Our last stop in San Francisco Bay was Brisbane Marina and it was a bit sad, because one of the reasons we were going there was to drop my brother-in-law Peter off, who has been travelling with us for the past 5 weeks since Vancouver. The marina is right next to the airport, so very convenient. The other reason was how could we not visit when we are from Brisbane Australia?
We couldn't leave Angel Island too early because we were literally stuck in the mud. But that is ok because we aren't early morning people by choice. So we waited while the water level under the keel rose from 0.0, 0.1, 0.2m. By the time we dropped off it may have been reaching 0.3 over a wave.
The air was actually quite clear and the bridge wasn't shrouded in fog, as we sailed past.
Since Peter was headed off he got to sail us across the bay instead of the autopilot, and by golly it was getting pretty windy. Poor Peter had to dodge ships, have high speed ferries zoom past, keep out of the shallow water, and go under the Oakland Bay Bridge. I think he was out of his comfort zone, but did a great job getting us there safely.
He even had to avoid running this group over on these weird water bikes.
And he navigated us under the Oakland Bay Bridge, locally known as The Bay Bridge, superbly.
It was a bit tricky getting into the marina. By now it was very windy. The channel is dredged but is quite shallow and I had some sharp turns to get in while also negotiating the wind trying to blow us out of the channel. Even once in the marina it was still very windy, but by now I am not so timid about using my revs, so we did a great turn and tied up on the visitors dock with no issues. Just opposite us was another small dock so people could come in and fill up with water and empty their holding tank.
It is a lovely little marina. For once we were right near the amenities block. Look, they were all concrete, nothing fancy, but they were reasonably clean, we didn't have to pay for our hot water, and a big plus: they had a heater. So you turned the dial when you went in and hot air blew out. Now that was a great feature.
Peter was flying out that evening, but kindly took us to lunch at a local restaurant called The Chandlery. It was situated in this large prefecture of pharmaceutical and medical technology buildings next to the marina, and it felt very much like it was actually sponsored by one of the companys. Probably the one it was situated in! It wasn't open on weekends, and it was only open two days/week later than lunch. Clearly the people here at this happy hour were scientists/researchers/engineers.
There were also games to play for no extra cost, a pool table, mini golf and this game I am not sure what it is called but was fun, and we roped a reluctant Peter in for a game.
We saw Peter off in a taxi for his 10pm flight. A big thank you to Peter, you are a great crew member, even if you do show me up!
The laundry was about half way along the marina. You could either use coins or download an app that you loaded with money and use that, which is what we did, so we didn't need to scrounge quarters. It also conveniently gives you a reminder on your phone when the cycle is nearly finished. Unfortunately there were only two machines and dryers, with a lot of people in and out, so basically I took up one machine and dryer for most of the day catching up on our washing. But as people came and went everyone was super chatty and friendly, and a lady told me that one of the sailors on a nearby boat was an Aussie and she said she would let them know we were on the visitors dock.
So that is how we met the lovely Gail who happens to be from Brisbane Australia, and her equally as lovely husband Mike. They live nearby in a house that has just had a tree fall onto it, so they are fixing it up rather than being out cruising like they had hoped, and they keep their boat here in Brisbane Marina. Unfortunately we wouldn't get the opportunity to get to know them better because we were heading off the following morning. But you never know when you will meet again on the seas!
As I walked back and forth from the laundry I caught a glimpse of this little critter, who would jump straight into his little burrow when he saw me. I think it is a squirrel, but I have never seen one go down a burrow in the ground before.
We had originally planned to head to Hawaii from San Francisco. We changed our minds and instead were making Monterey because when we depart we can literally just leave. San Francisco is a little more difficult because you need to time for the tide, try to avoid the winds that pick up as the day goes by, and being so large it literally takes ages to make your exit. But we are now even questioning Monterey and may head further south because of the high pressure system that hasn't moved North yet, which will mean we have no wind to push us to Hawaii. I am not adverse to that, because it means we may yet get to see the Channel Islands where the sea lions and pelicans breed.
So a summary of Brisbane Marina. Very friendly, state of amenities fair, approx $40/night, very windy, shallow channel to enter, no shops within walking distance if you wish to provision, close to airport. We were very happy with it and if it fits your requirements, it is a worthwhile stop.
I got up earlyish to have a shower before we left the marina, and I saw this beautiful Snowy Egret fishing for its breakfast in the calm of the morning. It would just freeze like a statue while I watched it, so I took my photo and left it alone to get on with its day, and me with mine.
