san francisco yacht club address

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San Francisco Yacht Club

98 Beach Road

Belvedere , CA 94920

(415) 435-9133

From the Commodore:

On behalf of The San Francisco Yacht Club, we are proud to become a Founding Member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame.

As a Founding Member, The San Francisco Yacht Club and its members support the efforts to preserve America’s sailing legacy and to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to American Sailing.

Our members look forward to visiting this landmark for sailing enthusiasts.

Good sailing,

Robert Heller, Commodore

Founded in 1869, The San Francisco Yacht Club is the oldest club on the Pacific Coast. The original anchorage and clubhouse were located in San Francisco near Mission Rock, but inadequate depth of water and increasing industrial growth in the area resulted in a move to Sausalito. Waterfront property was purchased and a new clubhouse erected, but it was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1897.

The rebuilt building is still standing and now houses a restaurant currently called Trident. Increasing ferry traffic and congestion contributed to a decision to move again in 1926. One group, headed by Commodore Clifford Smith, felt that Belvedere Cove would be an ideal location. Another group felt that the Club should move back to San Francisco and lease land from the City on the Marina.

After considerable discussion the Belvedere site was finally selected. Those who opposed the move resigned and formed the St. Francis Yacht Club. A small clubhouse on the Belvedere site was completed in 1934 and is still part of the present building.

Planning for the present 190 berth harbor was begun in 1933 and completed in 1957 when funds were available. The San Francisco Yacht Club, with its tranquil setting in Belvedere Cove and its superb harbor, is widely recognized as the premier yachting facility on the West Coast. It operates a year round facility including the harbor, a dry sail area, a full service restaurant and bar. The Club’s exterior and interior were completely remodeled in 2007.

The Club has a very active junior sailing program and all members, whether they own boats or not, are committed to the Corinthian traditions of yachting.

A Point in Time…

July 25, 1909 In Class C of The San Francisco Yacht Club’s race yesterday, the good old schooner  Chispa  , piloted by Captain Charley Chittenden, carried off the trophy a beautiful silver cup, donated by Commodore Hanify.

The  Chispa  is a sample of yacht construction in the early days and the fact that after thirty five years of active work in these waters she is able to beat the boats of modern build speaks well for the old craft. She was built by Captain Turner at the Benicia yards for Staff Commodore I. Gutte, who owned and sailed her continuously up to the time of his death recently. The  Chispa  has seldom been out of commission, but was kept on the go summer and winter alike.

Cap Chittenden who is probably better known than any other yachtsmen on the Bay and who piloted the  Chispa  in yesterday’s race, has sailed up and down this coast for forty five years and knows every tide eddy in the bay and almost every wind streak. Many will congratulate the old captain as thousands have sailed on his yachts  Sapho  ,  White Wings  and  Lively  during the time that he sailed these different yachts in early days and be it said to his credit, always without an accident.

Instead of going back, as is the case with most yachts, the  Chispa  may be said to have gone ahead in the matter of sailing, particularly this season, as she has of late had considerable alterations made. Her “sticks” which for years had a rake of six feet, have been straightened out and the double head sails have been replaced by a single jib and these two items have contributed largely to her improved sailing qualities.

After the race Commodore Hanify went aboard the  Chispa  and congratulated the old “Cap” and the crew, complimenting them on the way they handled their boat. Commodore Hanify’s schooner Martha was a keen rival of the  Chispa  in yesterday’s race and considering that the Martha is practically a new boat, with all the latest ideas in yacht building, the victory of the  Chispa  stands out the more prominently and Captain Chittenden and his crew are greatly elated over their victory, especially as most yachtsmen have never given the  Chispa  a look-in in the line of racing. She was always considered a good, comfortable cruising yacht, but the amateur tars will now begin to sit up and take notice when she appears in future races.

Click here for an updated historical timeline.

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Getting Here

The Sailing Museum & Hall of Fame

365 Thames Street

Newport, RI 02840

401.324.5761

[email protected]

San Francisco Yacht Club

• Address: 98 Beach Road - P.O. Box 379, Belvedere, CA 94920
• Phone Number: 415.435-9133 - Fax: .415.435.8547
• Web Site: sfyc.org
• Membership ratio: About 80% sail - 20% power
• Docking & Reciprocity: Contact yacht club for reciprocal information. Reservations required.
• Club Organized: 1869

Smooth Sailing: The 5 Best Yacht Clubs in San Fran

San Francisco is known for its beautiful coastline and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. It's no wonder that the city is home to some of the best yacht clubs in the country.

