Captain's Blog

It was a beautiful, Thursday evening in mid-July on the San Francisco Bay. Our guests who were visiting from Kansas City, along with their 2 grandchildren from Colorado, prepared for their summer evening sail, hoping to witness the breathtaking beauty of the Bay Area at sunset. Little did they know, they were about to be treated to a surprise that would make their experience all the more incredible—a rare, fog-free evening on the bay!

Come sailing with us and part of your charter will be donated to Canine Companions!

Welcome to Angel Island. We had another wonderful trip from San Francisco for an Angel Island picnic and history walk. Two boats with 30 passengers.  We started from San Francisco at 10 am and motor-sailed out to the Golden Gate Bridge. Under the bridge we got to see the Marin headlands and the Point Bonita Lighthouse. We got to howl under the bride - and hear our echo. Everyone got a hand at steering the boat as we went over to the calmer area near Angel Island. We saw LOTS of harbor seal sleeping on the docks at the island - they did not seem to care that we were visiting. Great picnic lunch with more sandwiches, snacks, desserts and drinks than could be eaten. Some of the group decided to hike around the island on the fire road (2 1/2 hour hike). Others decided to go on the more leisurely Angel Island history walk with Captain Kirk. Great views of Tiburon, Belvedere, the entire San Francisco bay entrance and the Golden Gate Bridge. Discussion about the history of San Francisco Bay, the Gold Rush, Civil war, building of the bridges, the end of the ferry services up to modern maritime traffic. Sailing back to San Francisco at the end of the day it was windy along the "slot". A few brave souls got some salt water spray on the front of the boat. The sun was out with a few puffy clouds and just a hint of fog. A perfect day.

Step it up a notch. Kick the sad 2020 work-from-home vibes to the curb. Put on your finest sailing garb and take a cruise in the bay! Our guests today looked pretty dapper, picnicking and watching the world go by under their jazzy straw hats. These hep-cats started the morning in Alameda, our newest home for Osprey. It was a calm, quiet morning, and as with fall sailing, the day turned out to be warm and pleasant. No more wild gusty winds like in the summer - September is the start of the best season to enjoy the SF Bay.

Why not escape the cloudy, foggy summer in San Francisco? Osprey met our intrepid travelers at Pier40 in San Francisco and set out, using the chilly winds and favorable tides to carry us across the central bay. Breaking into the warm sunny skies over Sausalito, Tiburon, and Belvedere, we could just begin to see our final destination: lunch at the historic dock and restaurant, Sam’s Anchor Cafe. Our custom lunch trips bring lots of smiles and laughter - such fun to end the sailing adventure, glide into the dock, and enjoy delicious seafood & cocktails waiting for you. We store all your belongings so you can fully enjoy an escape from the average day and spoil you and your friends to a real icon of the bay sailing scene. This is a subtitle for youpost

Sausalito is the pot of gold at the bottom of the rainbow, of course! We started our trip today from our gem of a home harbor in Sausalito, where the water sparkles green and blue and the sun is usually more reliable than our foggy neighbor San Francisco. No rain was in the forecast, but we found a heavy morning marine layer as we headed out to the Golden Gate Bridge. As the trip came to an end, the sun came out, burned away the fog, and gave us a gorgeous sunny sky with a double rainbow for the end of our sailing cruise! But, where in the world is this beautiful place, you wonder? It’s a lovely little seaside community just north of San Francisco. Vibrant with a long history and on-going tradition of boat building, sailing, and fine dining along the winding shoreline, Sausalito has become a relaxed, sunny destination for anyone looking for views of the water. Come sail with us and explore our home harbor after! for your new post

You must already know that the best place to catch a sunset from one of our sailboats on the San Francisco Bay. But did you also know a sunset is the best time to get engaged?

The estuary was quiet - it was just Osprey in the mellow morning sunshine on the whole of the bay. The container ships were docked, the loading cranes were still, and it seemed like the marina was sleeping in for Martin Luther King holiday. But Osprey was on an important mission - we were out for a San Francisco Bay ash scattering. Everyone gathered on the front deck near the bow of the ship, enjoying the fresh breezes and bay bridge views on the horizon. No one spoke, no one stirred, it was more of a meditation than a cruise. We took care to come up to the lighthouse on Yerba Buena Island, enjoying impressive coastline views of the foaming breaker waves and lighthouse on the hilltop. We motored under the Bay bridge, listening to the hum and roar of the cars passing overhead. Then bursting out on the bay water with crystal clear views of the Ferry Building and the San Francisco waterfront ahead and lovely treasure island behind us, the memorial started. Our guests stood and lined up at the rail, holding red and yellow roses. The petals floated away with the scattering ceremony, bright dashes of color floating out to sea in the gentle water. -Crewmember Heather

This past week we were thrilled to see two very different ships on the Bay. We are continually surprised by the interesting things that we see on San Francisco Bay. We saw the first ship during a Sausalito sailing charter. We saw the USCG Cutter Healy. The Healy is one of only two icebreakers that the US Coast Guard has for Arctic operations. The Healy had a fire onboard this fall and came down to Mare Island for repairs. We got to see the ship at San Francisco Pier 19. We were able to get up close and see the shape of the hull. The boat rides up on the ice and the weight of the ship breaks the ice - very interesting. We saw the Healy just after we completed an Alcatraz Island tour (where we circled the entire island and learned about its fascinating history). The second ship was a type of ship called a "Heavy Lift ship". This ship is designed to carry very heavy and large cargo over the oceans. This ship was bringing new cranes for Oakland Harbor overseas from China. We saw the ship as we went down the Oak