Ferryboat Sausalito History 2007 Articles

Kathie's December 2007 Article

Recently, I was looking through some old minutes and found one from December 13, 1934. I think you will find it interesting.

Sportsmen Inc. Meeting Minutes, December 1934

Our annual meeting of the year will be held at Jenny Lind Hall, 22nd & 23rd on Telegraph--third floor December 20, 7pm, sharp.

Crab and Chipino Dinner will be served at 50 cents per head.

Prominent speakers, movie pictures, State Senators, Assemblymen, City officials, all will be on hand. Hear the proposed laws discussed.

A good time will be had we assure you. Let's make this the largest turnout of the year.

14 members have been nominated for the Board of Directors. Nominations are open until the first meeting of January, when the elections of nine directors will be in order.

If you are sure that you are coming or bringing a guest, please state on the enclosed card and return to the secretary at once. Do it now before you forget.

For those of you who cannot come may I wish you a most Merry Christmas and a prosperous Happy New Year.

Your Secretary, Dr. T.F. Werner

Kathie's October-November 2007 Article

Keith and I traveled the east coast this summer visiting many seaports and very interesting  maritime museums. 

In Maine, we found two items which I believe will be great additions to our museum.

First is a Brass Inclinometer which measures the list of a ship.  The second item is a Bone Jagging Wheel or better known as a pie cutter/crimper. 

Jagging Wheels were usually made of Scrimshaw, which is a seafaring term from the middle nineteenth century which referred to the various decorative and practical objects that whalers made to pass away their leisure hours at sea. Most of these items were intended as mementos of their voyage and for gifts for loved ones at home. Scrimshaw objects were made from the hard byproducts of the whale hunt (sperm whale teeth, walrus tusks, skeleton bone).  These were often in combination with wood and shells.

Kathie's September 2007 Article

Many of us love Lighthouses. There is a certain historical, mystical, or romantic feeling when you enter one.

In the book, Beachcombing and Camping along the Northwest Coast, published in the 1970's, it recommends that on a rainy day you should consider visiting Coast Guard Lighthouses. In those days, nearly all of the sea coast lighthouses were occupied and were open for visitors. Soon after the 1970's, most of the lighthouses were locked and automatic beacons were installed.

In recent years, many organizations and historical societies have organized to support lighthouse preservation. Now many offer tours and have gift shops with books and artifacts about lighthouses.

Lighthouses are called "historic" because most of them have been around for more than one hundred years. If you live in a lighthouse, even today, you are called a "Wickie."  This came about because, in the early days, it was your job to light the wick in the grand beacon that saved so many lives, as ships found their way into dangerous harbors.  

Kathie's August 2007 Article

Recently I received an e-mail from Jean Palmer, who spent many hours at Sportsmen YC as a child many years ago.  I asked her if I could print her letter in our Newsletter and she gave me her permission.   

My family goes way back to when the Sausalito was originally brought to the Delta to its first location.  My grandfather, Manual, 'Pop Garcia' was one of the first members who helped get the Sausalito to its original berth and then move it to its current berth. 

Then from Pop Garcia were my Aunt Pearl & Uncle Ed Schneider.  Pearl was a lifetime Lady Sailor until her death in January 1998 at the age of 91. Her husband, Ed, was one of the members who put down the original dance floor upstairs.  Then my parents joined, Thelma & Chris Gannon.  

The Sausalito holds many, many, many memories for me and cabin #9.  I can't begin to list them all...well, maybe the famous 'water fight' in the harbor.  We kids had a water fight from boat to boat until everyone thought one would sink.  What a crowd it drew!  Rumor had it the water fight is why the Sausalito was listing to the harbor side...too many people hanging over the side watching the water fight.   

Jean has recently relocated to San Juan Island in Washington State.  She has been going through things and found many old pictures of the Sausalito in her old location and when she was moved to the present location, which she is willing to donate to our museum.  We are going to get together some time this summer.

Kathie's June/July 2007 Article

With so many new members in our club, I thought I would explain a very historical event that takes place every year in July.

This year the event will be held at San Joaquin YC on the weekend of July 20, 21, and 22. The event I am talking about is the 4S CRUISE.

The 4S started in 1953 when four yacht clubs (Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sportsmen, and Stockton) got together for an over-the-bottom race.

The first club to host this gathering was Sportsmen YC. In 1953, it was a very casual event. The boats raced in the morning and the host club served sandwiches after the race.  This event has grown in 54 years into a three, sometimes four-day event.

