Shivering me timbers!!  Chillin' and cruising, SF-style...

Its the weekend, its Sunday morning and time for another little adventure!

Today's fun was a 2hr champagne cruise round the bay, courtesy of my dear friends at Groupon.  I'd got back from NYC late Friday, then yesterday was spent enjoying a delightfully slothful morning on the couch, catching up with my dear friends Tim and Heidi, then helping my wee chutney mate Alison at the Whiskies of the World event in the evening (fortunately, I can't abide whiskey, so there was no chance of me waking up with anything less than a clear head this morning!).

Yes, it was THAT cold.

Looking out the window as I was getting ready to leave, I was certainly grateful it wasn't as drizzly and yukky as the previous morning, but it certainly wasn't what you classify as...umm.. warm.  Or even sunny.  But, fortunately this time, no potential 5K races were involved,  so I resisted the siren call of my bed and was ready and bundled up, Michelin-man style, when Lori came to pick me up at 9am, ahead of our 10am sail time.

We trundled off to Fisherman's Wharf, to rub shoulders with the tourists and protest loudly at the exorbitance of the parking fees, while secretly loving the sheer naffness and tackiness of the whole place.  There's just an exuberance about it - a shamelessness about how utterly unsophisticated it is, and how its there to just show you a good time, while extracting the maximum money from your wallet, that's as beguiling as it is bothersome.  You end up just giving in and being utterly complicit, surrendering any artifice of erudition, as its just impossible to do anything other than tap into your inner 6yr-old and go with the flow.

So, go with the flow we did - we found our berth where our magnificent(ish) yacht was parked up, met some cool Brits (it was early on a Sunday morning, freezing cold so of COURSE you'd find a bunch of Brits there wanting to get their cocktails on!) and embarked upon our adventure.  

Ay carumba.  It was jolly chilly.

Even fully bundled up, I think i probably lost all sensation in my legs after about 30mins, all feeling in my fingers 15 mins later and finally couldn't tell if my face was still attached after about an hour.  But, with(very) stiff (icy) upper lip in place, we still had a fun time!  The route was pretty much as you'd expect - just sailing out into the bay, round Alcatraz for a bit, then the Golden Gate bridge, before turning round and coming back in.  It was good to sit and chat and catch up for a couple of hours, so neither of us were really paying all that much attention to the scenery.  But, our little frozen digits did manage to capture a few pictures, so enjoy from the warmth and comfort of your non-chilly couches!

At least the cold kept the mimosas at the
perfect temperature!

Pretending not to be cold.
And pretending to just be drinking coffee.
Equally unconvincing at both...

Fog Magnet

By this stage, my hand had actually
 frozen solid to the deck

Seal, seeking warmer waters...

Ahoy there, Alcatraz!  

Arty-farty shot with SF skyline in the
background

Artier-fartier shot.
Still effing freezing.

The chilly skyline of SF

It will all make sense in the next
picture why I posted this one...

Crikey.   Ladies, pay attention!

Why, thank you.
I now finally understand why there's a Polar Bear
as the symbol of the Californian Republic.

Herbie didn't go to Monte Carlo!!  He came to SF!!

After 2hrs freezing our arses off on the boat, this
 seemed the perfect place for lunch

Lori modeling this season's MUST-HAVE accessory -
the in-pony cocktail umbrella.  A timeless look.