My good friend Dinah had a fabulous idea how to celebrate our friend Karen's birthday brunch. We will all go sailing around the San Francisco Bay with a glass of mimosa.I was worried that the day will start out foggy, or worse, windy making our first sailing experience a rather rough one. You know what I am taking about if you are familiar with the San Francisco summer.
The day turned out to be sunny and almost no wind at all. We only had one problem. The celebrant won't be able to join us because of prior work commitments. Dinah and I decided to go ahead with the sailing and do the brunch with the celebrant at a later date.
We got our discounted tickets from Goldstar.com so thank you Goldstar. According to the instructions on how to get there, we are to check-in 30 minutes before at Dock C which is located behind the Aquarium by the Bay around Pier 39. The sailing commenced at 10a.m. 
There were two sailing boats leaving at the same time. We were told to board on the Santa Maria which I spotted right away. Bold white letters spelled S-A-N-T-A-M-A-R-I-A on its folded green sail on top of the boat's boom. Our sailor gave a short rundown of the houserules which can be summarized as - keep one hand holding on the boat. I asked if we will get wet. Our sailors said NO.
They asked us what we wanted to drink as soon as the boat started to leave the docking area. The choices were water, still white or red wine, sparkling wine or mimosa. We get two rounds of drinks. Dinah chose mimosa while I decided to go for the sparkling wine. 
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't do this touristy type of activity. I am glad I did because I can't remember the last time I've seen the city from this point of view. It gave me a renewed awe of the city. San Francisco and the Bay are truly stunning! I am so blessed to live here.
It took about an hour to get from the docks in Pier 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge. I was going to wear shorts earlier but Mijo talked me out of it. I am glad I wore jeans that day because no matter how nice the day started out to be, the water and the breeze were chilly. Another good thing is that Dinah and I brought an extra layer clothing. The water go a little rough under the bridge.
On our way back, the boat went around the Alcatraz island and then toward the Financial District. It took another hour to get back to the docks.
The sail felt truly relaxing and I enjoyed spending time with Dinah. I was just bombed that Karen wasn't there with us. I can honestly say that I can do this again. Next time, Karen? :) ~rl
No comments:
Post a Comment