Oakland alameda ferry schedule 2012 Videos

+SanFranciscoBay I was one of the navigation officers, California Maritime Academy, 1976. Grew up in Oakland, 60's. Here is a story: We are getting ready to leave Honolulu for Oakland when Dale Hazelhurst, one of the Matson shoreside guys gets a phone call from the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor that two guys on a small (less than 30 foot) sailboat have lost a rudder and need diesel fuel about 1200 miles short of Honolulu on a trip from the West Coast. They were able to give a position before their Sat Phone battery died, but the position is 12 or so hours old. Could we find the boat and transfer a replacement rudder, some diesel fuel, and a fresh Sat Phone battery ?  Well we have a great sense of humor and the Eastbound trip is not at top speed - West Bound to Honolulu with the necessities of survival for Hawaii, and merchants wanting for their stuff is no fooling around: top speed, nothing inefficient, Eastbound is much more relaxed.So, sure, we'll find 'em and drop off what they need. First, we put a dot on the chart marking their last reported position. Then, we take a look at the current chart, and multiply the average current speed and direction by the hours of their last report + (plus) the estimated time of our getting near to them, which was a few days away.From this data set we draw a cone shape on the chart from their little dot extending out in the expected direction of the boat's drift. Remember, they are like a little leaf being borne by wind and current. We leave Honolulu and aim for the cone shape.A few days later we are maybe somewhere about where we might sort of expect the two guys and their boat to be. It just happens to be early evening. It is dark. Do you see how precise things are ? So Captain Buzzard (real name) and I are scanning the horizon with binoculars and figuring they gotta be somewhere around here.So I get on the VHF radio which has a range of maybe 50 miles and call on Channel 16 - the normal calling channel, naming the little sailboat, which name I have long forgotten. We get this scratchy response but they have the picture, we are "here".So next we pop a parachute flare which if you do not know goes up in the sky a few thousand feet then drifts slowly down to the sea. They spot the flare - it appears to them to be low on the horizon, which means that they are about 7 - 8 miles away. They give a bearing from them to the flare. We steer the opposite course, and call the Engine Room for maneuvering speed.  The Captain and I make a silent note to celebrate this remarkable feat of navigation with a martini on the the sidewalk at the Fat Lady restaurant just off the waterfront at Oakland.So we call call out the deck gang, Sailor's Union of the Pacific (SUP) guys, to make the transfer of the needed gear.Everything worked out very smoothly (after all, it was the Lurline). The stuff was transferred over the stern while Captain Buzzard made a few maneuvers to maintain the correct aspect to their boat. The SUP guys declined the offer of overtime pay. Just helping out fellow seafarers.   The End.Note: Buzzard and I did have a martini on the sidewalk at the Fat Lady. Hi Patti if you are reading this  (Patti owns the Fat Lady).

I sense that someday, when I ask "Where's Lurline?" the answer will be "Oh, she was sent to India/China to be dismantled as scrap steel." Compared to the other container ships I see at the Port of Oakland, she looks so narrow and small capacity, doomed to be taken out of service for not being able to carry large loads.circle43cm what did you do on Lurline and maybe you could share some good stories about Lurline with us?

+Steve Scott NO WAY!  My dad was a chief machinist and worked down on the boilers too.  I swear, I'm not kidding.  I'm not sure of the exact years he was on the Connie, but it was for quite a few years.  He retired from the Navy in the mid 70's.  I remember going on the base and all the wives and kids anxiously waiting for the ship to pull in from being on West-Pac.  Haven't thought about that in years.  After he retired from the Navy, he remained a machinist.  The man was amazing.  He was one of those men who could fix ANYTHING.  I am my fathers daughter.  I loved to work with my hands, make things and fix things.  If I didn't have the right tool, I would come up with my own.  But I remember whenever he tried to show me how to do something, he couldn't keep his hands off my project.  I would be working on something and slowly his hands would creep in and he would try to do it for me.  I would have to slap his hands and ask him, "how will I learn to do things if you do them for me?".  He just couldn't help himself.  I'm not sure why I'm telling you all of this.   Memories of him I suppose.  It's a small world indeed!  Amazing.

+MissDistarr OMG!!!!!!.My Dad served on the Constellation CVA-64 from 1964-1966 he was a Senior Chief Machinist Mate in A gang.They took of ships boilers and refrigeration.I went on dependents day in 1965 aboard Connie.I was 8 and I swore that day I would join the Navy when I was old enough.When I was 17 I went in.USN 1974-1980.ST-2 SBU-22 Dam Neck Corners V.A..I would have done 30 but got shot in Beirut and nearly lost my leg.Dad was 23 years Navy WWII,Korea,Vietnam.Lost him in 1991 caused by the dreaded cancer.Miss him everyday.We were more like shipmates than Father and Son.Miss my Dad, miss the Navy, miss momma Ocean.What did your Dad do in the Navy? do you know his rate??.I was an HT and then later an SO.Here's to our Dad's and our Mom's.Livermore,Ca.I lived off and on a total of 7 years in Alameda.

Small world.  I was born in Alameda and my sister was born in Oakland.  Both my mom and dad were in the Navy.  Dad was in over 20 years and mom only a few years until they started their family.  He was then stationed in San Diego in '63 and that's where we remained.  He served most of those years on the  USS Constellation (CV-64) which was a Kitty Hawk-class Super Carrier which has now been decommissioned.  I  can still remember being a little girl and going on this huge ship  during X-mas where Santa was in the hanger deck passing out presents. That seems like it was a lifetime ago.  I know it's silly but I can still remember the toy I got and I was only about 4 yrs old.  Funny the things we remember. Sadly, my dad died of Mesothelioma 2 years ago from working on the Navy ships all those years. It was then that I realized, men can die serving their country and it doesn't have to be during times of war or on a battle field.Regards from Oregon, USA