Monday, 9 September 2013

Monday September 9

We woke up early with the crowing of the neighbourhood rooster and our three hour time shift. Jim and Sharon  live on the edge of town in Sonoma CA and apparently, some of the neighbours have fresh eggs every morning. This is the early morning view from their deck.


We set off for San Francisco around 9:30 to check out a good viewing place for tomorrow's Americas Cup races 5 & 6. As we approached the Golden Gate Bridge, we noticed the dense fog rolling into the bay. We took the exit immediately north of the bridge and drove to a vantage point overlooking the bridge and the city. I got some surreal pictures of the fog shrouded bridge and bay area.



After crossing the bridge, we had no trouble finding a parking spot at Fort Manson and started a walk along the waterfront. There were some really interesting views of Alcatraz. The fog was sweeping into the bay about that far before dissipating.


While standing on the City Pier, we had the opportunity to watch a race of the 18' Skiff International Regatta.


Shortly after, the American AC72 "Oracle" appeared for some practice runs. You really cannot imagine how fast these boats go until you see it live and up front. Truly amazing.



From here we walked along the waterfront to the Americas Cup Headquarters at Pier 27/29. There were several megayachts tied up there. This is Larry Ellisons sailboat.


We were able to see a few of the boats that were in the Superyacht "Race" of the day finish their course.



Our thought for a good vantage point for tomorrows races was to be near the start mark and the upwind gate so we walked back along the waterfront to the St Francis YC where we heard from a couple of sources, there was good free viewing. After checking out our target location for tomorrow, we walked back to the car. Our feet were tired after being on them all day and covering about 15 km.

The temperature in SF was 64F when we left and 104F in Sonoma when we arrived an hour later!

We had a nice supper at Maya Mexican Restaurant at the downtown square in Sonoma then retired for an early evening.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, on the fog pictures! As well of course the sailboats are amazing. I haven't watched any of it on TV yet but should try to catch a race. Enjoy. Nice birthday celebration!

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