Published: November, 2003 On October 10, 2003, Governor Davis signed Senate Bill (SB) 915 (D-Perata, Oakland) giving the WTA the green light to develop seven new Bay Area ferry routes, expand existing ferry routes, and build 31 new boats. SB 915 authorizes the WTA to operate a comprehensive San Francisco Bay area regional public water […]
Author: BAY CROSSINGS STAFF REPORT
Sensible Shoes
Published: November, 2003 New York’s horrific ferry accident at Staten Island is a wake-up call for ferry operators. While San Francisco has an excellent history of safety, even back in the radar-less fog-shrouded days, there have been accidents. In 1886, the North Pacific Coast steamer, San Rafael raced the San Francisco and North Pacific’s Tiburon […]
The Great Aluminum Problem
By Guy Span, S.D. Published: November, 2003 In 1999, Nichols Brothers Boatyard built a new Incat design, Jet Cat Express for Catalina Island service (this should not be confused with the Jet Cat Express that operated for Vallejo). Shortly after entering service, mysterious hull cracking and pitting developed. Nichols replaced a shaft bearing, believing that […]
Ferryriders Rejoice!
Published: November, 2003 Bay Area voters will get a chance to take regional mobility issues into their own hands now that outgoing Governor Gray Davis has signed Senate Bill 916 into law. The bill, authored by East Bay Senator Don Perata, places a regional traffic relief plan on the March 2, 2004 ballot in Alameda, […]
More Sensible Shoes
By Guy Span, S.D. Published: November, 2003 New York’s horrific ferry accident at Staten Island is a wake-up call for ferry operators. While San Francisco has an excellent history of safety, even back in the radar-less fog-shrouded days, there have been accidents. In 1886, the North Pacific Coast steamer, San Rafael raced the San Francisco […]
Bay Round Up
Published: November, 2003 The Midway A new and rather large arrival in the Oakland Estuary is the World War II carrier, the Midway. Actually, she was built during World War II, but the surrender was signed before she saw active duty. Word has it that she is undergoing cleanup after being held in the Reserve […]
Harbor Bay Ferry Rescue Drama
Published: November, 2003 Dear Harbor Bay Ferry Captain and Crew: Last Thursday, October 2, 2003, I launched my San Francisco Bay Pelican sailboat at the Grand Street Marina in Alameda. This is a small wooden sailboat with a two-horsepower outboard. I motored and sailed out the Estuary and began sailing on the Bay out towards […]
Port of Call: Nuuk, Greenland
By Drake Nanda Published: November, 2003 It’s understandable if you feel confused and adrift. Current events have altered the order of our world and split asunder the link between rational thought and action. Making sense has nothing to do with doing what is right…or what used to seem right. Consider our plight: An action hero […]
Bay Area Joins International Walk-to-School Day Celebration
Published: November, 2003 Students and teachers at dozens of Bay Area schools joined forces with millions of others in all 50 states and around the world to perform a simple, healthy, and increasingly rare act — the walk to school. Now in its seventh year, Walk-to-School Day is expected to involve more than 2.5 million […]
A Splendid Run of Bad Luck
By Guy Span, S.D. Published: November, 2003 The Alameda-Oakland Ferry Service problems continue, with a splendid run of bad luck. First, the Encinal, the backup boat, blew a Detroit Diesel engine just 37 hours into its return to service from an extensive rebuild. It was a spectacular failure, blowing a rod through both sides of […]