Ferryboat Sausalito History Kathie's 2001 Articles

Kathie's December 2001 Article

The following “Open Letter to Santa Claus” appeared in part in our December 1957 newsletter:

Dear Santa,
Thought you might be interested to know, as you pass over Antioch on Christmas Eve, just what that very large object is that looks like a boat sitting there in the moonlight.  It is a boat, Santa, and it is named the Sausalito.  Many years ago, it made many trips daily from San Francisco to Sausalito.  For the last twenty or some odd years, it has served as a clubhouse for a group of people known as Sportsmen.

While most of the members live in the Bay Area, many of them make weekly trips to the Club where they can enjoy its facilities, their cabins, social events, and have a great deal of fun.  Fishing and boating is the main source of enjoyment for its members, and in the evening they relax around the stove, the bar, and really have a good visit.  We have a fine restaurant aboard where delicious meals are served.  For the women folks, known as Lady Sailors, it is fine to get away from the dishes and the cleaning after.

Sportsmen members and the Lady Sailors have their meetings the first Monday of each month.  After business meetings have adjourned, coffee and cake are served by the Lady Sailors.  The men have a monthly drawing of a kitty in which they put a small ten cents a month.  This past month, the kitty had grown to the nice tidy sum of $10.00.  There are many fine men in the Club interested in its upkeep.  On December 7th, the Lady Sailors had a Christmas Party at the Club.  There were movies for the children and one of your helpers gave out the gifts and candy.  The temperature was comparable to that of your own  North Pole.  You would have been right at home with the tree, the gifts, and the brisk and bracing weather.

I’m looking forward to singing with your children on December 9th.  Wishing you a Blessed Holiday Season!

Did you know there were 19 historic ferry routes before the bridges were built? Did you know  by the 1960s, these historic routes had all been abandoned?

In the prime of ferry boat travel, as many as 2,500 people  traveled in one trip across the bay.

Recently someone asked me, “How long does a trip from the Ferry Building to Sausalito take?” I thought it was a good question and  I would like to know that. With a little research I found out it takes 25 minutes to go from the Ferry Building to Sausalito and 18 minutes to go from the Ferry Building to Oakland.
 

It is just too hard to write about any past historical events at this time, when September 11, 2001, is on our minds and  will never be forgotten.

We are all deeply saddened by the tragic events of  this day. Our prayers and sincere sympathy go to all the victims, their families, and those affected by this terrible act.

We are proud of our Country, and we must stand united.

At our August Meeting, a beautiful oil painting of our Ferry, the Sausalito, was on display. Dick Reeves, the artist, has captured the Ferry as she stands today in all her glory. Paintings or pictures of past San Francisco ferries are very rare and hard to find. Dick is selling the large, beautifully framed picture for $495.00.

After the meeting, several people came up to me with donations to keep the picture on the Ferry, to be hung upstairs for everyone to enjoy for years to come. If you would like to make a donation, please get in touch with me at 925-837-2991 or you can make checks payable to Sportsmen Yacht Club and put them in our Club mailbox (Number  57).

The museum received a good fall cleaning at our August Work Party.  With the help of Associate member Dolores Swart and Muriel Telles, we accomplished a lot and the museum was gleaming.

A new artifact was donated to the museum. Chuck Trombetta has donated a working brass U.S. Navy clock from a World War II Destroyer Escort.  It is hung on the wall of the Museum and looks great, Chuck!
 

Kathie's August 2001 Article

The 48th 4S is now history, but many of us will not soon forget it.  “FIVE-PEAT” was chanted by many.  Yes, we brought home the perpetual 4S Trophy for the 5th year in a row!

It took the talent of many participants to make this happen.  For the first time in 48 years, there were two ties.  Sacramento tied with Sportsmen for 1st place and Stockton tied with Jan Joaquin for  3rd place.  It was Puzzle Mania that was the tie-breaker.

I am sorry to report Sharon Selvy broke her arm while playing Volleyball.  She is mending well.

We brought home 5 Gold Medals, 4 Silver Medals, 1 Bronze Medal, and came in 2nd in Puzzle Mania.  Honorable mention goes to Elaine Brown for her great cheerleading during a some very tight Shuffleboard games. Congratulations to all who played and all who supported on a job well-done and games well-played.  Please see below for the list of Sportsmen players who won medals.

Sacramento YC was a wonderful host.  The 4S is such a wonderful weekend to renew old friendships and make new ones.  Next year is our turn and Vice Commodore Lou Zobb was presented the 4S flag to be raised at Sportsmen YC at the 49th annual 4S.

Again, thank you and congratulations to all our Club participants for their fair competitive spirit.  Thank you to all those present who supported our teams with enthusiasm and encouragement.  Last, but not least, thanks to Ray Telles for his help and the ride down from Crescent City.

Let’s all wear our medals at the August General Membership Meeting!
 
 

July 13th, 14th, and 15th, Sacramento YC will host the 48th Annual 4S Cruise-In.

For those of you new to this event, I would like to give you a little history.

The 4S started in 1953 when four clubs, Sportsmen, Sacramento, Stockton, and San Joaquin would get together for an over-the-bottom race each year. The host club would serve sandwiches at the end of the race. The event has really changed in 48 years. Now it is a three day event with games, food, entertainment and a lot of fun.

In 1986, Sportsmen Yacht Club donated the first perpetual trophy for the 4S games. We won it that year, then again in 1992. In 1997, we brought it home and were able to keep it in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Now, in 2001, we hope to bring it home for the 5th year in a row.

