Oakland, Sausalito & San Francisco
11th - 21st October 2003

We departed Seattle with bright eyes, zoomed back through locks and bridges and before long were back in the familiar waters of the North Pacific ocean.  We had calm weather for at least the first few days but old habits die hard and the sea picked up, strong enough for the sails to come down and the engine to bring us closer to San Francisco.  Humpback whales, seals and Dall’s porpoises stayed with us in all weathers. 

Heading Home!

Just after dawn on the morning of October 11^th, we had a rendezvous with some of the original crew of the Heraclitus outside San Francisco, beyond the Golden Gate Bridge.  These were Johnny, Kathelin, Flash, Freddy and Rio.  In a high-ish seas transfer from a generously donated Protector Boat, they jumped on board and took up stations for the approach to our portal to past and future.  Excitement reached fever pitch as we looked up beyond the raised sails of the Heraclitus to see beyond not the sky but the red metal-work of this engineering landmark.  We were going backwards and forwards all at the same time.  As Heraclitus said, “in the circumference of the circle, the beginning and the end are one.”   Small boats filled with friends and family greeted us as we sailed under the bridge and The San Francisco Fire Department came out to spray us in a celebratory arch, welcoming the ship back to the Bay Area for the first time in 28 years. 

We arrived at Jack London Square around noon, greeted by a cheering crowd of Heraclitus friends, alongside Bay Area environmental and educational groups presenting their work at a Save Coral Reefs Fair including:

Chabot Space and Science Center
East Bay Conservation Corps
Environmental Defense Fund
Girl Scouts Bay Area Council
Mare Island Technology Academy
Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center
Seacology
Student Conservation Association
Wings of America and the World Wall for Peace .    

 
MIT Academy Teacher Laurie MacKay and her Students at Save Coral Reefs Fair

Bay Area media personality Jerri Lange emceed a welcome ceremony which opened with past and present Heraclitus crew processing to the stage as Oakland’s Helen J.H. Stephens “Angelic Voices” choir accompanied them with song.   Orla spoke passionately about the crisis facing coral reefs and Cynthia paid tribute to Ray Gatchalian, a humanitarian and retired firefighter, whose untimely death in a car accident in Chile last May prevented him from joining us for the sail from Seattle to his hometown of Oakland. The Oakland Fire Department presented Laser and the crew with a torch in memory of Ray.  

Oakland’s Vice-Mayor Nancy Nadel honored PCRF and the Heraclitus, presenting a proclamation to Gaie and John Allen, Chairman & Co-founder of the Foundation, declaring Oct 11^th the “Day for RV Heraclitus and Coral Reef Stewardship” in Oakland, a great beginning to our US campaign to raise awareness of the state of coral reefs worldwide. 

A party on board that night brought more reunions, more introductions, more stories shared and more moments created.  The ship seemed to be incredibly happy to be back in Oakland. 

Jack London’s statue looked on as the visitors continued to stream towards the ship – attracted by this cement curiosity docked in the middle of downtown Oakland.  Throughout the next week, we toured the ship for countless visitors, explaining our purpose and our plans for saving the coral reefs of the world to all who passed through.  It was wonderful to see people so excited and inspired by our ship.

The next day, October 12^th, was one of celebration tinged with regret – it was Oakland’s Day of Ray Festival in honor of Ray Gatchalian, a hero to those he met and worked with and an unknowable force to those who only hear about him now after his unexpected death earlier in the year.  Ray’s spirit burned bright on this sunny Sunday, and the Heraclitus brought tastes of the North and South Pacific to the event, as Eddie Zuna and crew members of the RV Heracltius performed dances from the Solomon Islands and our ocean crossing at the festival.   

 
Eddie Zuna Performing the Ey Omba Dance

On October 13^th, we visited 5^th Avenue, the site where the Heraclitus was built, with our original crew acting as guides to bring us back in time, back to the birth of our ship. They delivered their reminiscences of that time to both the current crew and the film team from Canal+2 France who are making a documentary about the Heraclitus, ‘The Dragon of the Seas’. 

  
Original Crew of RV Heraclitus that sailed the ship out in 1975

 
  Past and present crew of RV Heraclitus at 5th Avenue, Oakland

On the evening of Tuesday, October 14^th, the sea people tribe encountered the land people in a beautiful cultural exchange on the ship’s deck.  Some of the finest musical talents of the Bay area met with the troupe of sailor/actors for an evening of dance, music, song and poetry.  Communications and transmissions through memory and expression.  Jaron Lanier jammed with Barbara Higsby, Edie Hartshorne played her ocarina, Evelie Posch sang to her Mindanaon instrument and Kathelin Gray and Johnny Dolphin performed poetry.  We performed some of the dances and songs we had offered to the ocean half way through our voyage. 

Cynthia Jurs, Evelie Posch & Edie Hartshorne on board RV Heraclitus
 

Jaron Lanier and Barbara Higsby playing on board the RV Heraclitus

RV Heraclitus Crew Members Dancing the "Sail Dance"

We conducted on-board educational programs for visitors from The Chabot Space and Science Center, groups from the pioneering Alameda County Mentor Diversion Program and home schoolers. 

Alameda County Mentor Diversion Group Aboard RV Heraclitus with Cynthia Lazaroff

Our science team traveled into the community to give talks to a younger audience at The Chabot Space and Science Center and to more specialized groups at UC Berkeley and Stanford – explaining our Coral Reef Satellite Mission and the ground-truthing role the RV Heraclitus is playing in that effort.

On October 16^th, Oakland community leader Phil Tagami hosted an elegant reception at Scott’s Restaurant on Jack London Square.  He spoke eloquently about coral reefs and future generations, with a declaration of hope and support for the aims of PCRF and our Coral Reef Satellite Mission.  Phil’s clarity in vision gave us a great lift for launching the satellite sooner rather than later. Port of Oakland Commissioner, Ken Katzoff, delivered a Welcome on behalf of Mayor Jerry Brown, who had toured the ship earlier in the week and congratulated us on our homecoming, commending “the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation and the crew of the RV Heraclitus for their dedication to protecting the world’s oceans.”

Heraclitus at night docked at Jack London Square
photo by Doug Salin

Saturday morning, October 19^th we conducted our last tours of the ship at Jack London Square, then joined the Bay’s sailors as we moved across to Sausalito for a fund-raising event generously hosted by our dear friend and supporter Martha Lyddon at Ondine’s restaurant the next day.  Guests were ferried back and forth on a Protector Boat to tour the Heraclitus in the afternoon. At sunset, the dinner, music and coral reef program began, with sweeping views of the Bay, the glittering San Francisco skyline and our ship, brilliantly lit up with  ‘sails’ constructed from small lights to give the illusion of the Heraclitus under way. 

Michel Lippitsch at Martha's Party

RV Heraclitus anchored off of Ondines Restaurant

And within a few days, we were!  Many of the crew have headed from ocean to desert - to the Institute of Ecotechnics annual conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Meanwhile, the remaining crew are in the Channel Islands, diving the kelp forests, playing with the seals and hopefully taking it rather easy!

Next stop Los Angeles!

END