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ArchivesApril 2002 
Get out on the Bay!
It’s that time of year, when San Francisco Bay officially opens for the summer season of sailing fun, and landlubbers are welcome! You don’t have to be to the manor born, either: our correspondent Mary Swift provides details on how to hitch a sailing ride for free. See our complete “Beer Can” racing schedule and also don’t miss a peek behind the curtain at Stone Boatyard, where world-class wooden boats are back in production. More... 
New York Report: More Ferries! More Ferries! More Ferries!
New York editor John Bollinger weighs in with reports on plans to significantly expand New York Harbor ferry service. Read also an enjoyable history of New York ferry service by contributor Richard B. Marrin. More... 
New Age Working Waterfront
The waterfront lifestyle is hot and the stampede is on to lock up limited development opportunities. Who wins and who loses as the traditional working waterfront gives way to modern “creative industrial” uses? We look at Sausalito’s Schoonmaker Point, where former Liberty Ship factories have been successfully transformed. More... Gettin’ on the BayTraditional Opening of San Francisco Bay Sailing Season Signal for Fun Times on the Bay More... NY Harbor History:A Glance Back in TimeThe Governors of New York and New Jersey recently announced the first phase of a plan to expand ferry service between the two states, especially to the southern tip of Manhattan. The hope is to add an additional 63,000 passengers a day to the present ferry commuting population of 60,000. This is the latest chapter in the remarkable history of ferries in New York Harbor, a past not only sprinkled with several significant “firsts”, but which also witnessed some major changes in how Americans live today More... Port of Oakland and BNSF Announce Opening of the Joint Intermodal TerminalNew Facility to Take 20,000 Truck Moves a Year off Interstate 80 The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF) and Port of Oakland today announced they have reached an agreement for BNSF to operate the Port’s newly built Joint Intermodal Terminal, to be known as Oakland International Gateway. More... SAUSALITO SWINGS INTO SPRINGHurray! Spring has sprung and Sausalito has as well. Wait a minute…I hope you don’t get the wrong idea from that statement. It doesn’t matter really what you might imagine…rumors abound! It’s all good….really! What I mean to say is Spring is Here and Sausalito is ready to shed a few layers, break out the sunblock and swing into the Spring of things. There is plenty to do in Sausalito whether you’re a water baby or landlubber, hiker, biker or just plain spectator. And, there is so much to say about Spring in Sausalito. More... Raphaella Vaisseau Heartful Art GalleryFive years ago, I quit my day job in LA and moved to Southern Oregon to “go for it” as an artist. The first five months were heaven, the next five months were hell, and throughout the next four years of ups and downs, I survived. I opened Heartful Art Gallery in Sausalito last June. It’s my dream-come-true venture. I have succeeded in living my dream. More... Bay CrossingsBay JournalA young man stands on the bluff, a narrow two foot ridge created by last night’s summer storm. His left hand holds his brown billcap. His white t-shirt and yellow bathing suit riffle with the wind as he looks up the beach. I’m watching him from the front dock of my rental cottage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The waves are crisp as the off-shore wind closely crops their cascading edge and sends spray backwards. I follow the man’s gaze and catch the sight of bustling water. More... Bay CrossingsBay EnvironmentThe environmental community’s call for cleaner vessels has prompted San Francisco water transit planners to build the world’s first fuel cell ferry. The effort marks the first major step toward creating a new fleet of clean, environmentally friendly ferries for our nation’s waterways. The goal is to design a passenger vessel that leaves only water vapor and heat in its wake—virtually zero emissions. That’s a giant leap from today’s tried-and-true diesel-powered ferries that emit far more air pollution per passenger than diesel buses or even cars when navigating San Francisco Bay, New York Harbor or Puget Sound. More... METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION AWARDS MORE THAN A HALF-MILLION DOLLARS TO PROMOTE LIVABLE COMMUNITIESThe Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has approved ten grants totaling more than one half million dollars to community-oriented transportation projects in San Francisco, Fairfield, Martinez, Napa, Oakland, San Jose, San Leandro, San Pablo, and South San Francisco. MTC established the program in 1998 to provide incentives for pedestrian- and transit-oriented developments and other projects to strengthen the link between transportation, land use, and community goals. More... San Francisco Ferry Terminal UpdateThe Jewel of San Francisco’s Waterfront, the elegant new San Francisco Ferry Terminal, is about to shine even brighter. Since January of this year, ferryriders from Alameda and Oakland commuting to San Francisco have landed at the first of many new “floats” set to open on the water side of the Ferry Building in coming years. More... Bay CrossingsReader of the MonthBay CrossingsReader of the Month More... Manly Tugboats of San FranciscoAlthough the era is almost ended, this commentator feels compelled to report on the end of empire – the last days of manly tugboats on San Francisco Bay. As a young pup, when this observer first arrived as a tourist (and all new arrivals here are “tourists”), one couldn’t help noticing tons of brawny tugs. AMNAV (American Navigation) sported some of the finest, with their Predator, Titan, Marauder and Avenger – these were tugboats with high testosterone and an attitude. More... The Smell of FearEditor’s Note: This month we welcome David Fear as a regular columnist. Mr. Fear is an up-and-comer in the world of San Francisco letters, swimming steadily upstream with regular appearances in the alternative press and beyond. We’ve asked him to ruminate for us on films, music, modern culture generally and, well, whatever his young spirit feels called to. More... HERE’S YOUR CHANCE… VOLUNTEER FOR A UNIVERSAL TRANSIT FARE CARDMore plastic? Yes, but this single card will provide rides on AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Muni, and VTA without having to pay each time you board a bus, ferry, or train. More... WTA To Design World’s First Zero-Emission Commuter FerryThe Water Transit Authority (WTA) announced the design of the world’s first passenger ferry powered with zero emission fuel cell technology. Specifically, with the $100,000 Federal grant the WTA sought and obtained, the agency will be enabled to design a futuristic zero emission boat for service linking Treasure Island with the East Bay and San Francisco. “This project is a big step toward extending fuel-cell technology from cars to boats. We will jumpstart the use of fuel cell technology for ferries right here in San Francisco Bay,” said San Francisco’s Mayor, Willie L. Brown. More... Working Waterfront In their own wordsThe best way to see the Statue of Liberty is how the immigrants saw it, from a boat and from a distance. You get the feeling it gets much larger right in front of you. From afar, it looks very small. As you get closer and closer, you can see how large it is. When I’m traveling on the Staten Island ferry, I’m often asked to take pictures of tourists with the Statue of Liberty as proof positive that they were in New York. We joke that you can tell which side of the boat the Statue of Liberty is on by the way it’s tilting, because so many people go over to that side to look at it. More... Letters tothe EditorAngel Island Military History Welcome More... |
