Tim Patrick, senior deckhand for Blue & Gold Fleet, has been working the San Francisco waterways for the past 18 years, but he has been on the water for most of his life—from the Great Lakes all the way to the South Pacific.
Senior Deckhand Tim Patrick worked on the Harbor Bay Ferry from Alameda to San Francisco for 16 years before it became part of the Blue & Gold crew. Today he is back on the Harbor Bay route and couldn’t be happier. Photo by Matt Larson
By Matt Larson
Published: September, 2013
Tim Patrick, senior deckhand for Blue & Gold Fleet, has been working the San Francisco waterways for the past 18 years, but he has been on the water for most of his life—from the Great Lakes all the way to the South Pacific.
Working for Harbor Bay Maritime for the first 16 of his 18 years on the Bay, Patrick was a deckhand on the Harbor Bay commute every working day. The Harbor Bay route was acquired by San Francisco Bay Ferry about two years ago, which uses Blue & Gold crews. After 18 months of trying out some new Blue & Gold runs, Patrick is excited to be back with the Harbor Bay crowd.
"I’m in a relationship with 600 people that we ferry home every day, and I’ve known those people for 18 years," said Patrick. "It’s family. That’s probably the best part of my day is being able to visit with everyone."
From meeting the commuters over the years, Patrick has been invited to birthday parties, holiday parties, even weddings and funerals. "Blue & Gold rotates through shifts, but for 16 years when you’re on the same boat you know everybody. You know their kids, their pets, you know where they work. It’s a great job. There’s a lot of wonderful people."
Patrick has many memories of working on the Bay—from the passengers, the wildlife and even the weather. "The most memorable time out on the Bay was traveling from Harbor Bay back to San Francisco—it started snowing," Patrick said. "We turned on all the search lights, pointed them straight out and just drove into the snow. It was probably only for a minute, but they were nice fluffy flakes." It was around 1997 and was the only time he’s seen it snow over his 18-year career. "That was pretty amazing."
A Michigan native, Patrick grew up with the Great Lakes as his playground. He would deliver yachts from Florida to Detroit via New York, up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal. In 1991, in a quest for something new, Patrick ventured out to New Zealand, then on to Fiji, mingled his way into the boating community and delivered yachts around the South Pacific as well. He later co-founded a surfing company in Rio de Janeiro that he eventually sold.
"I don’t go in the water here anymore," said Patrick. "If I do it’s Bolinas; maybe Half Moon Bay. But if you’ve spent any time in Brazil, surfing the warm water with beautiful girls, and you come back to central California? Forget it." He still goes surfing in his spare time, but heads down to places like Big Sur, Malibu and Ventura to do it.
Every year Patrick takes a group of people to San Clemente for a surfing trip. "It’s a really good group of guys and girls that come down," said Patrick. "Quite a huge group of ferry boat employees as well. Most of them have retired. It’s sort of become Blue & Gold’s retirement party." He started this trip 14 years ago with Dan McSweeney, who used to work the Vallejo boats. Patrick doesn’t advertise it but says the trip is open to anyone. If you’d like to attend, he said, "You know where to find me."
Patrick has enjoyed these last two years with Blue & Gold Fleet. He is appreciative of all the passengers—and he particularly mentions his favorite passenger ever, David Salintine, "May he rest in peace."
But Patrick is especially grateful for those on the Harbor Bay run who have kept him and his crew afloat for all these years. "Without you guys I would have been out of a job 10 years ago," he said. "Harbor Bay Maritime was always on the verge of going out of business. There was a small period of time where we did because the dock at Harbor Bay broke. A lot of the passengers that took the Harbor Bay boat went to the community meetings and really lobbied to keep us going. I think that’s why I’ve always kept working. Thank you all for continuing to take the Harbor Bay boat."
