When it comes to big ideas, be sure to include Treasure Island on the list. The man-made island was built in 1936-37 as the site for the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE), with a perimeter of rock blasted from the Yerba Buena tunnel and filled with mud dredged from the Bay. Today, the 403-acre island is 24 years into a $5 billion redevelopment plan to create a new San Francisco neighborhood.

The Treasure Island Museum (TIM) has stepped in to preserve the island’s historic heritage and to inform residents and visitors of its relevance to today’s issues and tomorrow’s concerns. The current organization was founded in 1976 to support a previous museum operated by the Navy until Naval Station Treasure Island's 1997 closure. In 2008 the museum was returned to Building One, and ever since has presented exhibits and programs—both in Building One and on its extensive website—offered tours, and managed a growing collection. The museum looks forward to welcoming more visitors to the lobby with the opening of the new Woods Beer & Wine Tasting Bar, and is working longer term to build a permanent space inside Building One.

We were fortunate last week to get an interview with Museum President Michael Hennahane. Originally from Rochester, New York, Mike lived in five states and Brussels by the time he went to college. His last year of high school was in California, and he has been a Californian ever since. Mike got his Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford, and moved to San Francisco in 1993, where he and his team run NetTempo, a consulting firm specializing in cloud computing infrastructure.

Mike was introduced to the museum five years ago by Mimi Manning, a neighbor and TIM board member. Two years later he was President, working alongside Vice President Walt Bilofsky. Mike describes them being like a yin yang, with each balancing the other to contribute synergistically to the whole. Walt holds the visionary role, while Mike says his job is to get them to the next level.

One of the museum’s initiatives, as they wait for permanent space from TIDA, is a virtual sea level rise exhibit. This has obvious importance to an island whose highest elevation is only a dozen feet above the Bay. Currently under development, and only available in a desktop version, you can access the exhibit by clicking the flyer below.

A longer-standing initiative is the museum’s “Little Island – Big Ideas” Program Series. For years, the team has been booking free programs on a huge range of island-relevant topics, including Women on Treasure Island, Geology, Short Wave Radio, World War II, Pan Am, The Port Chicago Disaster, Art, and the Golden Gate International Exposition. On March 26, the Sailing Science Center will be presenting, with our newest exhibit tailored especially for the Treasure Island Museum. To see the new exhibit, and make a special day of it, we recommend taking the new Treasure Island Ferry (see below).

Often times the things that matter aren't the major events, but the smaller, day-to-day activities that add up and compound.

With that in mind, this month we want to acknowledge the steady effort being made by the volunteers of the SSC Exhibits Team, meeting twice monthly under the leadership of Lars Anderson. While their effort is only visible during events and exhibitions, their work accounts for the majority of the SSC's activity.

The big event this month is the SSC's above-referenced presentation on Saturday, March 26th, held in partnership with the Treasure Island Museum. To make it special, we recommend people ride the new ferry to Treasure Island, enjoy themselves at the new Woods Island Tasting Bar (see below), have SSC birthday cake (see below) and stay to play with the SSC's exhibits!

The program will include a short presentation on what the SSC is and where we are headed, followed by interactive time with a selection of our exhibits.

At a special meeting of the Treasure island Infrastructure and Transportation Committee on February 25, it was announced that PUC approval had been granted for ferry service to Treasure Island, and that service would commence the week of February 28. News Flash: We just learned that ferry service started today, March 1st, 2022!

Woods Island Brewery will be opening a beer & wine tasting bar in the lobby of Building One. We don't know many of the details, but the word is that it was planned to open with commencement of ferry service. The picture above, taken February 27, shows the bar under construction. Guests will have an exceptional view of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline.

In February, the SSC re-released Sailing Science on the Matthew Turner. The new release corrects minor errors and editing issues. The video highlights the broad range of science topics that can be learned through sailing.

A 2022 video will focus on how sailing and science can change lives.

When you subscribe to the SSC YouTube channel you will move the SSC closer to getting a branded URL. It takes just 30 seconds, costs nothing, and is spam-free. Click to subscribe now.

All our videos are now available on the SSC website. Click to see the full collection.

We want to give a big shout out to Johnson Manufacturing in Woodland for their integrity and high level of customer service in promptly taking care of this issue.

On February 7, Island Yacht Club and local Tides and Currents Guru, Kame Richards, collaborated to host an all-new presentation about San Francisco Bay currents. We have attended Kame's presentations in the past, and they have always been good, but this was his best. It changed the way we think about currents!

The design dates to the early years of WW II, when the boats were built of plywood. The design is still in production, with new boats being built of fiberglass.