Great Day!
Up early... much earlier than I believe Conor would like us to be - East Coast time, what can we say? We were out the door at ~0800 to go have breakfast at Denny's just around the corner from our hotel. I've always liked Denny's since my days back at the Naval Academy during my senior year. The Denny's just outside of Annapolis was THE place to stop for a late night/early morning 'Big Breakfast' before heading back onto the Academy grounds and into Bancroft Hall. Nothing remarkable about the food... just good and quick to come out, as was the case on this morning. :-)
Yesterday, on the way from the airport, we agreed to let Conor drive to Sausalito and that's what happened with a short detour to drive down the windiest road in San Francisco, a part of Lombard Street. Left the hotel at ~0850 and made our way the handful of blocks up and over to Lombard. It wasn't crowded at all! More pedestrian sightseers than cars wanting to drive it's snaking path down the 1 block it encompasses. I 'Go-Pro'd' the ride down with Conor's device... I hope it comes out OK. You can't tell what the field of view is that the device is capturing - no view screen on the back. It's not the first time we've done Lombard - just Conor's first time. A fun, short ride.
We took a left off Lombard and continued our trip out to Sausalito via Hwy 101N over the Golden Gate Bridge - which for the 1st time ever, we could see. Traffic relatively light early on a Saturday morning. The exit we took into Sausalito kind of sneaks up on you... after you exit, you immediately get funneled onto a very narrow, winding road down the mountainside which forms part of the 'bowl' that shapes this waterfront community. Our destination was the Spirit of Sacramento (SoS), a faux paddle wheel boat, that would be our platform for watching AC races #8 and #9. The USA was trailing Team New Zealand, 6pts to -1pt. The signage in and around the harbor area was poor at best and we couldn't tell exactly where she was tied up. We ended up asking someone that looked like she was working at one of the private Marina's, where we could find the boat, we eventually did, arriving at the US Army Corp of Engineer's (ACE) Bay Model Visitor Center at ~0930. Our ride was docked at the end of a gated pier fronting the Bay Model building. We had to wait to start boarding at 1030 for an ~1100 departure.
While we waited we had time to tour the Bay Model Visitor's Center and discovered that it was manned by a Park Ranger, nice gentleman, who answered some questions for us about the facility and gave Rosie some tips about things to see/do in and around Sausalito. Turns out the 2 acre Bay Model complex houses a geographically correct miniature, topographical representation of the entire Bay Area watershed and was built by the ACE in order to help scientists better understand the impact to tides, fresh and salt water mixing and, what that impact is to the surrounding ecosystem and human populated areas - extremely cool and way too much to get in before embarking for our day out on the Bay.
At 1030 all of the other paid guest starting queuing up at the gate on the pier. The pier was gated most likely to keep wanderer's away from the ACE boats docked at the pier - there were 3 boats designed for a variety of uses. Rosie saw us to the 'cruise director', a grizzled member of the boat's crew. He had one, 2 page paper manifest he was referencing to verify who they believed had paid for this excursion.... Wouldn't you know it, Conor and I were not on the list! Apparently, we purchased our, looking back now, $300/person tickets back in June and they must have somehow missed us. Fortunately, we had our printed tickets and passed through. Had we known better, we could probably have waited to book our excursion until closer to the event day and could have easily saved ~67% on tickets!! The folks in front of us had tickets valued at ~$95. Oh well, seemed like the prudent thing to do at the time since I wanted to make sure we were out on the water for Conor's birthday.
After waiting on 3 stragglers (which brought up the total passenger count on this day to ~150 souls), we cast off at ~1110 and slowly meandered our way out of Sausalito, waving to Rosie as we left. Rosie planned on touring around the area while we were out on the water - more about her adventure later.
The Spirit of Sacramento was specifically chartered by this particular 'excursion on the Bay' company, Five Stars Yachts, just for the AC overflow demand for viewing seats on the water along the race course. The event was hyped as a 'liquid event'. I'd tried to purchase tickets on other interesting vessels back in June but, all were apparently booked. That of course contributed to our premium ticket prices of ~$300/ticket for Conor and I... at the time, I'd have paid more just to ensure we would be on the water for this particular Saturday. :-)
Side Note: The original Spirit of Sacramento started out life as a wooden paddlewheeler built back in 1940. For 56 years she traversed the rivers of California until she burned down in 1996. The owners looked to have her rebuilt but instead, acquired the Becky Thatcher, a 220' riverboat from Cincinnati, OH, moved her to Sacramento and had her re-christened the Spirit of Sacramento.
