Home	Giants Game, Brisbane Marina, Sierra Pont YC Cruise June 9-10, 2012

(If you like, you can skip down through the prose and go straight to the pictures below!)

The billboard told it like this:

Like Baseball? Like cruises? Then here's something different this year. With both Giants game tickets and the South Beach Marina just plain sold out, we're taking things into our own hands for the best of both worlds.

People swoon at pictures of boats in McCovey Cove during games. Home run balls plop there on occasion, and it's an extremely small percentage of baseball fans who have ever actually been in McCovey Cove. Well here's your chance to be part of history. Raft up with fellow Islanders in McCovey Cove on Saturday, June 9th, turn up your radio (KNBR 680) and celebrate with cheers, beers, peanuts and crackerjack - we wouldn't care if we never got back!

Game time is 1:05, so plan to get there and rafted up some time after noon. We've got star pitcher Dan Knox (Luna Sea) and cleanup hitter John Melton (Freedom Won) lined up to get there a bit early and snag the best anchoring spot. Just hail them on Channel 72 as you're approaching and they will let you know where to put your fenders as you raft up.

Well that's just how it stared out. Like any Plan, there was a glitch. John (Freedom Won) arrived and set an anchor, but when Dan (Luna Sea) arrived to set a second anchor, his fan belt started squealing and he shut down the engine. It wasn't until Tacoma Blue was alongside, and Ophira showed us that we got a second anchor set. Then Vanishing Animal added to the raft. for a total of 5 Islanders

Rick was arriving with 7 neighbors -- all Giants fans -- and his crew was 3 adults and 4 kids. Our pictures start with their voyage up to AT&T Park. Their smiles remind us that, while we might be used to being on the water (and even sometimes lament a particular day), to these folks it was a very special day!

McCovey Cove is a tight space to begin with, and we were the largest raft in the area. You almost have to be there to appreciate the feeling. Streams of arriving people are walking across the 3rd Street Bridge toward AT&T Park. Dozens more are walking the relatively narrow free sidewalk between field level in the park and the waters of McCovey Cove. Anyone can stand there and watch the game free -- if it's crowded they might ask you to move after 3 innings.

The lure of McCovey Cove is that a long foul ball down the right field line, or an even longer home run in the same direction could clear the whole park and land in the waters of McCovey Cove. When Barry Bonds was aiming at a home run record, that was prime hunting ground for a very valuable baseball!. To this day, there's a crowd in McCovey Cove, and this year, your Islander fleet was a small part of it.

We had 6 boats signed up until Friday when Natural High had to back out due to work commitments, but 5 strong Islanders carried the burgee into the Cove for us all as outlined above. We were surrounded by sail and power boats, and then at least two most unusual side shows.

First, the Avengers arrived on float boards -- individually sliding by, then grouped to defend us all from evil. Their presence was duly noted on the televised scoreboard, as was a pair of swimming dogs from a power boat next to us. Don't know if there was ever a shot of your Islanders, or even the very dedicated 12 and 8 year olds on the bow of Vanishing Animal holding up a sign that said, "Go Giants! Hit one here!"

Probably only in San Francisco would the next scenario unfold. Someone yelled out that there were naked bicyclists on shore. Got to be kidding --- nope, it was real. Try these::

From Yelp:
What/Why:

This is the BIG ONE!!! Time to get undressed to the nines! It's the 9TH Annual World Naked Bike Ride in San Francisco. Each year, our turnout is getting larger and larger riding bare through the streets of the city.

It is time to bring your bikes to Justin Herman Plaza between Market Street & the Embarcadero Blvd.

We meet on the northeast side of Vaillancourt Fountain, between the fountain and Embarcadero Blvd at 11 AM. Bring body paints, watercolors and markers to apply slogans and designs to each other and adorn your bikes with signs; meet with old and new friends.

While it is a "naked" bike ride, all are welcome; it's ride as bare as you dare. That is, body paint, rubber latex, bikinis, topless, lingerie, bubble pack, whatever costume you are comfortable riding with.

