Clayton, CA Outdoor Activities

Sailing is in Pam Power's blood. After cutting her teeth chartering small boats in Minnesota, she moved to San Francisco, met her yacht Glory Days, and the rest was history. Alongside her experienced crew, she steers the 51-foot luxury yacht on sailing cruises through San Francisco Bay. The fiberglass vessel carries between 6 and 30 passengers in its spacious upper decks and cozy interior salon. During excursions, the ship cruises past the city skyline and historic Alcatraz and Angel Islands before traveling back in time via the wormhole beneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

Since their formation in 1947, The Guardsmen's vanguard of volunteers have spread quality educational and outdoor activities to at-risk and inner-city youth. Their scholarship and campership programs have paved the way for disadvantaged children to achieve and excel in society and come in whatever form the child may need, from purely recreational activities such as hiking and softball to access to high-quality private education. To fund their programs, the all-volunteer force relies on monetary donations and genie wishes bequeathed by supporters.

After publishing the first edition of her guidebook, Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour, writer and artist Victoria Colella organized tours to showcase the sites and narratives she expertly examined in print. Boating, walking, and one-hour mini tours traverse the shipways and wooden-boat center that initially inspired Victoria to pen her book and swear off land. Guides discuss historic WWII vessels, the Arques School wooden-boat collection, and boats owned by celebrities such as Jack Benny. In addition to guided excursions, Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour brings nautical history to life with treasure hunts and kids' sessions that combine walking jaunts with sea chanteys, slideshows, and model-houseboat building.

With the blood of the Stevens family—an American sailing dynasty that included America Cup pioneer John C. Stevens—coursing through his veins, captain Steve Hocking was destined for greatness aboard the open sea. As the owner of Ohana Sailing, he's armed with a US Coast Guard license and racing chops that earned him an invitation to the prestigious Rolex Invitational Big Boat series. Steve indulges a passion for sailing that began when he bought his first boat in Canada and steered it straight to San Francisco. At the helm of his 45-foot Beneteau, the Ohana, Steve pilots moonlit or daytime cruises during which passengers can lounge between the wood panels of a luxurious master stateroom and two guest rooms.

Steve also holds three-month racing courses aboard the Ohana, enabling hands-on learning by including participation in three or four races each month. At individual sailing lessons, pupils board the Roadrunner, a 23-foot Ranger boat, and master techniques for navigating the diminutive vessel through open waters and between the sentient statues that guard them.

Each of Balloon Over Napa Sonoma’s FAA-certified hot air balloon pilots maintain a perfect safety record in their gentle, slow flights over the Napa Valley, even after logging thousands of in-flight hours for private and commercial licenses. Though they've tamed thermals over five continents, each has returned to the valley to showcase local winery estates on ever-changing tours that never follow a set path, but instead follow the whim of the breezes. Other guides take passengers on chauffeured limousine rides to visit those same vineyards to sample their wines at the ground level to avoid forcing winemakers to test out their accuracy with a fire hose. :m]]