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Ian McClelland lifts the anchor of a sailboat racing mark to throw in the water of Clipper Cove off Treasure Island on Thursday.
In a tiny inlet tucked away from riptides and the shipping channel, a sailboat loaded with 10-year-old boys cuts through Clipper Cove’s murky water. Instructor Sam Chatfield jerks the vessel’s tiller to the left, spraying the young sailors.
“Tiller toward trouble,” said Sam Theisen, shrieking. He waved at another sailboat carrying more of his classmates. “You’re never going to catch us.”
For many of the fourth-graders from San Francisco’s Grattan Elementary School, it was their first time steering a sailboat on the bay and seeing seagulls swoop over the grassy shores of Yerba Buena Island. Since opening in 1999, the Treasure Island Sailing Center, a nonprofit that gives sailing and ecology lessons, has put about 10,000 children and adults on the water, 3,805 last year alone.
But many of the nonprofit’s programs could be wiped out if Clipper Cove is converted into a private marina and seawall. The Treasure Island Development Authority, the nonprofit public benefit agency that oversees the economic development of Yerba Buena and Treasure islands, quietly applied in 2014 for a $22 million loan from the state to build
410 boat slips. That would quadruple the number of slips. There are now about 100.
Sailing area halved
The proposed marina would halve the space available to sail in Clipper Cove, tucked between the two islands, forcing sailors toward the inlet’s mouth near the Bay Bridge, where strong tides and choppy water make sailing with children and first-timers more perilous. The current marina takes up about 7 percent of the 139-acre cove, and the new proposal would take up 59 percent.
The development authority will meet with the State Division of Boating and Waterways on Wednesday in Emeryville to discuss its loan application. If the agency approves the loan, the marina plan will still need to go through further design and reviews.
But sailing teachers and community members worry that the current marina proposal would push out programs that depend on the cove’s flat waters.
“We are not opposed to having a marina there,” said Carisa Harris-Adamson, board chair of the sailing nonprofit. “But right now, the (proposed) marina sprawls and ends up taking over more of the space in the cove than I think is needed. The cove is a unique spot in the Bay Area where we can teach beginners in a very calm and protected environment. That wouldn’t be possible under the current design.”
Slips for larger boats
The design proposal was created in 1996, before the sailing nonprofit was founded, then stalled after the Navy was slow to transfer land titles to the city. Clipper Cove will be included in the island’s second phase of development, which is expected to begin this June.
Construction of the marina is set to begin next year. The new boat slips would take up more room because they are to average about 54 feet in length, accommodating larger vessels. In comparison, docks at the South Beach Marina adjacent to AT&T Park are 36 feet, and the current marina at Clipper Cove offers an average size of 31 feet.
“We are trying to move forward with the plans for Clipper Cove,” said development authority spokesman Bob Beck. “It has always been held captive, for lack of a better word, to the land-side development. Our first land transfer of any kind occurred in May 2015, and now we are just getting started. The marina is publicly vetted and environmentally approved. That is where we are at.”
Kevin Richards (left) and Maddy Eustis board their sailboat before a Vanguard 15 group race in Clipper Cove off Treasure Island.
Photos: Connor Radnovich, The Chronicle
Decade-old review
But critics say the marina is moving forward based on stale environmental reviews that do not provide adequate impact analysis. The marina plan received its certification from the city in 2005 and the last significant outreach for public input ended in 2003. Since then, sailing programs have flourished on Clipper Cove, and an annual Dragon Boat Festival was founded there.
“I am disturbed by TIDA’s endorsement of a $22 million loan application to the state for the current proposal,” said Supervisor John Avalos. “Not only has TIDA not provided final approval of the current design, the developers have not secured any of the required approvals from other agencies, such as the Bay Development and Conservation Commission. In this light, the loan application is clearly premature.”
The process to build the marina picked up speed quickly, without much public input, said Hunter Cutting, who started an organization called Save Clipper Cove. He said the expanded marina would kill parts of the sailing school, as well as a sailboat racing team called V15 that also uses the space.
Sailing program’s benefits
“These kids aren’t just toodling around,” Cutting said. “It’s so empowering. One thing about being a kid is you need to feel strength and empowered to move in the world. This is a very concrete thing that kids can really feel good about. They can say, ‘That was hard, but I did it.’”
On Monday, Chatfield slowly showed his pupils how to steer the boat left and right and the names of different ropes and sails. They flicked water on each other and laughed wildly.
“It’s tragic,” Chatfield said. “How many of these sorts of programs will remain? Where’s the access? Everything that’s left has been privatized. This cove feels like where I learned how to sail in San Diego. I love sharing that experience.”
He stopped to answer a student’s question, then repositioned the sail and steered the boat back to shore.
http://saveclippercove.nationbuilder.com/
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Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
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