These clubs offer a variety of amenities and services to their members, from sailing lessons to social events to fine dining.

Yacht clubs in San Francisco range from traditional and exclusive to more laid-back and welcoming. Each club has its own unique atmosphere and caters to different interests and lifestyles.

Some clubs focus more on racing and competition, while others prioritize leisurely cruises and social gatherings.

In addition to the sailing opportunities, yacht clubs in San Francisco offer spectacular views of the city skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Many of these clubs are located in prime waterfront locations, providing members with easy access to the bay and all the exciting activities it has to offer.

Whether you're a seasoned sailor or a beginner looking to learn, there's a yacht club in San Francisco that's perfect for you.

Joining a club is a great way to meet new people, enjoy the beauty of the bay, and take part in a timeless tradition that has been a part of San Francisco's culture for centuries.

1. St. Francis Yacht Club

The St. Francis Yacht Club is a stunning venue for yachting events, with amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The club has sailing lessons for kids and hosts many water sports events throughout the year.

The staff and members are open, friendly, and helpful to all visitors.

The restaurant serves excellent food with a great wine list, and the workout facility on-site is fantastic. The club is a San Francisco institution that is well worth a visit.

2. Golden Gate Yacht Club

Golden Gate Yacht Club is a fantastic destination for yacht enthusiasts. The club boasts a stunning view of the San Francisco Bay, including Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The staff is professional, helpful, and friendly, making the experience enjoyable for all.

The food and drink are of high quality and are served with great service.

The club hosted the America's Cup on the Bay, making it a must-visit location for sailing enthusiasts. The club is also a great venue for private events and parties.

3. Treasure Island Yacht Club

Treasure Island Yacht Club is a top-notch club that offers a great location for yacht enthusiasts to dock and explore.

The club's Port Captain, Bill, is a pleasure to work with and makes planning cruise ins a breeze.

The club's annual New Year's cruise is a must-attend event, complete with delicious clam chowder.

If you're looking for a great yacht club to visit, be sure to stop by Treasure Island Yacht Club.

4. Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club

Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club is a local gem that offers a laid-back atmosphere with reasonable prices. The club has a bar, kitchen, stage, and outdoor patio with a great view of the bay.

They offer sailing classes for kids and host numerous events and parties. It's a members-only club, but guests of members are welcome.

The club is located within walking distance of AT&T Park and the Chase Center. It's a great place for private parties and a good spot to tie up for a few hours.

If you're looking for a fun and friendly yacht club, Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club is definitely worth checking out.

5. South Beach Yacht Club

South Beach Yacht Club is a must-visit for boaters in the area. The club boasts well-appointed facilities and a lively atmosphere that is sure to impress guests.

With stunning views of the Bay Bridge from the expansive second-level deck, the club is an ideal spot to spend the day or evening.

While the food may be a bit bland, it is nicely prepared, and the friendly members make up for any shortcomings.

If you're lucky enough to get an invite, a visit to South Beach Yacht Club is definitely worth your time.

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Best Marinas in San Francisco

Last Updated by

Daniel Wade

June 15, 2022

San Francisco has some of the best marinas in the country, located right in the heart of the historic fisherman's wharf.

In this article, we'll cover five of the best marinas and yacht clubs in San Francisco. We'll go over the amenities they offer, their locations, and we'll give you an overview of what it costs to dock there. We'll also cover the atmosphere of each marina based on the experience of locals and members.

The best marinas in San Francisco are the St. Francis Yacht Club, the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor, the Treasure Isle Marina, the San Francisco Yacht Club, and the South Beach Harbor Marina. All of these marinas have a spectacular view of local monuments like the Golden Gate Bridge.

We spoke with local guides, yacht club members, and avid San Francisco sailors to provide the most accurate information possible. We also contacted each marina to confirm the availability of amenities such as WiFi and utilities.

Table of contents

Marinas in the San Francisco Area

San Francisco is home to more than a dozen marinas, and the surrounding area has many more. Here is a list of some of the highest-rated marinas in San Francisco and the immediate area around the city.

What Makes San Francisco a Great Place to Sail?

San Francisco Bay is one of the best sailing locations in the world. The large body of water is protected from the harsh winds of the Pacific Ocean, yet the wind almost always blows enough to sail.

Also, San Francisco Bay is large enough to sail for days and wide enough to keep clear from commercial traffic. If you're based out of San Francisco, there are numerous bayside destinations within a day's sailing distance to visit.

