This is what a speedboat tour looks like in San Francisco Bay. Although, at one point it almost didn’t happen.
We knew things were going poorly when one of the group was over 50 minutes late getting out of the hotel room. Nature and suite case size were against us and so was parking, but that would be a later dilemna.
In spite of our delayed departure, our leader still drove us to see the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped and let s out to walk around. I had really wanted to walk on the bridge. Nobody else was very keen, but he did it anyway. I paid for parking since free parking was full, and so out we went. He could have cut it out in our new time crunch, but he didn’t. I got to walk in that bridge. 
What a view…
It was amazing to see the design and the actual size and height of the bridge and in the famous “frisco fog” no less. The bridge is a piece of Americana –a sort of symbol. What the Statue of Liberty is to the east coast, the Golden Gate is to the west coast. It’s totally different when you get to see something like that in person and take in the sights, sounds, smells and surroundings. There were surfers on the water far below battling it out as the tide and currents changed.
The highlight of the day was intended to be a speedboat tour. But weather, fog, and choppy waves the previous day made us wonder if the tour would be cancelled. We hadn’t heard anything.
Time was running tight and when one of the tour members wandered off looking for an outhouse, it ran much tighter. A call to the tour conductor confirmed no cancellation, but now we had to wait another 5-10 minutes of the older man oblivious to our time crunch, to reappear.
He appeared and we shouted for him to come quickly, but the shouts were relatively futile since he was hard of hearing. We all loaded in and zipped away and along to our parking spot of yesterday…zipping as fast as speed limits, traffic, and traffic lights would allow, that is.
The car park was further away than anticipated. What was estimated to be a five or 10 minute walk was really closer to 20 or more. Seeing the dilemma I began to race ahead, literally. I knew the general way from our jaunt around the day before.
Fortunately, I run and so walked and ran intermittently along the streets, beaches and sidewalks. I called the speedboat tour operator seeing he had tried to reach my number after Rich had used my phone to confirm no cancellation due to weather. I had dropped his phone accidentally a few day before and it wasn’t always working. I let him know we were on our way. We had parking problems, but were headed over. I tried calling Rich, but his phone wasn’t operable at the moment.
When I got closer I called the tour again asking for specific directions, but they were not terribly helpful to someone unfamiliar with the pier– someone like me. Another of our group also ran ahead, eddy was faster than me and got there ahead of me, but wasn’t sure where to look. So we both began to scout.
We walked along the boardwalk doing our best to understand the directions. I began to look for boats or signs that would match what I had seen. I looked down to see a speedboat like in the picture and a man talking to a couple. I shouted down to him and he confirmed he was the tour operator. Right across wasn’t really right across from …. in his directions, but I found it.
I told him the others were coming. He told us to come down and start getting ready. I did so quickly and began to head back up and tell the other man to help guide the rest of the group in. The tour operator said when he saw us coming he would wait. Later, he said it’s just when no one shows up at all that he would not have waited. We were arriving within minutes of the departure time instead of the prep time, but we moved quickly.
It was just a few minutes later, when Rich appeared and I pointed out the speedboat location. And then headed towards the road to help guide others in. The others began trickling in.
What a relief. Calls en route and running a mile or so paid off and he waited for us. I was really looking forward to the tour and was concerned that everyone else would miss it as well and not recoup the cost of the tour. It would have been a bad ending to the trip as we were heading to the airport directly after.
I snapped a few pictures of our travel guide suited up for good measure and we loaded onto the craft. Off we went. And it was fun. Especially when we went fast.
It was a very good tour. I’d recommend it. Not only did I get to walk on the bridge, but to speed along under it and see it’s massive structure from below and hear the iconic fog horns. Se sped a mile pull so past the bridge and came back in periodically switching seats and learning the history of different points.
We also saw Alcatraz from a distance, but what really got me was the open water– All the sea life and the motion of the water. The coast and waves. It was like taking a walk in the woods. I absolutely loved it. There is just something about the open water….
Going under the Golden Gate.
Our speedboat tour guide, enjoying it as much as us. Also, very knowledgeable. I’d recommend Bay Voyagers for a tour.
Portraits of a Traveler 