of the building. I spoke with a very nice young woman named Sofi, who told me it has been there for three years. That reminded me of how long it has been since I last sailed over.
There are forty different vendors represented, and it is filled with clothes, hats, hair accessories, jewelry, purses and all kinds of nice tchotchkes. Although Sofi told me that she is not a manager, I think maybe she should be because she was very knowledgeable about the business.
Before I headed back to my boat I decided to walk up the outside stairs to the second floor of the Ferry Building. Did you know that you can go up there? Well, you can. The nice man at a podium told me that visitors are asked to stay between the long desks at either end of the hall, and that was fine with me. The view of its internal architecture is impressive.
Back down at DM, I untied the dock lines and circled around in front of the big tour boat parked across the way. There is plenty of room to circle around, but I recommend waiting until the 183’ California Hornblower at the entrance enters or exits. Otherwise that would be a squash.
On a crystal clear day in early March, the forecast of 5-10 knots did not disappoint. There was a slight swell from the ocean as I crossed the Bay toward San Francisco from the north in a building flood.
On the way over I photographed Treasure Island. It is being transformed into something, I’m not quite sure what that will look like. If I could tie up somewhere over there I would explore more, but because there is no place to do that. I can’t and neither can you.
My understanding is that a new marina is being built to replace the old one. Who knows how long that will take to complete? The new one will have no small boat slips. Instead, the slips will 45’ – 60’, meaning that, regardless of how small your boat, you will have to pay for a 45’ slip. I wonder if that means that two 20’ boats can share a slip? Probably not. I won’t even ask.
If you live in the east bay it will cost you at least $8 to cross the Bridge in order to get to your boat. In order to get to your slip from the East Bay you will have to pay the $8 bridge fee. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. For sure things are changing over there.
My destination was Pier 1 ½ , one building over from the Ferry Building. It took exactly two hours from Richmond, 6.4 nautical miles as the crow flies.
How does the “rebuilt” Pier 1 ½ look? Well, you tell me. Here is a photo. At low tide it looks sort of rough and rusty, which sounds like the title of a cowboy movie. The pier is shorter than it used to be but I definitely appreciate the effort made to maintain it. There aren’t many options available for sailors to access the city from the water, and beggars can’t be choosers.
When I arrived I remembered the reason friends give for not sailing their own boats over there: The surge was strong: Almost violent. I had forgotten that I had put all four of my big fat fenders into storage. Why had I done that? Because I wouldn’t need them when I was anchored out. That was really dumb of me, because fenders are necessary if you plan to tie up at this Pier. I jury rigged fenders by using my seat cushions but they were flat and inadequate. I felt guilty leaving Dura Mater there.
Inside the Ferry Building, the vendors seemed optimistic. This was a week day so it wasn’t jammed, but the shops looked clean and well stocked. That Ferry Building is one caffeinated place. I counted at least seven different places to buy coffee.
There were many many opportunities to purchase pastries that looked and smelled heavenly. It was hard to keep from reaching into my pocket for my credit card, but I showed admirable restraint. Plus I knew that I had a pecan roll back at home.
Two large shop spaces promised that they were “Coming Soon!”, and Gotts is expanding. Boulettes Larder, my favorite restaurant over there, is still in business. That bodes well for the Ferry Building, and it is still my favorite place to go in the City.
A relatively new space called Fog City Flea Trading Post is at the southern end of the building. I spoke with a very nice young woman named Sofi, who told me it has been there for three years. That reminded me of how long it has been since I last sailed over.
There are forty different vendors represented, and it is filled with clothes, hats, hair accessories, jewelry, purses and all kinds of nice tchotchkes. Although Sofi told me that she is not a manager, I think maybe she should be because she was very knowledgeable about the business.
Before I headed back to my boat I decided to walk up the outside stairs to the second floor of the Ferry Building. Did you know that you can go up there? Well, you can. The nice man at a podium told me that visitors are asked to stay between the long desks at either end of the hall, and that was fine with me. The view of its internal architecture is impressive.
Back down at DM, I untied the dock lines and circled around in front of the big tour boat parked across the way. There is plenty of room to circle around, but I recommend waiting until the 183’ California Hornblower at the entrance enters or exits. Otherwise that would be a squash.
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