The weather in Northern California is famously mild, and sailing hazards such as hurricanes are non-existent. Thunderstorms are also extremely rare, which means you're not likely to get caught in a sudden downpour. However, local sailors say that the wind tends to pick up in the afternoon, and you're likely to encounter whitecaps in most parts of the bay.

San Francisco Sailing Culture San Francisco has an extremely strong local sailing culture that's comparable to Cape Cod (but a little rougher around the edges). Sailboats are almost a guaranteed sight on the bay, and the water is practically overrun with sailing craft during the summer.

San Francisco is a four-season sailing destination, so it's no wonder that so many people own sailboats in the region. San Francisco marinas hold regular regattas and other events such as boat auctions and cookouts. They run sailing youth camps during the summer, and many provide sailing lessons. San Francisco is a great destination if you want to immerse yourself in sailing culture.

San Francisco Sailing Infrastructure

San Francisco was once a hub of boat and shipbuilding. Though the shipyards no longer operate, there's still a huge amount of boat maintenance and repair infrastructure in the region.

This includes facilities such as boatyards, fiberglass repair shops, marine supply stores, and sailmakers. Virtually anything you need for your sailboat is stocked locally, and there's a vast amount of local expertise on sailing and boat repair.

Qualities of the Best San Francisco Marinas

So, what are the qualities of the best sailing marinas ? There are a few important factors to consider when choosing a place in the city to moor your sailboat.

The fruit and most obvious thing to consider is location. Most of San Francisco borders the water, so it's tough to find a bad location for a marina. That said, there are still a few rough industrial areas that are technically within city limits, so it's essential to vet the surrounding neighborhood to avoid ending up in a rough part of town.

For example, this is especially important if you don't want to end up moored under a freeway or next to an ore barge.

The second factor to consider is the overall condition of the marina and its facilities. Is it well-kept, or is it filled with rotted docks and rusty nails? Also, how do the facilities look? A marina with fresh paint, safe docks, and nice buildings is a sign that it's run by a professional staff.

Also, don't forget to take a look at the boats there too. The best San Francisco marinas are free from filthy derelict boats, which means it's occupied by thoughtful people who act responsibly and treat their boats with respect.

Other things to expect at the best local marinas include utility hookups for electricity and water, fuel docks, pumping stations for sewage, and (ideally) a large boat crane for hauling-out. If you live aboard, high-speed Internet is a must. The best marinas in San Francisco usually offer WiFi and other connectivity, usually free of charge.

Are San Francisco Marinas Expensive?

Yes, San Francisco marinas are very costly. A combination of prime location and limited slip availability make it very expensive to dock your boat in the city. For lower costs, consider mooring somewhere down the Peninsula, in the East Bay, or somewhere in the Sacramento River Delta.

Both of these locations are either on the bay itself or connected to it via navigable waterways, so you'll still be able to sail to San Francisco with ease.

We interviewed local sailboat owners and compiled reviews to find the best yacht clubs and marinas in the City of San Francisco. Here's what we found and the perks of the top five San Francisco sailboat mooring locations.

1. St. Francis Yacht Club

The St. Francis Yacht Club is one of the world's most prestigious sailing clubs. It was founded in 1927 by local yacht owners as an outgrowth of the Historic San Francisco Yacht Club, which we'll go over later in the article. The St. Francis Yacht Club is well known in the area for its sailboat racing regattas, which are held from March until November.

One of the most famous regattas hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club is the Rolex Big Boat Series. This regatta includes hundreds of boats of all sizes, and usually takes place in the middle of September.

St. Francis Yacht Club also offers a little-known perk that's a favorite of its members. The club has its own private island in the delta, which is about 60 miles upriver from the club's San Francisco Bay location. Members can take a trip to the island and enjoy 40 acres of luxurious accommodations far from the bustling city.

The docks at St. Francis Yacht Club are open to members and visitors, though reservations are required to secure a spot. Local experts say that St. Francis is one of the busier sailing spots in the city, so it's best to plan ahead and make a reservation as far out as possible.

St. Francis Yacht Club is located at 700 Marina Boulevard in San Francisco. The club is situated between the northern edge of Fisherman's Wharf and Chrissy Field, which is a prime location with views of the city, Alcatraz, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

St. Francis Yacht Club is prestigious and oriented towards those with a deep appreciation for the sport of sailing. It's also a great place to hang out with like-minded sailing enthusiasts. It's also family-friendly, despite being known primarily as a classy social club for boat owners.

