15 Aug - Today we said goodbye to the laid back and exclusive enclave of Belvedere Cover and SFYC and moved onto the more vibrant, but apparently even more exclusive St Francis Yacht Club.  This club formed when there was a split in the members of the SFYC over where they should be based (after the San Francisco Earthquake trashed their earlier clubhouse) and has grown to be a leading racing club for the US (whilst we were there, there was a national racing regatta going on and the club house is littered with America's cup and other American classic sail racing regalia.  The day started, after pulling out from SFYC with a wonderful sail in sunny weather across the bay, scooting past Alcatraz...

and enjoying easy sailing in 12 - 15 knots with a fairly descent backdrop

After dodging a barge and a tanker we made it into the St Francis Yacht club and met the shore staff, Frank and Calypso who were incredibly friendly and made us feel very much at home.  Once we were comfortable we went for a walk around the clubhouse which was - wow - nice.  

Enjoying the view from the upper deck bar

After we'd sorted out our card so we can order food and drinks we headed into town.  It was great to see Be True in yet another glorious setting

Then it was into full touristing mode as we walked around San Francisco getting our bearings.  After walking along with waterfront we ended up in the ulitmate tourist trap - Pier 39 we're we both walked around gawking at the amount of touristy tat on offer! We also had to go and see the 'famous sea lions' of pier 39 - they were a hoot - if you want to see and hear them too then here is the live webcam link .  Petty we can't share the smell too!

Pier 39 with the city in the background

After soaking up the tourist traps we headed into the city which had some beautiful architecture around north beach (surprisingly and area some way from the coast with no sand!) and then we went to the 'crookedest road in the world' on Lombard avenue - the photo's really don't do it justice

It was then back to the boat for afternoon tea with the dock crew.  As we got back we found we had new neighbours - luckily they didn't hang around too long

16 Aug - Another day of toursiting around San Francisco.  The day started (for me) with a run to the Golden Gate bridge (along with about half of the rest of the city it seemed!.  Although fogged in it is not every day you can run to the viewpoint of such an icon! When we arrived back Jerry, the owner of the behemoth of the yacht in front of us, invited us for a tour of 'the dragon lady' It was certainly an interesting explerinece with themed cabins (the green room, the red room and the gold room!)  and lots of fake fur and wipe clean sofas around as well as plenty of disco balls and a mirrored dancefloor!  We later found out a little more about Jerry and his business (Jerry's Fearies) - definitely a colourful character and very San Francisco!

Once back and showered we headed into town again.  We started by hopping on one of the original cable cars for a tour up and down the hills of San Francisco.  Alighting at the last stop we found ourselves in a more generic, recognisable city - big skyscrapers and lots of shops.  Walking around we found the Palace hotel with it's extravagant Garden Court - we thought about taking afternoon tea but after doing it at the Fairmont Victoria we didn't want to sample second best!  Walking on we found ourselves at the South Beach Yacht Club and managed to, unfortunately, confirm that they didn't have any reciprocal moorage available so we have had to rethink our plans for the next few days.  Heading back, we rode on the F line streetcars to get back to Fishermans Wharf and then headed over to the Palace of Fine Arts to marvel at the faugh greek temples - the last of the buildings from the 1915 world fair hosted here.  Then it was finally back to the boat for some downtime having walked far too far over the last couple of days!

With South Beach Yacht Club now not an option, we are planning on spending next week anchored off in various locations around the bay (Treasure Island, Sausalito and Aquatic Park Cove - part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park)  As such we won't have as good access to internet(or showers!) so we may not be able to keep the blog as up to date as we have the last few days.