For any commuters on the Vallejo ferry to and from the City, you may recognize George Shelhorn. A Vallejoan himself, Shelhorn has been a deckhand with Blue & Gold Fleet since 1997 and has been working the Vallejo route for about five years.
Blue & Gold deckhand George Shelhorn in front of the Solano while docked at Mare Island. Photo by Matt Larson
By Matt Larson
Published: January, 2014
For any commuters on the Vallejo ferry to and from the City, you may recognize George Shelhorn. A Vallejoan himself, Shelhorn has been a deckhand with Blue & Gold Fleet since 1997 and has been working the Vallejo route for about five years.
When it comes to experience, Shelhorn is the man to have on board. "I’ve always been in the industry," he said. "I started back in the ’60s, I had a neighbor who was a sea captain and I kept bugging him to go to sea." He found work over the years as a Merchant Marine and general seaman. "I just thought I’d travel a bit before I decided to get a steady job and I ended up being a merchant seaman." Life on the water has taken Shelhorn to exotic locales like Hawaii, South America and Vietnam.
Throughout his travels Shelhorn remained unsure of what the future had in store, so he decided to join the Peace Corps. "I was studying to be a teacher, setting up physical education programs in Venezuela," he said. But life as a seaman has always called his name, and now here he is as a Blue & Gold deckhand.
"Everybody sees me and says, ‘What a great job you have.’ And I think, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It is a great job,’" said Shelhorn. "You meet different people, you’re on the water, and I’m using all the skills I’ve learned on other jobs I’ve had."
Shelhorn takes pride in his job and there is no task too small when it comes to creating a great experience for the passengers. "I take pride in the cleanest heads on the Bay," he said with a laugh. An avid reader, Shelhorn has made an attempt at creating a sort of onboard library for the passengers. "It’s starting to work," he said. "I brought a bunch of books and people are starting to replace them. I’ve been working on the Solano for a while but haven’t gotten to all the boats yet." He noticed that when they have magazines laying around they often end up in the recycling, so he includes those as well.
Of all the job requirements of a deckhand, one of the most important is directly helping the captain, and it’s one of Shelhorn’s favorite tasks on the job. "On the high-speed ferries, if you go over 29 knots you have to have two people in the wheelhouse," he said. "I like being up there doing lookout. I just wait to see that one little harbor porpoise or sturgeon jump out of the water." Some of the greatest sights he has seen: "I saw two harbor porpoises catch air right by Pier 9, just jump totally out of the water. And I saw a gray whale, or maybe a humpback—a guy was kayaking and right in front of him the back end of the whale came out. It was crazy."
When he’s not offering a watchful eye in the wheelhouse or putting his seaman skills to use, Shelhorn supports artistic culture in Vallejo and Benicia along with his wife. Together they own Studio 41 in Benicia, a fine American craft gallery. She is the artistic one, however. "I change the lightbulbs and do the webpage," he said. They are also sponsors of the Empress Theatre in Vallejo and regularly attend its weekly music show, the Wednesday Night Ramble.
As far as traveling around the Bay, Shelhorn thinks the ferry is the best way to go. "Driving takes so much out of me," Shelhorn said. "Any chance I get to go to the City I take the ferry. You’ve got an hour each way to do your homework, read a book, play some cards—it’s a hundred times better I think."
