December 1 , 2007

Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club Celebrates 75th Birthday

By Kerry Fleisher

Before a horizon composed of parked cargo ships and scattered tug-docks, members of the Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club members celebrated the 75th birthday of their club last month with tales of the southeastern seafront, camaraderie forged amongst sailing aficionados and dilettantes, and a poetry readings by the open waterfront.
            “We are true San Franciscans, we welcome anyone to join the Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club,” said commodore Jim Guerrero of the oldest continuous yacht club in San Francisco, a cigar tipped back between his fingers.  “All the people here are good people, good personalities, down-to-earth.  The most flavor you’ll find in San Francisco is here.”
             The club, located just south of AT&T Stadium, pays due respect to its salt-water roots, with its walls decorated with nautical certificates, faded burgees, and lithograph prints of the industrial waterfront.  And much of that waterfront, including the area around Pier 50, the site of both the Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club and Bayview Yacht Club, was created from ships that were abandoned by gold miners in a hurry to get to the hills. 
Though the yacht club doesn’t have the necessary permits to operate a marina, a quarter of its members either own or co-own a vessel, and all members are encouraged to sail with their boat-owning brethren.  Rudy Bella, a long-time club member and ex-commodore of the Hunter’s Point Yacht Club before it merged with the Mariposa Yacht Club, has what he calls an “inflatable” vessel in his garage.  New members Cary Roman and Lisa Braswell are all about the sailing classes, in addition to the recently refurbished bar. 
“We used to be home to blue-collar workers, now we welcome the white-collar to blue-collar to police officers,” said Bella.  Despite their expanding membership base, which currently stands at 275, the club prefers to keep things tight-knit.  “It’s like going to Cheers, everyone knows you,” Bella said. 
Most members hail from Potrero Hill, Excelsior, and the Inner Mission. The club has upwards of 30 volunteer positions, and charges annual dues of $125, which includes affiliated membership with the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association.  Club membership also provides 98 percent reciprocity at other San Francisco yacht clubs, though not the St. Francis Yacht Club.
To open a marina, the club would need to obtain a few dozen permits from several different public agencies, and undergo a number of environmental reviews.  “As the saying goes, by the time you get the last permit the first is expired,” said Vice Commodore Sean Griffith. 
The San Francisco Appreciation Society, which hosted last month’s tribute, was co-founded by native San Franciscan and yacht club member David Katznelson.  Katznelson became a member two-years ago, after he walked in, fell in love, and threw down his membership fees, all within in twenty minutes. 
In addition to ushering in new members, much is changing these days at the yacht club, which is currently on a month-to-month lease with the Port.  The University of California, San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus is steadily encroaching towards the club, as are new condominium buildings.  Still, with much of the southeast San Francisco shoreline tied-up in industrial leases or unused landfill, club members hope to continue to host old-school seafarers, who know how to enjoy the sea from the vantage point of the bar, for some time to come.
 “The theory is you spend so much on your boat, you need a cheap place to drink,” Vice Commodore Sean Griffith chuckled, crunching air quotes around the word “boat”.  “Ring the bell,” challenged Katznelson to tipsy crowd of intellectuals, musicians, and artists, many of whom were visiting the Mariposa Hunter’s Point Yacht Club for the first time.  The veterans laughed and clinked glasses.  The sign next to the bell reads, ““He who rings the bell in jest buys a drink for all the rest.” 
In addition to serving its regular clientele, the club has played host to a Hell’s Angel Wedding, a Scooter Club extravaganza, and the annual San Francisco Torch Run.   “The Hell’s Angels left the place cleaner than when they came in,” swore Griffith.  Later, when this reporter catches word that one of the Hell’s Angel members were dunked in the water, Griffith laughed, “Really clean, seriously.  They threw the guy in the water before he could mess with the place.”
San Francisco Appreciation Society members, which is dedicated to its organizational name, passed out poetry quotes about the sea, requested people read them aloud, and rallied everyone to toss back their drink after each quote.  As Jean Paul Sartre was quoted, “Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.”