A true man of the sea, Captain Tom Dougherty of Blue & Gold Fleet first started sailing with his father at just four years of age. The ocean has played a starring role in his life ever since.
Captain Tom Dougherty of Blue & Gold Fleet in the wheelhouse of the Encinal, which runs from Alameda to San Francisco’s Historic Ferry Building. Photo by Matt Larson
By Matt Larson
Published: January, 2012
A true man of the sea, Captain Tom Dougherty of Blue & Gold Fleet first started sailing with his father at just four years of age. The ocean has played a starring role in his life ever since.
Dougherty is not your average ferry captain. Though at this writing he was guiding the Encinal to and from San Francisco on the Oakland/Alameda trek, he has commanded almost every ferry route in the Bay Area. "Vallejo, East Bay, Tiburon-Sausalito-Angel Island, bay cruises and RocketBoat," he said. He’s basically on call for any variety of shifts or special projects. "I have been the primary trainer of captains and deckhands on all of our vessels at one time or another," he explained, nearing his 12th year with Blue & Gold. "I kind of describe myself as the Swiss army knife of operations—I do it all as needed."
Growing up in the Hawaiian Islands, Dougherty didn’t just scratch the surface of the water—he dived in. "I bought my first boat when I was 14," he said. "A small boat called a Sunfish. My parents would tow the boat trailer to Kaneohe Bay and I’d sail all day by myself, exploring the whole bay."
The Sunfish was $400 and young Dougherty paid for it the old-fashioned way: mowing lawns, cleaning pools and saving Christmas money from his grandparents. "First I wanted to save up for a surfboard," he said. "I got the surfboard, then I got the sailboat. I didn’t surf much after that." As a youngster he was fascinated with Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV and was inspired to lead a similar life. In fact, he and a friend became the youngest students to get scuba certified in the state of Hawaii at the time.
"We used to explore the coastal waters of Oahu for anything new and interesting—airplane wrecks, spear fishing, old artifacts," Dougherty recalled. This experience eventually led to his first job working for the University of Hawaii—his alma mater. "I worked as a support diver and submersible launch pilot." He stayed there for about seven years before becoming a tourist submersible pilot in Kona and Waikiki. "I’ve got over a thousand dives logged as a commercial diver," he said.
Naturally, a life at sea can lead to some interesting encounters. "There was the ‘encircled by sharks’ incident," Dougherty calmly recalled. "One of the submarines had a propulsion failure, I had to swim out. I was communicating with the pilot through his window when all of a sudden I realized he wasn’t looking at me anymore—I look behind me to see an eight-foot tiger shark swimming up."
Immediately reaching for his breaker bar tool, which was basically a stainless steel rod in this scenario, Dougherty took action. "I bopped him on the nose. He twitched off and ran away, but that made him mad." The shark’s twitch sent a shockwave through the water attracting the other sharks. Fortunately, Dougherty had made it back inside the recovery vehicle by the time they arrived, fully intact with a great story to tell.
Dougherty now lives in Corte Madera with his wife and two daughters. For the past eight years he’s been the director of a summer camp for junior sailors in Stockton. A former sailboat racer, he participated twice in the Transpac race from Honolulu to Hawaii, though today he’d rather spend time with his wife and kids. He does enjoy a nice glass of red wine on occasion, and spends much of his free time reading history books or learning more about the ferryboats and nautical engineering.
Working on the water seems to run in the Dougherty family. "My uncle was a marine engineer, and I recently found out that my great uncle, Charles Dougherty, was a famous captain on the east coast in the late 1800s. I’ve always had a natural affinity for the water. Even here in San Francisco, I know every inch of this waterfront, but if I go two blocks inland—I’m lost," he laughed. "A lot of times I’ll just park at Pier 39 and take a cab."
According to Dougherty, the best part about being a ferry captain is also the best part about being a passenger: "The views," he said. "Sunrises are the absolute best. You’re flying along at 30 knots; it’s a beautiful, clear day and you can just kind of be there. And with that dynamic feeling of being on the water, it’s just incredible."