The weekend starts with an Opening Ceremony, then there are breakfasts, lunches and dinners, entertainment and an Olympic style game competition which lasts all day Saturday. After dinner on Saturday evening, medals are presented to the individual winners for each game. This is usually followed by music and dancing. On Sunday after breakfast, there is a Closing Ceremony, where the 4S flag is presented to the club that will host the event next year.  

In 1986, Sportsmen YC donated a perpetual trophy which is still used today. It is given to the club with the highest total number of points from the games won in the competitions.

The 4S is a wonderful event where old friendships are renewed and new ones are made. Come join in this wonderful weekend!  

Kathie's May 2007 Article

“During the century of ferryboats, the San Franciscan was very much a part of his watery heritage. Blast of whistles and slap of paddlewheel, sunlight dappling the swells, the breathless excitement of crossing in heavy fog...these were all his for only a few pennies...The bay became your personal world. You knew Peg-Leg Pete, the one legged seagull. You applauded the Caruso of the Ferries, the boatman who sang operatic arias...Ferryboats were filled with the dignity of the era and the excitement of approaching the city on its own watery terms." 

When Herb Caen wrote this for the San Francisco Chronicle on January 5, 1964, commuter ferryboats had been gone from the North Bay for 23 years; it would be 1970 before they returned.

Kathie's April 2007 Article

I recently learned about a very important ship, the USS New York.

She was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.  She is the fifth in a new class of warship – designated for missions that include special operations against terrorists.  She can carry a crew of 360 sailors and combat ready Marines to be delivered ashore with helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted in a foundry in Amite, LA., to cast the ship’s bow section.  When it was poured into the molds on September 9, 2003, “those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” recalled Navy Captain Kevin Wensing, who was there.  “It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.”

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the hair on the hand stood up.  “It had a big meaning to all of us,” he said.

The ship’s motto? “Never Forget.”  

Kathie's March 2007 Article

A gallant lady made her way into the San Francisco Bay on a  Sunday afternoon in February, making history. 

The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ship ever to enter the Bay and the largest ocean liner afloat.  She is 151,000 tons and 1,131 feet long.

When she sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, it looked like she was going to hit for sure.  As she sailed under the bridge she blew her deep whistle as to say, “Here I am!”   Hundreds of people lined the bridge and shore to welcome her.  The passengers sipped champagne and waved handkerchiefs from her decks; what a marvelous sight.

The QM2 was so large she had to wait for a change in the tide current to dock at Pier 27.  Even though she was only here for a very short historic visit, the passengers spent 1.2 million dollars in San Francisco.

She left the Bay on the following Monday for Honolulu, Hawaii, on her second leg of a world cruise.  The 2000 passengers who boarded her in San Francisco had had reservations for a long time.  There was a waiting list of people hoping to sail on her.  

Kathie's February 2007 Article

All the San Francisco Bay Ferryboats were equipped with iron whistles, but some were more spectacular than others.  The City of San Rafael was exceptional in that she had two whistles that did not match.  Going to San Quentin, her whistle was a toot from a thin whistle.   Richmond bound, she had double tone from a stubby one.

The Berkeley was a beautiful boat and her whistle was a class all by itself.  The whistle started with a hiss of escaping steam, and then the sound progressed tentatively hovering between a wheeze and a snore, until it finally reached its magnificent toot.

The Diesels arrived on the Bay in the 1920’s with large air horns mounted on their pilot houses.  They were loud and dependable, but did nothing for the character of the boats.

Kathie's January 2007 Article

The Ferry Boat Berkeley, was built for Southern Pacific by the Union Ironworks in San Francisco in 1898.  The Berkeley had a lot of firsts: first propeller driven ferry on the bay, the first steel hull ferry to be built in San Francisco, a triple expansion engine, and the first to sport electric lights.  She was soon dubbed the “slip destroying monster” by captains used to more sedate paddle wheelers.  The Captain used to say that he had to turn the engines off in mid bay to avoid hitting the ferry slip.  The Berkeley bumped a tug in 1925, collided with the El Paso in 1936, and took out 30 feet of dock piling in 1954. 

She ran faithfully for 61 years, taking millions of passengers between San Francisco and Oakland.  She also played a very big part in the 1906 earthquake by evacuating residents from the city. 

More about the Berkeley next month.

If you should happen to have old newspaper articles, photos, other artifacts, or personal knowledge relevant to the history of The Ferryboat Sausalito, please contact Historian Kathie (please see "Contact SYC Staff" on Home Page).
Thank you.