Inside
Story
Early Morning First Ride to New
Ferry Terminal
This page takes great
interest in the new San Francisco Ferry Terminal project, a bedeviled
project to be sure, but one that holds out such great promise for ferry
commuters and the revitalized waterfront. When all aspects of the
ambitious and visionary project are finally complete, it will be a
state-of-the-art water gateway to San Francisco and keystone for the
envisioned comprehensive regional ferry network. Already it marks a
significant aesthetic and practical improvement over the desultory
makeshift facilities inflicted on harried commuters until now.
So when word reached us
that the first dock of the Terminal really would open in early October
we wanted to be on the first boat to dock to commemorate the moment. The
date kept changing as last minute gremlins were worked out, but finally
we got a message from Cameron Orcutt, the Blue and Gold dispatcher that
the honors were going to the first boat of the day out of
Alameda/Oakland on Wednesday, October 3.
 |
| First
passenger to use the San Francisco Ferry Terminal: Ed Bounds |
At that empty time of the
morning we thought of The Hounds of the Baskervilles. The
daily newspapers aren’t even in the boxes yet. A person sits reading a
novel, the sole rider of the first connector bus that has already come
and gone. The shipyard adjacent to the parking lot is busy at work, but
the parking lot is nearly empty. The scene is lit by the
"streetlights" of the atop the huge working cranes of the Port
of Oakland directly across the Estuary.
At about 10 minutes after
the hour, a flurry of cars appears. Soon, a long line of headlights is
on the main road leading to Gateway Alameda, a convoy of last-minute
commuters bustling to catch the 6:20 to the Ferry Building.
The redoubtable Encinal,
soon to be relieved by the brand new Peralta due to come on line
later this very month, appears on time to the minute, just in from the
first East Bay stop of the morning, Oakland’s Jack London Square. We
board and I make my way to the wheelhouse to introduce myself to the
Captain.
It’s James Matlow of
Blue and Gold, ably aided by a crew consisting of Jerry Degidio, Nick
Melas and Ellen Murphy. As the lines are tossed off, a call goes up to
Captain Matlow that 33 souls are aboard for the maiden cruise to the new
San Francisco Ferry Terminal.
 |
| Captain
James Matlow of the Blue and Gold Fleet at the helm of the
Encinal, with Nita Mizushima |
On my way to the
wheelhouse, we spot Nieret "Nita" Mizushima, Chief Port
Engineer for the Port of San Francisco. She’s the all-suffering
manager responsible for overseeing the Ferry Terminal project, which has
been snakebit by sundry problems and delays from the start.
Nita joins us now in the
wheelhouse as Captain Matlow, having gently maneuvered the Encinal
past dredging equipment, emerges from the Estuary and throttles up.
Going full out through the dark, the front of the boat tipping up and a
powerful wake churning behind, the Encinal has risen on her
haunches, bearing down on the Bay Bridge and San Francisco beyond.
The fog lifts, revealing a
full moon backlighting San Francisco with a moonbeam red carpet lying
across the Bay in a direct line between us and the City. The Encinal
drives straight up the middle of the moonbeam to the new Ferry Terminal.
 |
The
team responsible for the splendid new San Francisco Ferry
Terminal (along with a few well-wishers). From left to right,
Frank Keaster of Miller/Thompson, Kim Wilhelm, Primus
Construction, Lisa Ising, Nieret "Nita" Mizushima and
Leo Bragagnolo, all of the Port of San Francisco, Elena Espada
of Earthtech, Suzanne DeLaney of Chaves & Associates, Boris
Dramov of Roma Design Group, Kim Brandon of the Port of San
Francisco Commission, Reneé Dunn of the Port of San Francisco
and Lisa Klairmont of the Water Transit Authority.
Not pictured: Walt Schwartz, Robert "AKA the Cleaner"
MacAuley, Joel Tumei and Jeff Pruett |
We ask Captain Matlow if
he’s nervous. Not really, he answers, every landing makes him nervous.
On ferryboats dockings are "landings" and Captains are
"drivers". One would say "I was driving the Encinal
and had a rough landing." It’s an ebb tide, so we’ll
land to the starboard, the Captain calls out to his crew. We leave the
wheelhouse to get out of Captain Matlow’s way.
Below decks, the crew
announces to the passengers queuing up to get off that they will be the
first to dock at the new San Francisco Ferry Terminal. There’s a
certain frisson of excitement, at least as much as can be expected
before 7 in the morning from a crowd of commuters. Honors for first off
the boat go to Ed Bounds and Lisa Ising.
 |
| Miller/Thompson
and Port of San Francisco workers responsible for the Ferry
Terminal on hand to greet the first arrival. |
Nita Mizushima is beaming
like a proud parent as passengers depart and troop off to work. The team
of workers that labored with her throughout, led by Walt Schwartz of
Miller/Thompson, are on hand to celebrate the moment. Carolyn Horgan,
Director of Operations, rushes in to make sure all is well.
Within minutes, the
passengers have trooped off to work and just Nita and her crew remain,
buzzing over minor design quirks yet to be worked out. The pre-dawn
moment of celebration was quick but significant. Admittedly, it is just
the first phase and inexcusably late. But with the opening of San
Francisco’s grand new Ferry Terminal, San Francisco Bay is back in the
business of world-class water transit. Many thanks to the Port of San
Francisco and Miller/Thompson for their fine achievement.