The fit and finish of the clubhouse, docks, and the boats that occupy them is extremely high, and it's about as good as it gets in the Pacific region.

2. San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor

On the other end of the atmosphere spectrum, the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor is a well-kept and convenient place to moor your sailboat. The harbor itself is in an excellent location, and it's a great central spot to begin a sailing trip.

The origins of the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor date back to before the 1906 earthquake when fishing and utility boats moored in the area. The marina has since been completely revamped, and now the facilities are comparable to any modern sailboat and powerboat marina.

The San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor is known locally as a great place to tie up during the day. It has lots of amenities, including standard utility hookups and a free pump-out station for sewage.

The marina features its own small park, which is a popular local hang out spot. The marina can accommodate vessels from less than 20 feet to about 90 feet overall, which means virtually all private boats can utilize the docks.

The San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor isn't a private yacht club. The marina is operated by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, which does a very good job at keeping the waterfront safe, accessible, and tidy.

Berthing is affordable, ranging between $10.30 and $18.32 per foot in 2021. The guest dock is also affordable, with prices ranging from $2.00 to $4.00 per foot per night. The guest dock has a 30-day stay limit, and seasonal rates are also available. All things considered, staying aboard and mooring at this marina can be significantly cheaper than staying at a hotel in the same part of the city.

Due to the popularity of this marina, there's almost always a waitlist to acquire your own slip. Some individuals get priority, which is granted by the Parks Department. If you don't want to wait, you can arrange a slip transfer with someone who has one, or you can purchase a local boat that's already in a slip at the marina. However, this is costly, and you have to be on the waitlist to accept the rights to the slip.

The San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor has some of the best real estate in the city, and it's essentially the perfect spot to moor your boat if you're lucky enough to get a slip there. In the meantime, it's also one of the most affordable spots to tie up in the Fisherman's Wharf area.

3. Treasure Isle Marina

Treasure Isle Marina is located on the former U.S. Navy base in the center of San Francisco Bay. Treasure Island itself is a short ride from downtown San Francisco via the Bay Bridge, and the harbor is the perfect central location to begin a sailing day trip.

Treasure Island is somewhat of a local secret. It's free from the noise and traffic of the city despite being within sight of downtown. The Island itself is grassy and pleasant, and there's a clean and quiet beach within walking distance of the Treasure Isle Marina docks.

The marina is home to the Treasure Island Yacht Club, though not all boaters who dock there are members. Even non-members at the Treasure Isle Marina have access to excellent amenities. These include all standard utility hookups, showers, restrooms, and a nice little cafe.

The marina stated that it plans to add additional amenities. The plans include laundry facilities, a fuel dock, in-house boat repair services, and dry storage facilities. Treasure Island Marina (also known as Treasure Island Yacht Harbor) is an Almar marina, which means it's managed by a company that also operates several other marinas around California.

Treasure Island Yacht Harbor has an anchoring cove, which is a safe and convenient spot to drop anchor. The location is a popular day sailing destination, especially during events like regattas or Fleet Week. The marina itself has pretty much everything you need at the guest docks, and it's a great place to rent a slip long-term.

Rates at Treasure Island Yacht Harbor are competitive, and it's easier to get a slip there than in the heart of the city.

4. San Francisco Yacht Club

San Francisco Yacht Club seems like an obvious choice, but it's not actually located in San Francisco. This historic and highly-respected establishment is located in Tiburon, which is just north of San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge.

This yacht club features modern amenities and a beautiful historic clubhouse with an excellent view of San Francisco Bay and the surrounding area. The San Francisco Yacht club is the oldest yacht club in the region. It was founded in 1869 and relocated to its current location in Tiburon in 1926. The current configuration was completed in 1957, and the entire premises were remodeled between 2007 and 2016.

In terms of atmosphere, the San Francisco Yacht Club is comparable to the St. Francis Yacht Club. But due to its location, many people find that events are easier to get to. Tiburon is a quiet community with minimal traffic, so members of the San Francisco Yacht Club are often more likely to show up to the clubhouse regularly for drinks or dinner.

The San Francisco Yacht Club is a bayside compound with multiple buildings. These include the main clubhouse, the Cove House, and the big lawn. The club hosts events such as Super Bowl Sunday on the lawn, which is always a hit with members.

