Sea offers rare view of city at daybreak
We sailed out of San Francisco on the cruise ship Grand Princess, north to Alaska, to see blue ocean, snow-capped mountains, touristy towns, a glimpse of glaciers. Ten days, out and back.
We were on the last leg, heading home. There is always something special when San Francisco is your home port, so I got up very early in the morning to see the ship come in.
It’s rare to see San Francisco from the ocean, especially at the beginning of the day. But this is how the first Europeans first saw the place, how thousands of immigrants hoping for a new life got their first look at the city, how soldiers, sailors and Marines returning from wars first saw home again.
The ship must have been about 15 miles west of the Golden Gate when I stepped outside. It was 4:30 in the morning, chilly, not cold, but it was clearly autumn, a change in the air.
It was very dark and the stars were bright with the clarity you get at sea — the most obvious were Orion and a bright morning star to the East where the land must be. The ship, which had been sailing southeast, made a slow turn to the left toward the shore. After a bit I could make out the lighted Sea Buoy, at the entrance to the main ship channel that leads to the Golden Gate.
It seemed as if there was a blanket over most everything else, as if the ship was alone on that nearly dark coast. There were only one or two lights to the south, probably San Mateo County. Through the binoculars, there was a vague smudge of lights on the horizon — the famous city of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge was only 11 miles away, but it was hard to see, as though it were much more distant. An illusion, perhaps.
There was a tall string of red lights in the far distance. I could not imagine what it could be. Later, it became clear: Sutro Tower.
At 4:55, the pilot boat came around the ship’s stern. They must have already put the pilot aboard, for the ship picked up speed and the pilot boat headed away toward what looked like another vessel.
There are shoals on both sides of the main ship channel, which is marked by lighted red buoys, four of them, lit like a garden path. We kept the buoys to starboard: red right returning. Every sailor knows that one.
Slowly, slowly the lights of San Francisco became clearer: the Sunset District, with the streets leading to the edge of the ocean. To the left, a dark area, which must be Golden Gate Park, then more lights — the Outer Richmond, and more darkness, which I took to be Lands End. I could pick out landmarks easily now: Fort Miley, Sea Cliff.
Then the Golden Gate Bridge, at 5:40 a.m. The South Tower was rust red against the black sky, bright lights on the bridge deck, like a string of pearls.
Coming under the bridge is always impressive. The main part of the city, the hills, the tall buildings appear suddenly, as if the curtain were raising in a play.
There was the dark Presidio forest and the lighted dome of the Palace of Fine Arts. And after that, the streets: Lyon, Baker, Broderick, Scott, Pierce, rolling by, as if in a film. Some of the streets, important streets, are wider than the others. I could recognize Fillmore and Van Ness Avenue. It was not yet 6 o’clock, and the streets were lit. San Francisco was still asleep.
It was quiet, too, from the water. Mostly quiet, though, as the city gives off a hum day and night, like a motor running. But there were no sirens, no traffic sounds. Oddly, off Pier 39, I could hear the sea lions barking. Perhaps they get up early. Or stay up late.
In a bit, the Bay Bridge came into view, its lights shimmering with the last of the night.
Then the ship slowed, the wake becoming only a ripple. A sharp turn to the left and slowly and carefully, the ship backed stern first into Pier 27, the San Francisco cruise ship terminal.
I stepped inside for a bit, and then I went outside again. It was morning, the lights of the night had gone out, and the first daylight was coming from the East Bay hills, the bay turning a golden color.
Sunrise was at 7, and a Golden Gate ferry, in from Sausalito and making its turn toward the Ferry Building, was illuminated against the rising sun. We were home.
We all know San Francisco is not all that it should be. There are a thousand problems here, and a lot of ugly things. But when you are sailing in from the Pacific Ocean on a warm, clear September morning, it is truly a beautiful place.