Sailing and Sea Lions in San Francisco

Blogging is a lot more difficult than I would have expected. Well, the writing part isn't difficult, but organizing and making the layout and deciding on the settings is a challenge for me! I've just spent the last three hours at the computer trying different things out, editing photos, and trying to figure out computer coding just to put captions on pictures (obviously I gave that one up). I never would have thought I would be trying to work out computer codes, but I'm determined to give it another try. My dad, whose computer I've hijacked for the afternoon, is probably expecting the outcome to be a lot more impressive than it is! Oh well, what else is an unemployed college grad to do?

I spent the last week in San Francisco enjoying the beginning of fall, which in San Francisco is actually like the middle of summer. When I was there in June, it was in the 50s and 60s while Charleston was already in the 90s, but this past week, San Francisco was as nice as any east coast city, but without the humidity.

Robert has learned how to sail in the past few months so we went out on a boat in the harbor a few times. I've discovered that there's no better way to see a city than from the water! Even in a usual layer of fog, San Fran looked gorgeous. Of course we also got to see a lot of sea lions and have nice conversations with them ("urt! urt! urt!"). I think I've perfected my sea lion-ese. Of course Robert's been practicing since he was really little, seeing as how he will someday be born again, or just transformed, into a sea lion. So obviously he's much better than I am.

Auntie Mary and Uncle Tom and I went down to Half Moon Bay for an afternoon and spent a few hours walking through a marina just watching all the activity. We found a dock on which a group of sea lions (see the common animal theme in San Francisco?) had taken over the entire place and were playing king of the mountain to gain the most space in the sun. Every time one of them would move, the others would protest in loud screeching barks, nosing each other and clumsily batting at one another with their flippers. They were only willing to give up their sunny spot when a huge school of fish came through the marina, causing every pelican, gull, and swimming creature in the town to take advantage of their "safety in numbers" and feast. Poor fish never stood a chance.

On Thursday, we all went into the city for a regatta that promised big boats and lots of activity. As a new sailor, Robert was really excited to see the boats heeled over, waves splashing over the sides and sails ballooning with wind, but Mary kept asking where the big ones were. We heard "big boats" and were expecting something Christopher Columbus would be taking across the ocean. Apparently to people who actually know boats, "big" is a 40+ foot boat with a couple of huge sails. They're nice to look at, but I'd rather have the Pinta or the Santa Maria any day.

After a few races, we retreated to North Beach for an afternoon beer and crossword puzzle. Perfect, as far as I'm concerned.