Call Me Ishmael

Actually, Pequod is more appropriate, because we’re talking about the ship, rather than the crew here.
It’s the wildly popular Blackpool boat tram, that 1934 Deco delight, posing at the Pier 39 turnback track in front of a breaching whale off to starboard. No, it wasn’t white nor named Moby.
Actually, we’d never endanger our 44 guests, out for a cruise this last Sunday on one of our Market Street Railway-City Guides tours. We especially wanted a smooth ride for a mystery guest, a high city official who wanted to enjoy a simple family outing. Reports say the sail was smooth, and the open top of the boat made the tour of Market Street’s architecture (and The Embarcadero’s) so much more enjoyable than just being able to look out the windows.
We’ll be doing this again, though perhaps not on the boat until we can be sure of good sailing, probably in the spring. Thanks to Alison Cant for her great organizational skills; Paul Lucas for his help in putting it all together, even printing the tickets and serving as an onboard host; and Mike Frew of MSR and Harlan Hirschfeld of City Guides, who were great tour guide. Thanks, too, to Jeremy Whiteman for the photo.
And oh, by the way, great blurb in the City Insider from Michael Cabanatuan about the boat’s cruise on the J-line following the Cam Beach ceremony yesterday. Especially love the ending:
>On board, passengers took photos, and laughed and smiled. ‘Hey, I’m riding in this funky open air streetcar with Christmas lights,’ one passenger shouted into his cell phone.
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>Another rider said the trip was so enjoyable that she extended her journey a few stops. She thanked the operator as she disembarked from the boat car. ‘That was fun!’ she exclaimed.
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>How often do you hear that on Muni?
Actually, you hear it quite a lot…on the F-line!