The SoS has 3 decks/levels passengers can access: the upper most level has the conning tower to maneuver/drive the boat and plenty of open air seating, viewing and a cash bar. The mid-deck is enclosed but, one can walk around most of the entire level outside. The main deck is also enclosed and you can only get outside on deck up front on the bow - which also happened to be where the BBQ was located and, food was being prepared for the excursion by an actual Chef with assistance from the crew. There was also a much better stocked bar on this main deck and an HDTV to watch the AC races if you preferred to do so.
Conor had done a lot of prep/research before this day and came prepared with the free AC app on his iPhone. We were able to hear race commentary and watch the races via streaming from his device! Very cool... we had quite a few 'friends' on the boat once they heard the live content on his iPhone. :-) Needless to say, but I will anyway, both Conor and I were ready with our Canon EOS DSLRs with zoom lenses and I also had my JVC digital camcorder with me to capture some part of a race (got some footage during Race #9 before it was called due to high winds and didn't use it again).
A gorgeous, million dollar day was beckoning us out into San Francisco bay! Blue skies, wispy clouds and, a light breeze were our constant companions on the short trip into the bay on this brisk day. As we slowly made our way from the pier in Sausalito and out of Richardson Bay, we passed quite a few large, magnificent sailing vessels and yachts enroute to our eventual race viewing position located between Alcatraz Island and the eastern edge of the race circuit. On this particular Saturday, the bay was packed with pleasure vessels of all types and sizes, all who would be jockeying for positioned throughout the day. Felt almost as if one could jump from ship to ship to get around the viewing areas around the race course - that's how many boats were on the water. I was duly impressed with the sight on and off the water... including the thousands of spectators lining the San Francisco wharfs and piers - what a spectacular skyline - and the over 1/2 dozen helicopters either chasing the AC72s for fare, reporting live images during the race or, just filming footage for later news stories. The bay was alive with fans of AC sailing, many of whom, like Conor and I, had paid a pretty sum to be on the water near the action on 1 of the many commercial craft providing their customers with the opportunity for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
We made a good choice with the SoS. On this day the bay was only slightly choppy, winds ranging from mid-teens to mid-twenties (which would eventually lead to the cancellation of Race #9 when the winds spiked into the mid-twenties) and the faux paddle wheeler was rock steady. Station keeping wasn't too critical even with the plethora of private and commercial vessels routinely passing us very close aboard. With 3 viewing decks, the Captain only had to keep one side of the ship facing the course in order for everyone onboard to have virtually unobstructed viewing of the catamarans. We weren't closest to the course nor were we farthest. Telephoto lenses would be the instrument of the day for us.
Before race start, I did have time to meander around the ship. Before we left the pier, I'd bought a couple of beers for Conor and I at the upper deck open bar... apparently, every other adult onboard had the same idea :-). We each had another drink between races (I changed to a bloody Mary) during lunch which was included in the ticket price. With only 150 or so passengers, the SoS was quite spacious. Plenty of 'heads' and lots of seating. Ended up preferring to watch the race while taking photos from the mid-deck amidships anywhere to the bow. I was pleasantly surprised at how many Kiwi's (New Zealanders) appeared to be onboard on this day to watch the racing. Both Conor and I made numerous 'on the spot' friends throughout the afternoon.
