Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle To Commence Service on July 17
In 2022 we wrote about plans that had been discovered for a lift bridge to enable bicycles and pedestrians to cross the Oakland Estuary at Jack London Square. By all appearances, the planning had been in process for 20 years. Our story garnered many comments from sailors who were concerned about the impact such a bridge would have on boat traffic, along with many other issues. Today, we’re happy to share the news that the City of Alameda, the Alameda Transportation Management Association (ATMA), Port of Oakland, and San Francisco (S.F.) Bay Ferry have announced that the new Oakland Alameda Water Shuttle (OAWS) pilot service will launch Wednesday morning, July 17. The OAWS, named Woodstock, will carry people across the Oakland Estuary, Wednesday through Sunday, for the next two years. It will offer 37 trips per day that take under 10 minutes. The ferry is free to ride. Bicycles are welcome.
The water shuttle, a 45-ft yellow pontoon vessel named Woodstock, (did you get the name reference? Woodstock is a Charles M. Schulz character, Snoopy’s little yellow-feathered friend) will operate between public docks at Bohol Circle Immigrant Park, at the foot of 5th Street in Alameda, and the foot of Broadway in Oakland’s Jack London Square.
A new limited liability corporation, Big Yellow Boat, purchased MV Woodstock from a tour boat operator in Buffalo, New York, before trucking her cross-country to Svendsen’s Bay Marine boatyard in Richmond for initial maintenance and repairs. S.F. Bay Ferry staff, in consultation with the City of Alameda and ATMA, designed modifications to allow Woodstock to comfortably accommodate bikes and people in wheelchairs. The modifications were made by Romero’s Welding in Vallejo.
“This pilot program is a public-private partnership designed to help people move easily and sustainably between Alameda and Oakland without driving. Bicyclists and pedestrians can also hop on the shuttle, rather than traveling through the Tube,” stated Alameda mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. “I’m delighted that the Woodstock will be run by S.F. Bay Ferry, which currently operates transbay ferries connecting Oakland and Alameda to destinations in San Francisco and the Peninsula.”
“San Francisco Bay Ferry is very proud to be adding this new service to our network,” said Jim Wunderman, chair of S.F. Bay Ferry’s Board of Directors. “This is a great example of communities and partners working together to connect growing job and population centers with new services that will get travelers out of their cars and onto public transit. I look forward to partnering on more pilot services like this in the coming years.”
“We are thrilled to find a means to create a pleasant linkage for pedestrians and bicyclists between Oakland and Alameda’s west end,” stated Mike O’Hara, ATMA board chair. “This gap has existed for far too long, and we very much appreciate the commitment of our funding partners, the City of Alameda, and S.F. Bay Ferry to make this shuttle come to life!”
“We are pleased to partner on this new free transit service that connects the Alameda and Oakland waterfronts and allows for enhanced visitor access to Jack London Square,” said Port of Oakland executive director Danny Wan. “This is a great initiative that will help take vehicles off local roadways and benefit residents in Alameda and Oakland.”
The first ride on the OAWS is planned to depart the Oakland dock at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 17. The full-service schedule is available at www.watershuttle.org or www.alamedaca.gov/watershuttle.
A big thank you to Marty Thamm for passing along the press release.
If you come across a news item you think is of importance or interest to our readers, please let us know at [email protected]. Sadly we can’t be everywhere all at once, though we do try, so we appreciate readers’ being our extra eyes and ears on the water.
Good Jibes #149: Stan Honey on Being Prepared for Anything
This week’s host, Moe Roddy, is joined by Stan Honey to chat about his legendary navigating career, business prowess, and life. Stan is a world-record sailor and three-time Emmy winner who is a member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and US National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Hear about Stan’s life-changing experiences and races on the water, what it takes to be a great navigator, how to prepare for races, the sailing mentors who inspired him to new heights, and his favorite race snack.
This episode covers everything from preparation to navigation. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear:
- Were Stan’s parents sailors?
- What were the boats he sailed on as a kid?
- How did he teach himself celestial navigation?
- Where did he go on his life-changing trip?
- What are some pranks from the Yale Sailing Team?
- How did Stan meet Sally?
- Are they the only couple in the National Sailing Hall of Fame individually?
- Short Tacks: Who’s the greatest ocean navigator of all time?
Learn more about Stan: https://www.ussailing.org/about/our-people/board-member/stan-honey/.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Join the 39th Plastic Classic Regatta
Hoisting Your Flag for Fourth of July Yachting Tradition
Yachting has lots of traditions. One is that a yacht’s flag should be about one inch in length for every foot of length overall. In this photo it’s clear that the Sausalito-based charter schooner Freda B has it all wrong. But in the right direction. It’s definitely better to be bigger than smaller. The Freda B is 80-ft overall, so judging from this photo, we’d say her ship’s flag is about 30 feet, or much larger than the 80 inches recommended by tradition. But we certainly can see it!
