San Francisco - a favourite city

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San Francisco, USA 25th January

Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay has got to be on everybody's bucket list. We passed under the bridge at midday on a warmish, sunlit Californian day, and docked at a new Pier (27) which was a few hundred yards further out than we had been before.

With the iconic Alcatraz island on our port side and the steep streets of the city on the other, it made for a special trip to the berth.

San Francisco sits on a hilly peninsula bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Bay,with the waters meeting at the Golden Strait beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. These swirling waters in and around Alcatraz Island shows why there were no recognised escapes from the prison.

From our previous walkabout here, long trousers and thermals was the order of the day for walk down to Fishermans Wharf and the famous Pier 39. We were here for the afternoon and the following day until 9 pm so have plenty of time to explore. On our previous visit we crossed to Alcatraz and travelled to Monterey and Carmel.

The Fisherman Wharf attractions were closing when we got to them and to be honest the area is becoming a little tacky and tatty since our last visit. We plan to take a hop on, hop off bus tour in the morning.

Beautiful morning on our second day but a very cold wind, and I'm not joking, thermal vests for the bus ride. You've got to be up top to see the views, especially across the bay to Oakland, Alcatraz and Sausalito. The bus takes you through the downtown business areas but more importantly up to the Haights which overlook the Bay. We crossed the Bridge to the Sausalito side (only 4 of us up top) before heading back to the city.

Excellent way to see the city, we are back in April for two more days and will plan to go to Chinatown and probably the ferry to Sausalito. Getting back to Pier 39, a huge tourist attraction for the city, not our cup of tea with all the food outlets and too many folk!!!!

At least the Californian sea lions were all still there basking in the warm sunshine without a care in the world!! Sail away was nearly 10 pm, and we were able to watch from the Ocean Grill restaurant which was very quiet and we watched passing under the lit up Golden Gate Bridge from the comfort of our cabin.

Heading out into the open North Pacific which was not going to live up to its name as a peaceful sea.

As I'm writing this at 11 am on Sunday 29th the weather is currently Force 9, Sea state Rough and the Swell Confused.

The captain has said this morning it may get rougher with some rain.

The plus is that the air temperature is 24 degrees.We have 2 days sailing to Hawaii so let's hope the weather improves!!!

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