Race #8 started just after 1300... was extremely exciting particularly since we had the AC iPhone app to watch/listen to on Conor's phone. The AC72 catamaran's literally fly along the race course! They are at their fastest while riding up, out of the water on either of their port or starboard 'foils'. The space-age composite constructed boats were more plane than boat. Their mainsails huge 'wings' with ailerons to adjust camber/shape generating tremendous power and speeds up to 50mph! Incredible! Takes a very skilled, fearless crew to handle and sail the boats. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, and primary syndicate sponsor of the USA Defender, Team Oracle, had a lot to do with breaking sailing tradition and pushing the limits of design and capability. No one had ever seen this type of sailing in the AC before. There were tons of cons/not so many pros initially, to building and racing these types of boats... but, oh my, how utterly exciting and riveting to watch! Larry Ellison and his proponents were proven right, in my opinion, to insist on racing the 34th AC this way. Each race had a 40-45min time limit over the 10mile course and, if I recall correctly, only 1 race was called due to time expiring - that's how fast these boats were. Race #8 was very close through two-thirds of the race up until both boats were making for the final upwind turn at the northwest corner to tack back downwind. Near disaster befell Team Kiwi... they very nearly capsized - was very scary - and Team Oracle raced away to the win. Conor actually snapped a few long-range pics of their boat at about 45 degrees before settling back down. With the win Team USA still trailed Team Kiwi: 6pts to 0! The teams only have about 45mins or so between races to turn around their boats until the 2nd race of the day. During the lull we enjoyed lunch.
Lunch was above average, particularly for BBQ on a boat. The fare was definitely Mexican themed with beef, chicken and pulled pork as the primary filling for the flower tortillas provided to build your own burritos - and all the sides, beans/cole slaw/salad/cookies/fruit, and garnishes. Conor and I enjoyed our food on the lower main deck. We both went back for seconds on our way back to Sausalito.
Race #9 was very anti-climatic since it got cancelled after start due to winds exceeding the limits for the day. None-the-less, what a fantastic day on the water with Conor and so pleased to have been able to enjoy the event with him. By the time we motored back to our pier in Sausalito and docked at ~1530, we'd only spent about 4 1/2 hrs on the water. Rosie was waiting for us at the end of the pier having come back from her day out and about.
Rosie's Day:
- Marine Mammal Center
- Went to Rodeo Beach at Ft Cronkhite in Mill Valley, part of the Marin Headlands coastline
- Drove to Pt. Bonita Lighthouse and took long walk through a tunnel and onto a suspended bridge over to the LH. She could see in the distance the AC race course through the GG Bridge
- Had lunch in Sausalito @ the Sausalito Gourmet Deli
- After some other shopping, came back to the dock to catch us
At around 1600 we left Sausalito for San Francisco and the America's Cup Park venue to do some AC/Team Oracle souvenir shopping, via the Golden Gate Bridge overlook area. This was the first time in 3 visits that we'd even seen the bridge so, we weren't going to skip the opportunity to take in the spectacular vistas. As you head back to San Francisco on Hwy 101S, you take the last exit, Alexander Ave and Conzelman Rd, before going over the bridge to drive up the hillside into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area overlooking the entrance to San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, all of San Francisco and most of the Bay including Alcatraz Island. We were a bit pressed for time and with the crowds/cars on the lower portion of Conzelman Rd, decided to pass up finding parking to hike out to Battery Spencer for the iconic views available from that vantage point.
Side Note: Battery Spencer was part of the Harbor Defense of San Francisco. Battery Spencer was a concrete coastal gun battery with three M1888 12" guns mounted on long range Barbette M1892 carriages. It was constructed on top of the five front emplacements of Battery Ridge.
Emplacements #1 and #2 were separated by a magazine with two shell rooms, a powder room and a shell hoist room. Emplacement #3 had it's own shell room, powder room and hoist room. This was a two story battery with the magazines on the lower level and the gun emplacements on the upper level. The projectiles were originally moved from the magazine level to the loading level with hand powered projectile hoists. These were replaced in 1908 with electric Taylor-Raymond front delivery hoists. The new hoists were accepted for service 30 Sep 1908. There were no powder hoists.
North of Emplacement #1, along the access road, was the BC Post and a separate building that had four rooms, a CO room, a guard room, an oil room and a large 12' by 43' plotting room. On the other side of the road were two other buildings, one housing the tools and rammers and a latrine building with separate facilities for officers and enlisted. In 1910 the BC post and the plotting room were modified and updated. The work was accepted for service on 5 Aug 1910 at a cost of $ 1680.68.