It looks like another great Fourth of July sailing weekend and the ideal time to unfurl your sails and fly your red, white and blue.
There are plenty of Fourth of July parades on land, but the land is going to be hot! The Bay is an ideal place to beat the heat and hoist your colors. If you don’t have a boat, try our Crew List or find a charter boat like the Freda B, above.
As Klay Thompson Departs From the Golden State Warriors, The Ramp Will Still Serve Boaters
A sailor and local marine business owner had hoped that his friend, boating enthusiast Klay Thompson, would stay with the Golden State Warriors when free agency came calling for the NBA superstar. SFGATE even went so far as to write the headline: “Klay Thompson leaving the Warriors would decimate one legendary S.F. bar,” referring to The Ramp Restaurant.
Sports can be so dramatic.
Though Klay Thompson signed with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and ended his 13-season stint with the Warriors, The Ramp is still open to boaters, despite a dispute with the Port of San Francisco a few years ago, and despite the shocking contraction of the working waterfront. (We can be dramatic, too.)
Arvind Patel, who owns The Ramp and adjoining San Francisco Boatworks — the city’s only working boatyard — befriended Klay Thompson a few years ago when the NBA All-Star was still recovering from two major injuries that kept him off the court for two seasons. During his long rehab, Thompson became “Captain Klay” when he purchased an Axopar from Latitude advertiser Seattle Yachts.
Klay was seen zipping around the Bay and all over social media. The Warriors even won their fourth championship in eight years after Thompson returned in 2022.
Thompson began commuting in his boat from Marin to Chase Center, the Warriors’ new arena set in the post-industrial, rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Mission Bay. Thompson would dock at The Ramp (about a one-minute bike ride away from Chase) unaware that he needed permission to do so. “Arvind Patel enlightened Thompson on the protocols and was so charmed by him that he invited him to dock next to his own 60-ft sailboat,” the New York Times wrote in 2021.
“An avid boater himself who has circumnavigated the globe twice, Patel taught Thompson some boating tips and took him fishing,” SFGATE wrote in their dramatically headlined story last week. Patel was apparently going to “at least” one Warriors game each month with tickets Thompson gave him. “We really want him to stay, we love him that much,” Patel told SFGATE last week, before Thompson signed with Dallas. “He’s really wormed his way into our hearts.”
The Ramp has apparently wormed its way into the hearts of San Franciscans.
“For more than three decades, San Francisco Boatworks and the adjacent Ramp Restaurant have survived as a bastion of saltiness in a fast-changing waterfront, a place where bottoms of vessels are painted, beer mugs drained and halibut fried up moments after being reeled in from the Bay,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 2022, just after The Ramp was served notice by the Port of San Francisco.
The Port said that Patel owed nearly $800,000 “under the terms of a lease that requires him to pay a percentage of gross receipts of both businesses. It also claims Patel’s operations are ‘not currently in good standing’ because of noise violations and a renovation of the restaurant.” Patel obtained retroactive permits and admitted that he was in arrears, but was trying to renegotiate with the Port because his boatyard rent was more than double the market rate. “Boatyards have margins of less than 10%, and most on the West Coast pay less than 3% of sales, according to a study San Francisco Boatworks did of boatyards.” Patel was paying 8.75% of sales from the boatyard.
“It’s a dying business,'” Patel told the Chronicle of S.F. Boatworks. “It’s difficult to find qualified workers and to charge enough to survive.
“‘There is something about this place, funky as it is, that hits a nerve with people,'” Patel told the Chronicle. “‘It’s a waterfront dive. It’s an everyman’s hangout. Lots of music and dance. It’s an institution that, if it’s damaged or we lose it, we lose a tiny bit of what makes San Francisco San Francisco.'”
Will San Francisco still be San Francisco without Klay Thompson? Players come and go all the time, but few fans get to see superstars stick around for over a decade. “A player who is so beloved that all of us likely thought he’d retire here instead felt the magnetic need to sail away from the only professional team he’s ever known,” wrote an SFGATE columnist. “Klay will always be royalty in the Bay Area.”
Check out Latitude 38’s list of boat-in dining spots around the Bay Area.
San Francisco on the Bay: “The List”
Dine, Drink, Smoke, Stay, Play and Shop. Discover San Francisco Bay and all that inspires those of us who live or visit here.