72% of San Francisco voters voted to keep Alcatraz rather than developed the 22 acre island into a "Global Peace Center"

Here is a the link to the San Jose Mercury News regarding the defeat: [Link]

2007 Alcatraz Sharkfest photos

This freighter actually played chicken with the rescue kayakers traveling at around 20 knots in between Alcatraz and Aquatic park. Never try to cross in front of a freighter of any kind; today, these kyakers had no choice. A second group is behind the ship along with a Sheriff on a jet-ski wrangling them out of the way.

I am the wuss on the left in the wetsuit, Anthony is on the right wearing what race founder, Dave Horning, calls the 24/7 suit. ("2tonys" for short.) This group of people we are with are fast! (You all know who you are and we know where you line up. See ya' next year.)

Those two splashes in the middle of the frame are Anthony and I. Note that I am beating him by a body length. ;-) Also note that we are taking the "road less traveled and it made all the difference." Anthony placed 2nd in his division and I placed 14th in mine.

My best friend, Scott Belland took these pictures and I wish he had a Flickr page since he is a brilliant photographer. Alcatraz results page is here: [Link]

'You Tube' snippet of the 'Alctraz Sharkfest Swim' yesterday.

This is the first of two boats to arrive and these are the first group of swimmers to jump in. Anthony and I were in the second boat and jumped in soon after. It looks a lot higher when it is your turn to jump and it is a blast of cold water if you didn't do a morning swim to acclimate to the 55 degree water beforehand.* (Listen to the people verbally react to the water.)

When a loud, prolonged, foghorn blows, that is the signal to start the race.

On a different note, Anthony got bumped up to second place after it was discovered that the first place finisher was wearing a wet suit. This was probably a clerical error and it was rectified.

*Note, it's best to be one of the first people off the boat so you can acclimate to the water before the race. If you are a slower swimmer it is best to be last. The flailing bodies at the Alcatraz start is very formidable and aggressive.