This is an American-built steam tug, with a Glasgow-built steel square-rigger in the background.
A couple of characters were doing something at the top of the mizzen. Imagine doing that rounding the Horn in a Force 10!
A few locals congregating for a chat on one of the pontoons.
This is what you see when you leave the Alcatraz ferry. Not sure what the 1940 truck was doing there but it looked nice! The building at the back was originally a military prison.
The cell block is on the right and the exercise yard is in the middle. No views of San Francisco for the cons. The gardens are lovely, and it was nice to learn that Alcatraz wasn't just a prison-it was a place where families lived. The children played like children anywhere, and every day they boarded a ferry and went to school in 'The City' as Eddie Izzard refers to it in his stand-up routine in San Francisco.
All the cells were single-occupancy and all originally had toilets. (Many cells in the UK lack this to this day.)
Apparently the bird man of Alcatraz spent most of his time at Alcatraz in this hospital room, was a dangerous psychopath and wasn't allowed to keep birds.
The film with Burt Lancaster made Robert Stroud out to be a lot less dangerous than he actually was-good old Hollywood!
This was the warden's house before it burnt down in the Sixties (after the place closed). You wouldn't think a poured concrete building would be so prone to fire damage.
The Americans certainly do like locking people up.
This is the ferry coming for us to take us back to Pier 33. It has batteries charged from shore power, on board solar panels or wind turbines (just visible on the upper deck) and two diesel generators which were doing all the work!
A simple message! This is Fisherman's wharf.
Surfers beware!
Clear matter of fact signs. Do they still have the bakery with loaves in the shape of crabs?
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