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Boat Watching on San Francisco Bay
In the course of a few hours on San Francisco Bay, you can see dozens of different kinds of boats and ships, from sailboats to classic motoryachts and kayaks to warships. Here's a quick guide to the common types. (See the links on the left to browse all our photos by boat type or name.)
Sailboats
'Sunda'. One of San Francisco Bay's classic wooden sloops, Sunda, heads across the central bay.
Most of the sailboats on the bay are sloops -- sailboats with one mast.
Lovely Yawl in the Sausalito Anchorage. This yawl is anchored in the main Sausalito anchorage, with Belvedere in the background.
A sailboat with two masts, with a relatively short aft mast set near the stern (technically, aft of the rudderpost) is a yawl. A ketch also has a smaller mast aft, but it is set forward of the rudderpost and carries a larger sail.
Schooner 'Santana'.
Sailboats with two masts, with the taller mast aft, are generally schooners.
Tall Ships
Brigantine Irving Johnson.
A brigantine is like a schooner but has a square-rigged sail on the foremast.
Full-Rigged Ship Pallada.
A full-rigged ship has three masts with square sails on each one. There are none that make their home on San Francisco Bay, but visitors arrive every year or two.
Barque Europa. This beautiful full-rigged ship visited San Francisco Bay in 2002 and here is awaiting the wind to start the offshore race to the south.
A barque is like a full-rigged ship but has fore-and-aft sails on the aft mast.
Motoryachts
Motoryacht Linmar.
San Francisco Bay is blessed with a number of painstakingly restored classic motoryachts.
Larry Ellison's Ronin in Sausalito. After an absence of some years, Larry Ellison's megayacht Ronin returned to the Bay in 2005 and is shown here at Schoonmaker Point Marina.
In some parts of the world, megayachts over 200 or even 300 feet long are not uncommon. On San Francisco Bay, however, Larry Ellison's 197-foot Ronin is about as big a motoryacht as we usually see. This ship's military heritage--the design is from a frigate built for a South American Navy--is evident in her angular lines.
Paradise Found visiting Sausalito.
Currently on the market for $2.8 million, this Sunseeker exemplifies the European style of swoopy design and fast express cruisers. This is a four-stateroom boat.
Attessa Visiting Sausalito. The 160-foot Attessa was built in 1988 in steel by Feadship/Royal Van Lent in Holland. Owned by Montana entrepreneur Dennis Washington; in 2002, the 55th largest private American yacht. Powered by dual 730 hp Detroit Diesels.
One of the larger yachts to visit San Francisco Bay, Attessa is also one of the few visitors to carry a helicopter.
Commercial Ships
Tanker Sporades and Barge Pebble Beach.
Medium-size oil tankers are a common sight in San Francisco Bay, mostly in transit to and from Richmond. The biggest tankers are too big to enter the bay.
Pilot Boarding Container Ship. All ships entering San Francisco Bay must have a bay pilot on board. The 105-foot pilot boat is show here meeting the ship Ever Unific near the SF buoy 12 miles west of the Golden Gate.
Oakland is one of the largest container ports in the country, making these ungainly looking container ships very common in the bay.
Military and Law Enforcement
San Francisco Police Boats. Two San Francisco police boats, in Aquatic Park providing escort for a swimming event. The large boat is a former Coast Guard 44-foot Motor Lifeboat, replace by the new 47-foot version in the current Coast Guard fleet.
San Francisco has its own small fleet of law enforcement vessels. Many bay area counties have their own Sherrif's boat.
Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell.
Coast Guard Island in the Oakland/Alameda Estuary is home to several large patrol ships.
The USCG 47-foot Motor Life Boat. Designed for surf rescue, the MLB can take a full roll and keep going.
If you're in trouble out on the water, this is what you want to see coming your way. These boats are built to take a full roll and keep going, and the crew is highly trained to operate in the surf.
Coast Guard on Homeland Security Detail.
A new species of Coast Guard boat that has become common in the bay since 9/11 -- the small, high-speed boat with a machine gun in the bow.
Amphibious Assault Ship U.S.S. Essex. Two tugs assist the ship. Note the helicopter on the deck.
Once a year during Fleet Week in October, and occasionally at other times, warships visit the bay.
Human-Powered Boats: Rowboats and Kayaks
Whitehall Skiff Chas. M. Farrell. A wonderfully maintained Whitehall rowboat visiting Sausalito Yacht Harbor.
What could be more beautiful to look at and joyful to row than a varnished old Whitehall row boat such as this one?
Rowing Past Sausalito Yacht Harbor.
There's a dedicated group that rows these slender shells on Richardson Bay for exercise and recreation. The most technical of human-powered boats, they're also the fastest.
City Kayak.
Kayaks are a fun way to explore the edges of the bay in good weather.
Houseboats
The Taj Mahal. This lavish houseboat is rarely occupied. It reportedly sold for over $1 million not long ago. It also pays rent on the half-dozen slip spaces it occupies!
Some of Sausalito's houseboats, such as the prominent 'Taj Mahal' in Sausalito Yacht Harbor, are in regular marinas.
Sausalito houseboats.
Some houseboats are anchored out, and often show creative construction that dramatically increases their living space.
Eclectic Sausalito Houseboats. While some houseboats are conventional homes built on barges, others are innovative conversions of old ships.
Most of Sausalito's houseboats are now in a few large houseboat marinas.
Tug Turned Houseboat. One of several tugs in Sausalito that have new lives as houseboats.
Converted old ocean-going tugs make especially attractive houseboats.