The San Francisco Yacht Club hosts youth sailing lessons and race teams, which are popular with local families. Sailing is a surprisingly normal activity for people who live in Tiburon, thanks in part to the influence of the San Francisco Yacht Club. The club also hosts high school sailing teams and events.

The docks and facilities at the San Francisco Yacht Club are top-of-the-line, and members have access to utilities. The club has 185 slips for vessels between 24 and 52 feet in length. There is usually a waiting list to join the club and get a slip, so it's best to do it as soon as possible.

Guest boats are welcome at the guest dock, though only if they're members of reciprocal yacht clubs. The San Francisco Yacht Club is a stickler about the rules (and rightfully so), and it's definitely not a 'shirts and shoes off' kind of place. If you plan on visiting the San Francisco Yacht Club, make sure you review the rules and get your paperwork in order before arriving.

5. South Beach Harbor Marina

South Beach Harbor Marina is one of the largest marinas in San Francisco. It lies adjacent to AT&T Park, which is home to the San Francisco Giants baseball team. The marina is a popular gathering point for sports fans who sail into the channel during games to fish out foul balls.

In terms of size, the South Beach Harbor Marina dwarfs others in the area. This marina has 700 slips and a massive 640-foot guest dock. South Beach Harbor Marina is a public facility that's owned and operated by the Port of San Francisco. It's affordable and known for being a friendly and laid-back environment.

This isn't an 'anything goes' marina by any means, but it's a lot closer to that on the atmosphere spectrum than the San Francisco Yacht Club. The environment of the South Beach Harbor Marina is comparable to the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor. Cost is comparable as well, which means that the South Beach Harbor Marina is one of the more affordable options in the city.

Demand for slips at South Beach Harbor Marina is high. If you want to get a slip, you'll have to take a number and hang out on the waiting list for a while.

The process works somewhat differently than the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor, as these marinas are run by two different city government agencies. To get on the waitlist, you'll need to contact the Port of San Francisco and fill out an application.

Overall, the South Beach Harbor Marina is a great place to keep your boat if you enjoy sailing from a central location in the city. It's a huge marina with all utilities you'd expect, making it a convenient choice as well.

Costs aren't comparatively outrageous, and most of the members are just regular people who like boats and sailing with friends and family. It's a fun place to get together with friends, work on your boat, and begin sailing trips.

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I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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Drink in tales of San Francisco Irish resistance at this legendary bar

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More than 5,000 miles separate the Bay Area from Dublin and Belfast, but the ghosts of Ireland’s past never feel very far away here.

San Francisco has a long Irish history, dating back to the Gold Rush. City records estimate a third of San Francisco’s workforce was of Irish descent by the 1880s. An Irishman, Jasper O’Farrell, of O’Farrell Street fame, also designed the city grid, meaning that the very fabric of San Francisco is, in effect, Irish.

But history lessons can be a tad dry. They always go down better at the bar of the Dovre Club, washed down by multiple pints of the black stuff served up by bartender Brendon “Elvis” McElhatton, who’s been pulling them there since 1999. I wanted to know if some local shenanigans I’d heard about were authentic Irish history or blarney, so I made my way down there and claimed a stool.

The Dovre Club is steeped in San Francisco Irish folklore. The walls are adorned with newspaper clippings about the bar and its former owner, Patrick “Paddy” Nolan. Hunter S. Thompson is said to have drunk there with journalist Warren Hinckle, a friend of Nolan’s. Photos of Nolan hang alongside Irish memorabilia and a banner reading “Free the H-Block 4.” (More on that later.)  The Guinness is creamy, delicious and served the proper way. One raucous tale I sought to verify had to do with piglets and a posh hotel. As the legend goes, Nolan, a staunch advocate of Irish Northern Aid, a major faction in the movement to unite Ireland into a single nation, was behind a prank that involved backing a truck full of live piglets up to the entrance to the Westin St. Francis and releasing them into the lobby. 

The stunt, it’s said, was in protest of the presence at the hotel of Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth’s sister. The pigs referenced a remark allegedly made by the princess during a dinner with Chicago’s mayor in the late 1970s. The rumor that she had denounced the Irish as pigs caused international uproar during a bloody time in Northern Ireland. 

Sadly, I could find no newspaper archive clippings to verify this squealing act of resistance against the British monarchy. Still, Irish protesters did gather outside the Fairmont Hotel on Oct. 22, 1979, where the princess was attending a dinner-dance at the Venetian Room alongside guests such as Bob Hope and Tony Bennett. At least one of the 200 angry Irish protesters brought a live piglet—named Jigs, San Francisco Examiner archives show.

