Dan Glasner, a Golden Gate Ferry captain, has been steering a variety of vessels for nearly 30 years. He’s only in his third year with Golden Gate Ferry, but his experience spans much farther than that—from manning the helm on numerous charter boats in the Bay to delivering vessels between Sicily and the Maldives just south of India.
Captain Dan Glasner’s wife describes him as a “waterdog.” Although he has only been a Golden Gate Ferry captain for a few years, he is clearly made for a life on the water. Photo by Elise Glasner
By Matt Larson
Published: January, 2015
Dan Glasner, a Golden Gate Ferry captain, has been steering a variety of vessels for nearly 30 years. He’s only in his third year with Golden Gate Ferry, but his experience spans much farther than that—from manning the helm on numerous charter boats in the Bay to delivering vessels between Sicily and the Maldives just south of India.
Glasner has cruised around the block quite a few times and the more he does it, the more he wants to do it again. “I’ve spent an awful lot of time on a boat,” said Glasner. Even in his spare time he has boating on the mind. “A lot of guys spend free time being spectators, watching baseball or football or whatever—I can’t stand that,” he said. “Pretty much every day that I’m not working I’m on a boat. My day off from boating is, you know, boating.”
The people who work the waterways of the Bay on a daily basis form a fairly small community, and they all seem to know each other in some way. “It’s such a solitary job, you’re up there in the wheelhouse by yourself most of the time,” said Glasner. “But a lot of us talk to each other on the radio. I’ve heard these guys’ voices for 25 years and I have no idea what they look like.”
Even though ferry captains navigate through the same general commute every day, Glasner pointed out that familiarity with the route doesn’t mean that things are always the same. “The hardest thing about driving ferries, which a lot of people don’t realize, is that the wind and currents out there are significant,” said Glasner. The elements can affect the ferry boat just like any other vessel and the captains must work with them, not against them. Glasner said that with enough experience, a captain starts looking at the elements with a new mentality: “After a while, once you figure it out, you’re on a team with mother nature.”
Glasner’s co-captain when he’s off the clock is his wife, Elise. “The man is an incredible waterdog,” she said. “He was born part merman and part human; if he is not near water, he’ll find some.” They recently renewed their vows atop of the Golden Gate Bridge for their 22nd anniversary and continue to share a mutual affinity for the water. “His love of the sea, wind, weather and complete understanding of it all is quite extraordinary,” she said. “Whether it be a 165 ft. ferry or a rowboat he asked to marry me in—he was born to this life.”
“I’m a pretty happy guy,” said Glasner. Born and raised right here in the Bay Area, the sights of our region never cease to surprise him when coasting along the waterways: “I’m amazed at how beautiful the place is every day,” he said. “It’s dramatically different. Every day. The whole beauty of the Bay and the porpoises and the seals and the different boats and ships, with everything there is to see while going across the Bay, it’s worth the price of admission.”
So that’s one reason to take the ferry if you’re living or traveling in the Bay Area, though Glasner has some other reasons as well. “It’s a no-brainer,” he said. “When the tourists get on the boat they ask what’s the best thing to do in San Francisco. I was born in San Francisco and I’ve lived here my whole life, and I tell them that the best attraction or thing to do in San Francisco is to walk. It’s the best walking city in the world. Why would you bring your car to the best walking town on the planet?” At the end of the day, Glasner looks at it like this: “We’re living in paradise and driving a boat across it. That’s not bad.”
