Some 2,500 people do every weekday!

By Wes Starratt

Captain Chuck Elles, one of five full-time and six part-time Baylink captains, is at the gangplank of the M/V Mare Island this morning, greeting passengers as they board the boat. He has been up since before dawn bringing the boat over from her overnight dock at Mare Island where she has been thoroughly cleaned, checked over, and refueled.

The diesel engines are purring as the three deck hands pull back the gangplank and cast off the mooring ropes. Captain Elles is at the controls on the side bridge where he has a full view of the dock and the loading floats. The ship is in reverse gear slowly pulling out into the mid-channel of Mare Island Strait

Moving to the pilothouse, Captain Elles switches gears into a slow forward speed for about 10 knots down the strait for about 13 minutes until we reach the deep water of the ship channel between the south end of Mare Island and the Carquinez Bridge. The captain is soon joined by one of the crewmembers who serves as a "lookout" and provides an additional set of eyes for the trip. He watches for small sail boats, kayaks, and debris. The captain ups the throttle and you feel the boat surging ahead to its 35-knot speed, past the oil refineries and their piers and then Point Pinole on the port side. On the starboard side you can see Mt. Tamalpais in the distance. .

Constantly checking his two radars and watching for debris in the bay, the captain checks with the Coast Guard’s VTS (Vessel Transit Station) on Yerba Buena Island to report on his boat, its speed, and its destination and to check on other vessels in the bay.

At 11 nautical miles, we pass East Brother Island Light Station on the starboard side and head toward the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, now undergoing seismic retrofitting. We reduce our speed, since there are barges and construction equipment underneath the bridge. Our captain is in contact with the construction crew; so, he knows when to take the right or the left channel under the bridge.

From the San Rafael Bridge, it is almost a straight shot to the center anchorage of the Bay Bridge. Cutting our speed, we make a starboard turn to the Ferry Building dock. Captain Elles again takes to the side bridge where he nudges the boat into the floats and discharges his passengers … after a delightful early-morning 50-minute run from Vallejo. What a way to get to work!

"But I have it even better," said Capt. Elles. "Some of them go into their cubicles and spend the day in front of computer screens. But, I go back out onto the water with the beauty and fresh air that is San Francisco Bay. Yes, being a ferry boat captain is not a bad job!"

With 20 years of experience on Blue & Gold Fleet, Captain Elles started out as a deck hand, and then went through Coast Guard training and certification and radar training to get his captain’s license. "Yes, it is an interesting job," said Captain Elles. "You’re out in the water, and that’s good. Eight-five percent of the time, it’s pretty routine, but during the other 15 to 20 percent of the time in heavy winds and thick fog, you really earn your money because you are responsible for all those lives, and that weighs heavily on you! But, do we have good radar, Coast Guard VTS service, and other systems that help us out."

No wonder everyone "loves the ferry!"