S.F.'s Opening Day on the Bay gets season underway with 70 boats, one soaked yacht clubber
Under a cool gray sky Sunday morning, a bagpiper played 'Garryowen' as a minister in her robe led a procession of men in blue blazers bearing the St. Francis Yacht Club crest down the plank and onto the dock.
The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham led a prayer 'that these boats go out safely and come back safely,' and 15 club captains boarded their sailboats and powerboats to form up and join a much larcher fleet for San Francisco's traditional Opening Day on the Bay.
'All over the country, this bit of ceremony signifies the point of commencing the yachting year, club Commodore Adam Gambel said as he prepared to sail his Sabre 386 out to the rendezvous to meet other clubs from all around the bay that meet for an annual parade on the waterfront.
Yachts were decorated for that purpose, and the sailors were dressed in their finery, which for Gambel included three gold stars over his club crest and white buckskin shoes to match his white pants. Impeccable as he was, Gambel's uniform was outdone by Mike Peterson, who was dressed like a naval Emperor Norton, with a long blue coat trimmed in gold fringe and crossed by a red sash. His duties, he explained, were 'telling people when to raise their glasses and when to salute the judges.'
The judges, on the Committee Boat, tied up in front of Aquatic Park at the Hyde Street Pier. This provided a shock in a tradition that is not accustomed to shocks. The historic fleet, including the Balclutha, C.A. Thayer and Eppleton Hall, were not where they belong and won't be back for many season openers.
The Hyde Street Pier, home of San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, has to be rebuilt and so do the ships, most notably the ferryboat Eureka, an 1890s sidewheel paddleboat that needs a major overhaul. Those two renovation projects are budgeted at $102 million total, funded through the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act.
The pier, which is run by the National Park Service, has been closed since November with no reopening date. The Eureka and Hercules will join their antique sisters at Mare Island in May or June.
'It feels empty as all get out, without the Balclutha and all those classic vessels,' said Melissa Vincent, one of seven owners of Guardian Fireboat No. 2, which served the San Francisco Fire Department from 1990 to 2022. Vincent and her partners bought the Guardian out of retirement, and she is now a parade boat operated by their nonprofit. The Guardian was one of two fireboats to lead the parade with water cannons spouting.
'It was a lovely display of commitment to the maritime community in San Francisco Bay,' Vincent said.
In all, 70 vessels were on the water for the 47th annual Opening Day, coming from all points in the bay and its tributaries, plus a contingent from Lahaina. They sailed by a judges boat which was to include an Oakland fire chief who had to excuse himself to attend to a blaze that threatened a church.
The remaining judges announced winners in five categories, who will be announced at a ceremony May 12 by the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association, which sponsors Opening Day.
Among the prominent boats was ChinChin, a 45-foot power catamaran built by Larry Ellison as a viewing boat for the America's Cup when it was hosted on the bay in 2016.
As St. Francis' fleet prepared to line up, the Folly II, a 64-foot motor yacht, backed into the dock and a club member grabbed the stern line to tie it up on a cleat. But he did not get it secured, and everyone in their yachting blue and whites watched the man get pulled by the Folly II off the dock and into the cold waters of the bay after holding onto the line for too long. Three or four men fished him out and up onto the dock, and he was whisked off in soaking clothes, to be warmed in the club sauna.
There was already one soaked yacht clubber before the fleet even left the dock. When they finally pulled out, it included the club's junior sailors dressed as flower children in a Summer of Love theme.
The theme for Opening Day was 'Generations on the Bay,' and District 2 supervisor Stephen Sherrill came by to offer his support from the dock.
'This is what San Francisco needs to be about,' he said. 'Families that start here, grow here and stay here.'
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