When we last spoke with Carolyn Horgan, nearly five years ago, she had just taken the reins as president of Blue & Gold Fleet.
Both outgoing Blue & Gold President Carolyn Horgan and her successor, Pat Murphy, worked their way up through the ranks of Bay Area ferry companies. Horgan, who took the reins nearly five years ago, has left behind a healthy, flourishing ferry system that Murphy has pledged to maintain. Photo by Joel Williams
By Matt Larson
Published: January, 2017
When we last spoke with Carolyn Horgan, nearly five years ago, she had just taken the reins as president of Blue & Gold Fleet. She retired at the end of 2016 and is now enjoying only the good things in life. Looking back on her iconic maritime career—rising through the ranks from answering the phones at Red & White Fleet to becoming president of Blue & Gold—we’d like to give her the spotlight one last time to thank her for her years of service and for her contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area ferry system, which is flourishing like never before.
As far as retirement plans go, Horgan’s only got one thing in mind: “I’m really just looking forward to doing what I want to do, when I want to do it,” she said. “To have the time and freedom to do whatever!” She’s decided to start with taking some classes at the Berkeley Adult School, conveniently close to her Piedmont residence. One class will be studying rock n’ roll music from the 1950s through the 1970s, and the other will be learning about watercolor painting.
Talking shop probably won’t be high on Horgan’s to-do list after retirement, however, so before she engaged in a peaceful exchange of power with now-president Pat Murphy, we took advantage of her insight to see what we could learn about the latest workings of Blue & Gold Fleet and the greater San Francisco Bay. One of the most exciting details she told us is that they’ve seen ferry ridership increase by 28 percent in just the past year alone.
“We’ve just seen a resurgence of ferry service,” she said. “WETA’s ordered seven new boats. The first will be delivered in the end of January 2017.” When Horgan first became president, Blue & Gold had just acquired WETA (Water Emergency Transportation Authority) as a client. Independently of WETA, Blue & Gold operates service in Tiburon, Sausalito, Angel Island, Bay Cruises, the high-speed thrill ride RocketBoat, as well as special events. With WETA comes the added services of Alameda/Oakland, Vallejo, South San Francisco and Harbor Bay. WETA’s original contract with Blue & Gold was for five years, and the contract was recently extended to add another five years.
Years ago, Horgan told Bay Crossings that WETA was looking to begin service to both Richmond and Berkeley, eventually. Richmond service is now expected to begin in 2018. Berkeley is still on the radar, but Horgan said that service to Treasure Island will probably be coming before that. With seven new boats coming for WETA, Horgan said, “They have a long strategic plan going forward about 20 years. It’s just amazing the amount of growth that they’re projecting.”
While big plans are certainly underway, Horgan has overseen many other smaller, yet innovative updates to Blue & Gold’s daily operations. One example is the new translation technology on the company’s Bay Cruise tours, which helps accommodate the tourists that frequent the excursion. “The technology we use is pretty state-of-the-art,” she said. “I don’t think there’s another boat company that has this.”
As opposed to a mobile media player or speaker system in the boat, Blue & Gold has installed a translation system onboard that works via wi-fi, so that guests can use their own personal devices to listen to the translated tour in their own languages. They can also see historical pictures and information on their phone that’s synced up with the tour as well—like photos of constructing the Golden Gate Bridge on the SF Bay Cruise Adventure, or of inside an Alcatraz jail cell on the Escape from the Rock cruise.
Also during Horgan’s tenure, Blue & Gold became ISO certified—ISO 9001 in customer service and ISO 14001 in environmental management. As part of that, the company put into place a safety management system that helps empower employees—principally captains and deckhands—to take the initiative if they see something unsafe or want things to be changed. “I think the morale has improved as a result because they see that we care about what’s going on,” said Horgan. “And also, that they have a hand in what goes on, and can make a difference.”
In 2016, only two passengers ended up with injuries requiring more than minor first aid. Given that Blue & Gold carried about 3.7 million people last year, that’s a pretty awesome track record. “That’s not anything I’ve done,” said Horgan, humbly. “It goes to our employees having a heightened awareness of what’s going on around them, and making sure people aren’t doing things that are going to get them hurt.”
Horgan has been pretty busy these last four-plus years, so we wish her well on a much-deserved retirement. She’s worked with her successor, Pat Murphy, for years and years, and has some advice for him that is really applicable to anyone working in a leadership role: “Really enjoy, and take credit, for the successes, because when there’s a problem—you’re responsible for that as well,” she said. “You need to appreciate the good things.”
And that’s what she’s doing now! She’s probably out visiting one of her sons or babysitting her newborn grandchild. To all of her beloved employees, she said: “I’d just like to say thank you for making these last four years really great. Keep up the good work! I’m gonna miss you.”
Working His Way to the Top
By Matt Larson
Blue & Gold Fleet has a new president in charge, and he’s no stranger to anyone who has worked with the fleet during the last 30 years.
In 1982, Pat Murphy started working at the ticket booth for Blue & Gold as a part-time job in high school. He did a little engineering work here and there on weekends and during the summers, and eventually became a deckhand in 1984. Since then, Murphy has been steadily rising through the ranks. In 1995 he became a captain, in 2005 he moved into the office to become operations manager, was promoted to director of operations in 2008—and now, at long last, Pat Murphy is president of Blue & Gold Fleet.
“Moving all the way up from the very beginning is the most exciting part for me,” said Murphy. “But overall, from a company standpoint, I really look forward to stepping away from just the operations. The biggest change for me will be dealing with the marketing, budgeting and financial side of our business.”
Murphy may have been destined for this role all along. His father, Roger Murphy, founded Blue & Gold Fleet in 1979, along with Pier 39 developer Warren Simmons. The Oski was their first boat, named after the UC Berkeley mascot. (As many of you know, the school’s colors are also blue and gold.) Murphy doesn’t know when exactly he decided to stick with his father’s company. While off at college, he had long considered getting his teaching credential, but every time he came home the fleet was calling his name. “It just felt natural every time I came back.”
Now that he’s the one calling the shots, his plan is to really just pick up where his predecessor, Carolyn Horgan, left off, and keep Blue & Gold running strong. “I think Carolyn’s done a wonderful job of positioning the company to where we’re at,” said Murphy. He specifically mentioned the recent five-year extension of their WETA contract, continuing the partnership with Blue & Gold’s largest client. “We need to continue to make things work for them, so there’s not going to be a whole lot of changes,” he said. “But we look forward to the release of other contracts in our area. When the Alcatraz contract comes back up, we’ll probably make a push for that.”
Murphy wants the staff of Blue & Gold Fleet to know that he’s looking forward to working with everybody, and wants everyone to remember what this company’s all about. “We are, at heart, an excursion company,” he said.
“We serve the public in many different ways, whether it’s on the ferries and getting people to work, or on the excursion boats taking tours out to see the Golden Gate Bridge.” He urges everyone not to lose focus of this. “We are very customer-oriented,” he adds. “That’s where our successes always come from, and that’s where they’ll be in the future as well.”
