Navigating the Golden Gate - Bonfires, buoys, and foghorns

Navigating the Golden Gate - Bonfires, buoys, and foghorns (HMWSR)

Location: San Francisco, CA 94121 San Francisco County
Buy California State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 37° 47.006', W 122° 30.666'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 963 views
Inscription
Deep channels make San Francisco's remarkable harbor accessible to immense ships. On the other hand, a narrow entrance, swift currents, high winds, rocks, and fog make navigating the Golden Gate treacherous. Early mariners looked for on-shore bonfires, painted rocks, and natural landmarks to find their way. Today, navigators rely on buoys, beacons, foghorns, charts, sonar, and satellite-based global positioning systems.
Distinctive characteristics make some individual navigation aids immediately identifiable. Each lighthouse, for example, flashes a signature pattern, and each foghorn has a unique sound. By simply "reading" lighthouse or foghorn signals, sailors and ship pilots can determine their location and navigate in poor visibility conditions. Nonetheless, numerous ships have failed to make it through the Golden Gate and now belong to shipwreck lore.

Photo captions:
Troopship entering Golden Gate, 1951
Traffic in, out, and around the bay is coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service. The Coast Guard also maintains the bays buoys, lights, and foghorns. San Francisco Maritime Museum

Alcatraz lighthouse, c. 1945
The oldest beacon on the West Coast is still in operation on Alcatraz. First lit in 1854, when Gold Rush fortune seekers were flooding through the Golden Gate, the light was moved into a taller lighthouse in 1909 and automated in 1963. United States Coast Guard

Nautical charts provide information you'll never see on a road map, including water depths, the locations of potential hazards, and the identifying frequencies - or signatures - of foghorns. This simplified chart has been overlaid with symbols representing the various navigation aids in operation around the entrance to San Francisco harbor. San Francisco Maritime Museum

This whitewashed patch of cliff once served as a navigation aid to ships entering the Golden Gate strait. Pilots knew they were safely within the shipping lane if "Painted Rock" at Lands End was aligned with Mile Rock lighthouse. This marker is still visible along the trail a short walk east of here.
John Martini

Mile Rock lighthouse, constructed in 1906, was converted to a helicopter landing pad with an automated light in 1966. James Watson, San Francisco Maritime Museum
Details
HM NumberHMWSR
Tags
Placed ByGolden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, September 13th, 2014 at 2:56pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)10S E 543050 N 4181899
Decimal Degrees37.78343333, -122.51110000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 37° 47.006', W 122° 30.666'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds37° 47' 0.36" N, 122° 30' 39.96" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)415, 858
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1-19 Coastal Trail, San Francisco CA 94121, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. Does the marker have a number?
  8. What year was the marker erected?
  9. This marker needs at least one picture.
  10. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  11. Is the marker in the median?