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Very National Geographic

San Francisco Bay
Aug. 6, 2004

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We were heading for Raccoon Straits, hoping to catch a gust or two of wind in our sails, when we spotted some splashing up ahead. A power boat cruising in circles around the splashing flipped on its P.A. system: "Sailboat, you have a sea lion and a shark ahead of you!"

It sounded so authoritative, as if the Coast Guard was telling me. Sea lion and a shark, I thought. Did we cover that in Basic Keelboat?

We hadn't. So we winged it, sailing in circles around this sea lion wreaking vengeance on this little shark, on behalf of every sea lion who was ever lost a fight with a shark. Like a cat playing with a trapped mouse, the sea lion thrashed the shark, until the flesh was flaying off its skull. Then we let the wind take us away, around Angel Island and out along the lee shore of Alcatraz.

Peter shot these pics, by the way, of Tim, Mike, me and the sea lion.