Touristing in San Francisco
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