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Captain John Leale (1850-1932) http://tinyurl.com/JLeale

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The Man at the Wheel

From Recollections of a Tule Sailor, 1939. Read Online

Reader: Kevin Hearle

Opaque tule fogs have contributed to countless wrecks on California valley highways, prompting the wise motorist to slow to a cautious crawl. You'd think the same principle would apply just as well to busy ferries plying the fog-shrouded San Francisco Bay.

Surprisingly that's not the way venerable San Francisco Bay ferry captain John Leale used to think. It's not what you see but what you hear that guides you on the Bay.

. . . aside from the compass and the clock the pilot is governed by sound. Therefore when he leaves the slip, if there is no sound of a steamer whistle or sailing-vessel's horn in the path, he starts out at full speed and continues that speed until a whistle sounds either in his path or crossing it and which in his judgment is approaching dangerously near; then he slows, stops or backs as the case demands. Speed should be kept up in order to cross the tide with the least possible leeway. In my judgment, it is a matter that cannot be governed by a "cast-iron rule," as when all is said and done it is up to the judgment of the man at the wheel.

Captain John Leale's memoir, Recollections of a Tule Sailor, was completed by his daughter after his death. It was published in 1939.