"The Wedding" is now history. I have heard  actors say, "This has been a great audience." Now I know what they meant. From the very beginning of the play, the audience really had a great time and so did the actors.  This was about a one year commitment for Muriel and I. The characters of the play have been rehearsing since November and they are as follows:
Mother of the Bride - Estelle Mozzarella, Kathie Hammer
Mother of the Groom - Beachy, Bonnie White
Sister Mary Bernadette, Muriel Telles
Father Cardelli, Tom MacLean
Boyfriend of the Mother of the Groom - Guido, Tony Siino
Grandma to the Bride - Grand Mama, Trella
Groomsmen:
   Vito, Keith Hammer
   Tito, Jim Dawson
   Dino, Lou Zobb
Photographer - Pasquale, Ray Telles
Bridesmaids:
   Filomina, Alice Gibson
   Lucinda, Nancy Yarbrough
   Rosaria, Pam Hamilton
Singing Telegraph Lady,
   Gloria Batchelor
Wedding Coordinator, Maria,
   Dolores Swart

I have such admiration for all these people; not one let out the secret plot. We would like to thank Jackie Steele for letting us use all her green plants, Diane from Don Lucas’ Florist in San Leandro for all the flowers, and John Howard’s Continental Trio who were dressed for the occasion and provided beautiful Italian music throughout the evening.  Our chefs for the evening were Tony and Rosemary Russo and Doris Calhoun. The meal was fantastic. I hope most of you saw the wedding cake, it was truly incredible and delicious.  Muriel, Ray, and Dolores outdid themselves with the decorations. The Sausalito really looked like a lovely church.

Many people helped to make this production and we are truly grateful.
We hope the play will go down in history as an event to be remembered.

Nancy Olmsted has written a new book titled, Simple Pleasures Begin With  Ferryboats. If you are fascinated with the history of the San Francisco Ferryboats, you will want a copy of this book. You can purchase this book at the National Maritime Museum book store in San Francisco, at the Hyde Street Pier. The cost is $10.95 and well worth every penny.

Two full pages are about our Sausalito, with a picture of Dr. Snead’s model and a couple of his sketches of the interior of the Ferry .  Our Ferry expert and friend, Bill Knorp, does a collector’s choice article about his favorite ferry, The Oakland.

Nancy Olmsted wrote the book, The Ferry Building: Witness to a Century of Change, which I also recommended to you last year. Sadly, it is already out of print, so copies are hard to find.

In the introduction of the book, Simple Pleasures Begin With Ferryboats, it states that on January 5, 1964, Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote:

 "Today thousands of people live at the edge of the bay they've never been on.....Ferryboats were close to the foaming heart of the matter----something to love."

The Museum got a good spring cleaning at the March Work Party. Although it is cleaned every month, a deep cleaning was accomplished thanks to Elaine Rasmussen, Audrey Coach, Dianne Chapman and yours truly. It smells so clean and looks spotless.

The Museum changes constantly, thanks to members who have generously donated or loaned items to be displayed.

Did you ever wonder how many windows are on the west side of the ferry? Thanks to Tony Chapman, we now know there are 152 windows, not counting the pilot houses.

Enjoy Spring!

Recently while working with the California Power Commission to help prove the historic value of our treasured  "SAUSALITO FERRY," I came across some valuable historical information.

On my regular museum tour, I always tell people that there are four  ferrys left out of over 100 that traveled the Bay years ago. The ferrys that are left are the Issaquah which is in the state of Washington, the Berkeley which is in San Diego, the Eureka which is at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, and our very own Sausalito.

What I discovered, thanks to our ferry expert Bill Knorpe, is that the Issaquah and the Berkeley were propeller boats. The only two side-wheelers left are the Eureka and the Sausalito.

We all know how valuable our Sausalito is, but this makes her even more important to preserve. She is a very important part of an era that passed many years ago.

In the 1920s and 1930s, as many as 50,000 people rode the ferries to work each morning.  Many of these people made friendships that lasted a lifetime.  These friendships were made while playing cards, walking the decks, or maybe just sitting in the wind under the overhang in their favorite seat.

In 1930 alone, 43 ferryboats carried 47 million passengers and 6 million automobiles from shore to shore.

What a wonderful era, when thousands of people had at least a half hour of total relaxation in the morning before starting work, then again in the afternoon after work.  Can you imagine how calming it must have been to witness a sunrise or sunset as you moved slowly across the bay?

Columnist Herb Caen wrote in his January 5, 1964, Chronicle column, “Today thousands of people live at the edge of a bay they’ve never been on... A bridge is only a bridge, a highway in the sky.  Ferryboats were close to the foaming heart of the matter—something to love.”
 

The 2000 Santa night at our Club is now history and we all have wonderful memories of that special night.  The children were well-behaved and had a wonderful time.  What good-looking families the members of Sportsmen have!  I enjoyed leading the children’s Christmas singing.  The children sang their hearts out and rang the bells in perfect harmony.

They were so excited for Santa to arrive.  When the announcement was made that he had arrived, the smiles were amazing.  Mr. and Mrs. Claus looked wonderful and called each child to come up and talk to them one by one.  Many children had to wait a long time to get their visit with Santa.  Thanks to Freda Lucido, we will all have a picture to remember this occasion.

Nancy Yarbrough and I would like to thank everyone who donated and helped fill the children’s Christmas bags.  The children loved them.