Nolan never had children and died of throat cancer in 1996, leaving his storied Mission District bar to Brian McElhatton, who died of brain cancer in 2008. Elvis is Brian’s younger brother, and probably one of the only men alive who might know the truth about the piglets. But when I asked about them, he simply laughed and said, “That’s classic gossip!”

Potato bombs from the Golden Gate?

Another tale claims that when the late Queen Elizabeth visited San Francisco in the 1980s, Irish protesters stood on the Golden Gate Bridge with a sack of potatoes, hurling them at the royal yacht Britannia from above. 

This one, too, merits a fact-check. For one thing, “it was pig’s blood,” Elvis said. “We’ve got to keep our potatoes. We don’t waste that shit.” 

It also never made it past the plotting stage. Police caught wind of the scheme, but many of the cops, being Irish themselves, refused to intervene, according to Elvis.

The plan never came to fruition, as the Golden Gate Bridge walkways were closed, he said. FBI documents allege there was a plot to kill the queen that involved dropping something off the bridge toward the royal yacht during her 1983 visit. The files name the Dovre Club as a gathering place for Irish Republican Army sympathizers.

A related legend claims Nolan and friends loaded boats with rotting fish and tailed the royal yacht so that seagulls would flock over the Queen’s fancy floater and play havoc with its sophisticated radar systems—or perhaps just cover it in poop. Alas, no newspaper clippings could be found to corroborate this tale either. But news clips do show a tight cordon was enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard to keep private vessels away from the royal yacht. 

I asked Elvis about this tale, too. “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,” the bartender said after serving me another Guinness.

Rumors of a secret IRA safe house

Dovre Club’s former home, at the corner of what is now the Women’s Building, is rumored to have harbored Irish political prisoners in a secret basement before the club moved to the corner of Valencia and 26th streets in 1998.

The basement exists. I went to see it for myself, guided by the building’s facilities manager, Julio Artiga, who had no idea his storage room may once have been a refuge for IRA members and the like. The bar above is now a day care center, but old metal doors that lead to the street can still be seen from below, as can an ancient-looking washbasin and urinal—what more does a wayward Irish son need below a bar?

I was dying to know whether it really did stash prisoners. But when I asked Elvis about it; the color drained from his otherwise rosy complexion, and he shook his head.

“I’ve already got enough enemies, and I’m not trying to make any more,” he said. 

The legend of the H-Block 4

San Francisco Irish history is forever entwined with the story of the H-Block 4, four prisoners who escaped from Long Kesh, the infamous British prison in Northern Ireland—known as the Maze—in 1983. No tale of Irish San Francisco is complete without mentioning the escapees.

The men found sanctuary in the San Francisco Bay Area; one was extradited, one was deported and two stayed behind. One, Terry Kirby, lives in the East Bay. A phone call to Kirby’s home was answered by a woman with a faint Irish accent who said they weren’t interested in talking about Irish resistance in San Francisco before the phone slammed down.

The youngest of the four, Kevin Arrt, lives in San Francisco. I found an address for him and visited the street, but the door number didn’t exist. One door number up, a man stood outside a house. 

“I’m looking for a man named Kevin,” I asked him. He froze and then spoke back in a Northern Irish accent. “What do you want him for?”

I explained my quest. “I know Kevin, but he doesn’t live on this street. Give me your number, and I’ll have him give you a call.” A phone call from a blocked number came a day later, and Kevin—who was the man I'd met on the street—apologized for his deception. He said my British accent had scared the life out of him, thinking I was an assassin. (Do assassins wear corduroy trousers, too?)

Kevin did not want to comment for this story, stating he’d prefer to stay under the radar after clearing his name in Northern Ireland in 2020. He now wishes to retire in peace and said all the men with direct knowledge of any resistance acts in San Francisco, humorous or otherwise, were likely all dead.

Still, if you want to drink among some real San Francisco Irish history this St. Patrick’s Day, Dovre Club is open from noon until 2 a.m., with corned beef hash served around 3 p.m.

Writer's note: I grew up in Manchester, England, but feel it’s important to say my dad grew up in Roscommon, Ireland, in this very farmhouse , which is about as Irish as you can get. I’m an Irish citizen (thanks, Brexit). And if Ancestry’s DNA test is to be believed, my mother is about 20% Irish, too. Erin go bragh.

Joe Burn can be reached at [email protected]

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