We have been gone a month. It’s a mind bender for sure.
We have now traded 🌲 evergreens for 🏝palms, and seals for enormous sea lions, and added pelicans and whales to our new mix.
We enjoyed exploring Alameda Island by walking many miles.What a beautiful place. We have enjoyed new plants that make the walks interesting.
We are very appreciative of The Grand Marina in Alameda.
I had been in contact with 20+ marinas in the San Francisco area trying to secure a month long stay for us in a slip. When we found out that our sail needed repair in their area I had their contact number. Sherry and the rest of the staff were terrific. The marina was very clean and had a heater in every shower something we had not had before. Please check out their pictures we would not be able to do it justice.
We were also in the Berkeley Marina for a couple of days. While there, we caught up with our friend Kelly. I used to fly with her and now she flies in the SF area. She had sailed with us in the PNW on our previous boat, SV Sopris Rose.
The slip we got from August 21st/September 21st is South Beach Marina
The staff at Pier 40 are really helpful especially letting us know when we get packages in the mail; usually boat bits.
This is so much fun, we are at the foot of the San Francisco Giants’ stadium.
If you have ever seen this stadium on TV, it’s where boats are in the water catching the balls that get smacked out of the ballpark. Being a Seattle Mariner employee, though, I still have to say “Go M’s”!
We are at the end of the Embarcadero so it is not touristy, just busy. The view of Giants Stadium is one way and the SF /Oakland bridge is the other way. Breath taking especially at night.
We get our exercise by walking everywhere. This usually involves running errands, food shopping, and sometimes lunch.
We have a cart that we take everywhere with our Trader Joe’s bags and so far this system has worked.
We were delighted this week by the visit of our long time friends from Seattle, Lowell and Linda. They flew down for a couple of days and we cherished this time. Of course we ate, drank, and were really happy to be in each other’s company.
On the suggestion of our dock mate Bill and Diane (from Stockton) we ventured to Sodini’s. 
This restaurant has been around for a very long time and does not have a website. We all enjoyed our meal and Lowell’s lasagne was the clear winning choice.
We enjoyed our lunch the next day in Pleasanton at Baci Restaurant
We then went wine tasting at Wente and Concannon in Livermore.
The next day we had a light lunch on our boat then on to Ghirardelli Square. After this Linda suggested seeing The Painted Ladies. You’ll have to look it up. Quite the neighborhood .
They were gracious enough to take us on a Costco run, something we couldn’t have managed in our cart. Then back to the boat for a sampling of the wine we had all purchased the day before. Linda had a friend of many years that worked in the neighborhood so Shirley joined us for happy hour and dinner.
Dinner was aboard that night picked up from Pacific Catch. This has become a family favorite with so much to offer.
This leads us into Labor Day weekend. I met a very nice you lady named Ashley at “our marina” Pier 40 (SouthBeach). Long story short she is a very competent and s killed sailor something she just learned in Australia. She is on her way to Washington State to sail her new 40 foot boat down to SF. Obviously we have had a lot to talk about.
Although she is on her way to WA she hooked us up with her buddies (Kathy,Cathy,Paul, Celine,Kevin Erik and Michelle,Tony , Diane and Tom) in the Sequoia Yacht Club
We have been sponsored or invited to Half Moon Bay CA for the weekend. We have enjoyed meeting some members and swapping stories. We saw three whales on the way here one up very close and we prayed not too personal. Paul said they quit counting after seeing 20 whales. We will be ending tonight with a potluck on a 60 foot power boat. There will be 28 of us attending. Thank you Cheryl and Glen.
We will be sailing Monday to Sausalito to catch up with my nieces Ashley and Carrie and their families. We are looking forward to this very much and will post sometime next week.
All for now, let us know how you are and what is going on with you.