New Family From the SF Bay Area

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Sailorchic, I saw the Golden Bear today. First time ever. They were coming under the Gate with everyone lined up nice on the decks. I leaned back on the helm to steady myself with the bincocs and sat right down on the horn. One loud, long blast as we sailed to stern of them. They're probably still wondering what the hell we were doing

The ship is passing Alcatraz Island at this very moment. -- My mistake. That's the tourist boat, not the academy's training ship.

[Elimax]

We appreciate the helpful comments/suggestions. The bay holds a special place for us. As a teenager my folks kept a small cabin cruiser at pier 39 and I spent a good bit of time running around with friends. Probably one of the early experiences that pushed me towards the academy.

The Golden Bear holds a lot of history for us. My Freshman cruise was on the "old bear" on her last sail before layup. A little steam ship with style and class. My senior cruise was on the current Golden Bear. In 1999 as the Golden Bear was returning from its summer cruise I spent the night out at the pilots station with the pilots and climbed onboard with the pilot as the Bear was coming back into the bay. As we came under the golden gate I hit my knee on the bow and asked my wife to marry me. (Probably would have jumped over board had she turned me down! )

I'm reasonably competent on rules of the road, vessel systems, maneuvering under power, etc. Upon graduation I acted as a captain on a 131' mission vessel, and as previously mentioned we have been doing power chartering over the years. However, both our 200 ton masters, and unlimited 3rd mates licenses are no longer active.......as our business became successful, and kids, family, etc, we did not have the time to keep the licenses current. They look nice on the wall, but that is about it!

Definitely planning on getting the kids on the water with us. Hopefully this weekend will start the process for them.

Cheers,

Scott

[SF Bay Dude]

Congrats on a great decision, and all the success to you guys! Sounds like you have a firm plan and are going to do it. Cheers!