World War I (1917-1918)
The U.S. entry into World War I resulted in a widespread removal of large caliber coastal defense gun tubes for service in Europe. Many of the gun and mortar tubes removed were sent to arsenals for modification and mounting on mobile carriages, both wheeled and railroad. Most of the removed gun tubes never made it to Europe and were either remounted or remained at the arsenals until needed elsewhere. One gun was removed from emplacement #3 in 1918 and sent to Battery Chester at Fort Miley, it was not replaced and the emplacement was considered abandoned. The carriage remained in place until it was ordered salvaged on 10 Jan 1927.
In 1921 the abandoned emplacement #3 magazine powder room was converted to a power room, with two 25 KW motor-generator sets. The abandoned shell room was converted into a fire control switchboard and the hoist room became a radiator room for the motor generator sets. This work was accepted in July 1921 at a cost of $2,311.50.
World War II (1941-1945)
The remaining two guns and carriages were ordered scrapped on 19 Nov 1942 in conjunction with the first large scale scrap drive of WWII.
Current Status
Part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area (GGNRA) administered by the National Park Service. No period guns or carriages are in place. One of the very best views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.
We slowly wound our way up the 2 lane road until we reached the Hawk Hill viewing area found parking and jumped out to just enjoy the unobstructed views of the Bay area. Hawk Hill is the furthest one can drive before the road through the GGNRA turns into a single, one-way road through the rest of the recreation area. We spent a good 30 minutes just enjoying the breath-taking views, light crowds of tourists, taking pictures of couples/families and having our picture taken with the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay and, San Francisco... all under azure blue skies! We really didn't want to leave but, we had to if we were going to make the AC pavilion and the Team Oracle gift shops before they closed down for the day.
Left the GGNRA and made good time to the AC Pavilion and found parking nearby - in plenty of time to walk to the pavilion and rummage through the 2, 8' x 20' ISO containers modified to double as USA Team Oracle's merchandizing gift shop. Needless to say, I left with a very nice waterproof windbreaker... Conor and Rosie didn't find anything to suit their tastes and passed. We did take a good 1/2 hour to tour the grounds of the AC Pavilion. The event organizers really did a bang up job. They had set up areas on the waterfront where anyone could just plop down on any of a number of bean bags and watch the racing and interviews on big screens as they happened and recording post-races. There were also quite a few other associated destinations of interest throughout the Pavilion including multiple bars, sponsor venues, places to eat, off limits areas for the actual crews and their support teams and a variety of AC related displays and interactive areas. There was even a separate venue for Team Emirates (the Kiwi's). Of course, one could hardly miss the massive, multi-million dollars vessels, powered and sail, lining the wharf of the pavilion from around the world... many from South Africa and New Zealand. One yacht was so massive, 300+', that it had it's own helicopter! Wow! Anyway, after casually wandering around for a bit, we departed the Pavilion, jumped back into our SUV and drove back to the Holiday Inn just to chill for 1/2 and hour before heading back out to find a good place to have dinner.
We left our room and headed back down to the wharf area to find a place to have dinner. We decided on Italian fare and chose Cioppini's. Was good but we've definitely had better. I had very good spaghetti and meatballs (had to mess that up); Conor had Chicken Marsala, and; Rosie had the Margherita Pizza - which was pretty mediocre! After dinner, Rosie took the remaining half of pizza with her and gave the leftovers to 2, young looking drifters surrounded by their backpacks and sitting on the concrete sidewalk under the big Fisherman's Wharf clock. Who can say no to free food? :-)
Conor had mentioned a visit to Boudin's Sourdough Bakery and that's where we headed after dinner. The place is really cool, makes outstanding breads and, sells all kinds of unique kitchenware, spices, sauces and other garnishments. Bought some kitchenware and really cool looking vanilla in a bottle while Conor got some sourdough bread to go. Rosie and I both bought some hot chocolate for our brisk walk back to the Holiday Inn. Called it a night and a fabulous day around 2200 and hit the rack.
What memories! We have another busy day planned for Sunday, Conor's birthday, including dropping him back off at the airport after breakfast... much earlier than he would need to be there, in order for Rosie and I to make it up to Callistoga in time for our afternoon with Chateau Montelena.
What a day!
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