San Francisco Bay Waterfront Tour with Liam O’Donoghue
Story and photos by Susan Alcorn (except as noted)
One fine January day I joined friends for a cruise on the Pacific Pearl. Our outing featured an Oakland History Tour with top local historian and creator of the East Bay Yesterday podcast, Liam O’Donoghue. In the 70-plus years that I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve sailed on my own boat and on the Matthew Turner brigantine, taken whale watching tours out beyond the Golden Gate to the Farallon Islands (or Farallones), gone on tour boats out to Angel Island and Alcatraz, and ridden ferries on several of the commuter routes. All, in my opinion, are fine excursions whether you live here or are visiting from elsewhere.
But the Pearl’s waterfront tours — ours focusing on Oakland’s estuary and other East Bay highlights, and a couple of other tours focusing on San Francisco’s history and lore — offer a relatively new and terrific option for spending time on the bay.
Our tour began from the Pearl’s home, with Pacific Pearl Charters, at the Emeryville Marina. We first headed north toward Berkeley — just far enough to see the depilated remnants of the Berkeley Pier that resides at the end of University Avenue. The pier extends 2–1/2 miles into the bay, but when the pier was constructed in 1926, it reached out 3–1/2 miles — far enough to reach water deep enough for ferries to operate.
And, indeed, in 1927, auto ferry service began between the Berkeley Pier and San Francisco’s Hyde Street Pier. However, a year after the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was opened in 1936, the ferry service was halted. Until 2015, the first 3,000 feet of the pier were maintained for visitors to fish or stroll, but public access was ended due to safety concerns.
Our captain, Jim “JJ” Holloway, then brought the Pearl around to head south and soon we were approaching Treasure Island — the man-made island that was built in 1936–37 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition that welcomed visitors from around the world to celebrate the Bay Area’s offerings.
Today, as O’Donoghue pointed out, Treasure Island is undergoing major changes. The City and County of San Francisco and developers are creating what is expected to be a community of 8,000 homes — one quarter of which are to be “affordable.” Ferry service has already been established between the island and San Francisco. Three hundred acres of open space are called for in the plans.
As we cruised under the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge we viewed Yerba Buena Island. For much of the 20th century, access to this natural island was highly restricted because it was shared by the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard. Now there are some private homes and other parts of the island open to the public, but there are still restricted areas.
And then we turned east to head for the Oakland estuary. O’Donoghue entertained and informed us about the port, Jack London Square, and Alameda. No spoilers here, but included in his history and lore were answers to such questions as: “Which President’s yacht was used as a high seas marijuana smuggler?”(Answer at the end of this article).
As we traveled slowly down the estuary passing the massive cranes we debated whether or not the ‘Oakland Myth’ — that the cranes were the inspiration for the AT-AT walkers in Star Wars — was true or not. George Lucas maintains no, but still…
O’Donoghue also provided some background information that explains much about Oakland’s current economic challenges. He reminded us that during WWII, thousands of people from the south were promised jobs in the Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco shipyards. Then, after the war ended, shipyards and other industries closed or moved on — and thousands of jobs were lost. Added to that, the towering cranes we now see lifting huge containers onto ships are highly automated and no longer rely on such a vast numbers of workers.
We continued on past Jack London Square and new developments with condos and public spaces at Brooklyn Basin, then turned back along Government Island and moved closer to the Alameda side of the estuary. From land, I had never noticed the several dozen houseboats at Barnhill Marina and I was intrigued to learn that Tom Hanks had lived there when he was a teenager.
And then back into the bay to head back to the Emeryville Marina. However, as we went under the bridge again, O’Donoghue had more to share. He suggested we look up at the underside of the structure and try to find the world’s largest Double-crested Cormorant nest. It wasn’t readily apparent what to look for, but eventually I saw that the large seabirds were nestled in metal, mesh platforms under the bridge. Turns out that when the old, eastern span of the Bay Bridge was being demolished (due to the severe damage caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake), millions were spent to build new “condos” for the thousands of the birds that had lived underneath the earlier span. More info here.
What makes the Pacific Pearl unique?
The Pearl has several features that make it a different animal than the ferries operated by the big operators — the Red and White Fleet and the Blue & Gold tours.
· The Pearl is a 50x26 foot Delta Marine Charter boat that is rated to carry up to 30 passengers. That’s in contrast to the large vessels used by both the Blue & Gold and Red & White fleets that have various sizes of boats for different tourist outings. Typically their boats used for bay cruises can carry 250–300 passengers.
On this occasion I enjoyed being on the smaller boat where I was closer to the water. I could easily wander all around the boat to talk with my friends, get a closer look at my immediate surroundings, and take photos without having to jockey for position.
· The larger boats usually offer more amenities such as drink and food offerings, but the Pearl’s passengers can bring their own food. Beer and wine are allowed onboard, but not hard liquor
Sandwiches and beverages can be purchased at the deli in Watergate Market in the Watergate Shopping Center or you can order takeout dim sum or other treats from nearby Hong Kong East Ocean.
· The Pearl has a couple of tables inside for those who prefer eating there rather than on its deck. Some of the larger boats on the bay offer special dining cruises and have inside and outside seating for larger numbers of guests.
· It has a small, but adequate bathroom.
· The Pearl tour was a bargain. Though the price per person was similar to other tours — $65 in this case — we were on the water for almost three hours. With our small number of wayfarers, we quickly climbed aboard and were on our way for the relaxing, fascinating tour.
While I was sad that our delightful cruise come to an end, I was happy knowing that I can go again with Pacific Pearl Charters for a San Francisco tour. These are narrated by Chris Carlsson, author of Hidden San Francisco, and knowledgeable about the city’s past and present. The company also has a full calendar of intriguing fish and crab trips.
RESERVATIONS : pacificpearlcharters.com/tours (they fill fast!)
Spoiler alert: Whose yacht was it? The USS Potomac, served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidential yacht until his death in 1945. Then the yacht changed hands and things went downhill. In 1980 it was impounded by customs agents in a $20 million marijuana smuggling crackdown — no drugs were found on the ship, but a year later the poorly maintained vessel sank off Treasure Island.
That could have been its final resting place, but it was rescued by the Port of Oakland, restored at the cost of $5 million, and then opened to the public in 1995. More info here.
Information on tours and events of the Potomac is available here.
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There’s more fun to experience near San Francisco Bay. Learn more in Meet the Locals — Beneath the San Francisco Bay by Laurie McAndish King and published in BATW’s Stories of Travel, Culture, and the World.
