By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
“One of Marin’s best-kept-secret views of the Golden Gate Bridge is through the windows of an unassuming-looking building that sits behind the Discovery Museum on the shore of Horseshoe Cove at Fort Baker.” That’s how Marin Magazine described Travis Marina, home to the Presidio Yacht Club at Fort Baker.
PHOTO FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Travis Marina and Horseshoe Cove
The Marina has a long history, but a cloudy future. Fort Baker was established in 1897 as a satellite station of the Presidio of San Francisco. The fort became part of the Army’s Coast Artillery Crops in 1907.
Around 1900 a golf course was added to the parade ground. In his book Moments in Time, Jack Tracy writes: “Sausalito golfers designed the course and constructed all the traps and greens. It was so popular that the Sausalito Golf Club was organized and a clubhouse built near the edge of the parade ground.” The military reservation was already a favorite of local hikers and picnickers. Dances and parties at the post were well attended by Sausalitans. So, the tradition of civilian recreation at Fort Baker dates back well over a century.
Militarily, the fort served primarily as a training facility until the onset of WWII when a working boatyard sprung up to maintain the “Army’s Navy” – the fleet of small boats that maintained the Coast Artillery’s undersea minefields anchored just outside the Golden Gate Straits.
By the early 1960s the army’s need for a full-service boat repair operation had dwindled, and the former mine boat shops and marine railways were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Presidio Yacht Club (PYC), a “quality of life” recreational facility open to active duty military personnel and retirees. The former lumber loft was converted into a wood paneled lounge complete with a bar, dance floor, and tables. Existing windows in the south wall on both floors were enlarged to provide stunning views of the Golden Gate.
In 1972 East Fort Baker was included in the new Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA),
But the PYC and its members continued to operate as a semi-private yacht club within the boundaries of a National Park.
By the mid-1990s, the Sixth Army at the Presidio was inactivated. The Presidio Yacht Club would have to find another military post as a sponsoring agency if it was to retain its military status. In late 1994 Col. David Peixotto, President of the PYC Advisory Council, wrote the U.S. Army asking if it was possible for Travis Air Force Base to take them over after Base Closure. Final approval for a 5-year agreement was granted in April 1995.
At the termination of the original 5-year agreement, oversight of the Yacht Club was turned over the National Park Service, which has continued to grant a permit to the Travis Sailing Center and Marina on a year-to-year basis. The small bar and grill are open to the public, and occasionally feature live music.
Now, the NPS is looking at developing plans for the Fort Baker waterfront that may include transforming the yacht club from a semiprivate Marina to a day-use facility similar to Ayala Cove at Angel Island State Park. You can read more about the NPS’ plans at https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/news/foba-rfq.htm.
A group of concerned locals, who want to keep the marina and yacht club accessible to its loyal community, and to preserve it for military families, has started a campaign to save Travis Marina in its current form as an alternative to the upscale Farley Bar and Murray Circle restaurant at the nearby Cavallo Point Lodge. A community-led petition to keep yacht club and waterfront with Travis Airforce Base has garnered more than 8,450 total signatures. Information on this effort is available at https://www.change.org/p/save-historic-travis-marina-before-it-s-too-late/sponsors/new.
PHOTO FROM NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Travis Marina and Horseshoe Cove