Our ride is part of a global protest taking place today in many cities throughout the US, Europe and other cities in the Northern Hemisphere. Tens of thousands of naked bike riders are protesting the global dependency of our society and economies at the hands of the oil cartels. We want to emphasize the harm this dependency causes to our environment, businesses and social lives. Nobody is unaffected. We want to endorse more bike riding and our nudity expresses our vulnerability to these matters. It also draws attention to our cause.

And ......

Event Summary:
June 9th SF WNBR: The June 9th ride was a bit smaller than previous years with approximately 100 to 120 riders together with a large spectator turn out. A lot more spectators were taking pictures with iPads then we have ever seen before. Despite the smaller turn out, there were more women riding completely naked, topless or in underwear which was a nice shift from the nearly all male turn out that we often have. The SF WNBR received top billing on the FunCheap events list for that day. Someone said KGO? radio promoted the event. (Can someone verify that?) NBC TV News and the Bay Guardian where there with reporters covering the event and doing interviews. Mitch Hightower of Hightower Productions also covered the ride at several points along the way. And, finally, we ended up doing a lengthy interview about the SF WNBR with a cinematographer doing a French film documentary on San Francisco. We'll provide more details about the ride in the coming days.

We have perfectly PG photos below, and even a video, to show this really happened.

But fun it was until the shifting afternoon winds blew hard enough to start dragging anchors and we started breaking up our raft at the end of the 7th inning. Not to worry -- the Giants still won 5 to 2.

Dan spent most of the game with his head in the engine, and with Rick's help determined that the belt driving the water pump and the alternator had stretched so that it couldn't be tightened enough to do the job. Rick's spare was too long, but John's was just right, and so Luna Sea was ready to carry on for the rest of the cruise.

With Vanishing Animal and her family crew leading the way, Islanders headed south to Brisbane Marina. Though the Friday winds had gusted to 50 knots across this path, a benign, (by SF Bay standards) 20 knots was all we saw. The kids, ages 8 - 12, got lessons in taking dock lines and tying them to cleats as they helped Luna Sea and Freedom Won into their slips.

As families headed home, the crews of Luna Sea, Freedom Won and Vanishing Animal gathered for a typical I-36 evening of veg & dip, shrimp & sauce, great pork & sauce and a few beverages to wash them all down. It was a great Saturday evening.

Sunday morning, Luna Sea was the first to slip out for home at 0730, followed by Freedom Won at 0800. Rick stayed on to have breakfast at Sierra Point YC.

Pictures by Jenny Pattersom, Penny Lynch, Pat Salvo & Rick Van Mell. Click on images to enlarge, click "Back" to return.

An Islander 36 day!	To get there ...	requires concentration.	Ryan drags feet ...	Julia does too!
Drew takes pics.	Jenny's happy	Corey & Penny	Rick and Corey	Lizzie & Julia
Pat & Gary anchor ...	with Dan's help.	We're in McCovey Cove ....	AT&T Park ...	can see the scoreboard ...
boats are ...	all around ...	Kayaks too ...	3rd Street Bridge ...	the line up ...

Welcome to Mc Covey Cove

snack time ...	Here comes Superman ....	The Hulk, and ...	The Avengers!	I-36 Rules!!!
Hamilton batting ...	Risa & Myphi watch ...	John's in control ...	Islanders united ...	upper deck is full ...
crowds are happy ...	Ryan and Corey	Wishfull thinking	What's this?	naked bikers!

Naked Bike Riders

Headed home.	Galley slave	Vanishing Animal ...	I36 flag flying ...	More flags ...
Luna Sea ...	Myphi ...	food hunter ...	Here's why!	Dan, Myphi, & Risa
Steve & John	A good night!	Sunday morning ...	Dan departs ...	have a ...
good ride home!	Freedom Won is next ...	have a good ride ...	John!	Vanishing Animal ...
Sunday morning.	Below San Bruno Mountain ...	sits Sierra Pont YC ...	Flags fly ...	great entrance ...
from 1984 ...	lobby tags ...	welcome entry ...	Sunday Buffet set up ...	Commodore toasts!