Square-Rigger Booms Its Way Into S.F. Bay : Drake’s Vessel Doesn’t Miss Golden Gate This Time

Like a salty apparition out of the 16th Century, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s square-rigger Golden Hinde--canvas set and cannon booming--sailed into San Francisco Bay on Friday, a place that England’s most daring sailor missed on his visit to California 408 years ago.

A small fleet of sail and power boats escorted the high-pooped twin of the vessel that Drake took around the world.

It was in the treasure-laden Golden Hinde that Drake, the first Englishman to sail around the world, anchored in a small bay in the lee of Point Reyes on June 17, 1579. He christened the place now called Drake’s Bay as Nova Albion and claimed it for England.

Appropriately, the Golden Hinde replica visited Drake’s Bay on Thursday.

Legendary Fog

Why Drake missed San Francisco Bay by 40 miles in the Hinde is a favorite local mystery. Solutions include the possibility that one of the Golden Gate’s legendary pea soup fogs shrouded the entrance and so possibly changed history.

Drake, according to local history, became the first known man to set foot on the Farallon Islands, 32 miles west of the Golden Gate.

When Drake touched down on North American soil, he was on a circumnavigation of the globe, his most famous voyage. History says Drake’s mission was to explore the possibilities of trade and colonial settlement in the Pacific, with time off now and then to plunder some Spanish ship, if he got the chance.

Drake is thought to have originally used the Marigold as his flagship on the voyage, but damage and losses from violent storms forced Drake to take his flag to the 102-foot Pelican, which he renamed Golden Hinde.

Used as Museum

Bankrolled by a San Francisco group, the Golden Hinde was reconstructed and launched in 1973 at its English shipyard, J. Hinks & Son, established in 1844. The Hinde is now owned by English interests, which use it as a sailing 16th-Century museum.

So faithful to the calculated original design is the Hinde that the vessel has no cruising engine, just a small maneuvering engine to work the ship through crowded harbors.

The Golden Hinde will be berthed at Jack London Square in Oakland for several weeks, kicking off its visit this weekend as an adjunct to Oakland’s SeaFest ‘87, a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Port of Oakland.