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Get Your Sea Legs Back By Kamal Taj

The resurgence of the ferry service for commuting and leisure in the Bay Area

Brown pelicans fly alongside the ferry from San Francisco to Alameda island on Nov. 14, 2022. “They pretty much always fly alongside us every time we leave,” said Winter Ladue, the senior deckhand aboard the Setus. “I think they like to eat the fish who jump in our wake.” (Joshua Carter/Xpress) View from the Cetus’s fantail as she leaves San Francisco’s ferry building in transit to Alameda on Nov. 14, 2022. The Cetus is a hydroplane vessel, meaning it has an open bottom hull and transits faster than a standard vessel. (Joshua Carter/Xpress) WWaiting in the parking lot of the Oakland Ferry Terminal near Jack London Square, the morning marine layer begins to burn off, receding back towards the peninsula. The thick, gray fog gives ways to a cerulean-blue sky smudged with wispy cirrus clouds. The ebb and flow of the tide softly slaps against the pier’s mooring poles, and the distant ring of a buoy bell fills the air. The ferry hasn’t arrived, but riders begin to gather around the gate, slowly lining up in anticipation of the ferry’s landing.

The engine’s rumble and the churning of water gives the ferry’s approach away, accompanied by the somewhat-robotic mumble over the intercom. Staff hop off the ferry, tie the vessel off and drop the ramp. Passengers make their way on board, the sound of their footsteps echoing on the thin steel ramp. Below deck, the ferry’s engine turns into a deep hum. The heaters inside offer passengers a cozy, warm relief from the brisk morning chill.

The strong smell of old, somewhat-burnt cheap coffee permeates the room.

Growing up in the Bay Area, many locals are introduced to public transportation fairly early. From field trips to the Opera House on BART to ferry rides landing at Alcatraz or

Angel Island. There are a variety of ways to get from one place to another in the Bay Area, many of which are taken for granted or blur into our mundane routines.

However, one way in particular holds a special place in the hearts of residents around the Bay, and that’s the ferry. Maybe it’s our inner pirate, the free spirit— someone who enjoys the salty air, the crash of waves against the hull, the sound of gulls squawking as they follow our wake. Or maybe it’s simply arriving in the city by water? Disembarking right at the water’s edge and stepping into the Embarcadero, the city somehow appears larger.

Dwarfed by the towering buildings of the Financial District, the buzz of the city fills the air.

“It’s nice to be out on the water, especially without having to own your own boat,” laughed Michael Carrow, a Bay Area native riding the Oakland to SF ferry. Carrow with his son Owen sit on the upper back deck of the SF Bay ferry and look out at the city as it grows in size.

“With the pandemic and everything, it’s just nice to be outside, enjoy the fresh air…it gets tiring being indoors so often,” said Carrow.

Carrow raises his son to show him the full view of the Ferry Building. The clock tower, caught in a ray of morning light, dazzles in the sun. As a method of travel, the beauty of ferry transit is truly beyond comparison. “I used to use the ferry when I lived near Jack

London Square, it was relaxing and convenient…instead of the usual bus to BART routine,” said Carrow.

Ferry service has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area since nearly its inception.

With the population boom after the gold rush in 1849, a quick route between Oakland and

San Francisco became necessary. The ‘Creek Route Ferry’ was one of the earliest routes that connected what’s now Jack London Square to SF’s western waterfront.

One of the earliest ferries built primarily for trans-bay service was a 449-ton, 170-footlong steam engine ferry called the Contra Costa. The vessel was a paddle steamer — a ship powered by a steam engine that drives a massive paddle wheel through the water. Before the propeller was invented, paddle steamers dominated the waterways.

Beginning in the 1860s, railroad ferries were established. These ferries were capable of carrying entire passenger train cars, sometimes including their locomotives. When trains arrived at Oakland via the Central Pacific Railroad line, passenger cars were loaded onto ferries and delivered to the San Francisco Belt Railroad, a line that ran parallel to the

Embarcadero.

As technology advanced, ferries began to see a decline in the mid-1900s from the arrival of cars and construction of bridges. Since then, cars have become the predominant method of travel and commuting. In fact, driving alone to work is still California’s most used method of transportation for commuters. Transit, even before COVID-19, saw a steady