The entrance to San Francisco Bay is world-renowned. Unfortunately, most of the year, the entrance is fogged in. Today was very special, we had a nice sunny pleasant day and no fog.

As we sailed under the famous bridge, we thought about all the people who have sailed from this Bay over the years: Mark Twain; all the WW II soldiers and sailors who served in the Pacific (and later wars); the great days of the Hawai’i steamships, such as the Matsonia and Lurline. Sailing through this bay entrance on a passenger ship is not very common these days, and we felt very lucky to not only be here, but for a wonderful clear day.

We left San Francisco just a few hours later. The bad news was that it was night, and we could not get any photos. The good news was that it was night and we had glorious views of San Francisco and the bridge, all illuminated beautifully.

Our crossing from San Francisco to Kaua’i took four and a half days. The only photos we took at sea were interior shots of the Pride of Hawaii or the images of the Hawaiian flag raising onboard the Pride of Hawaii.

It was an odd transition, travelling from the cold waters off California, further into the tropics, day by day. One day, Bob observed that he “could feel the Islands approaching”. This feeling was shared by a number of other kama’aina on the ship. We agreed that we could actually “feel” the Islands reaching out to embrace us and welcome us back with aloha.

The Golden Gate is Clear! That's Uncommon! --- Cruise on Pride of Hawai’i