Embarcadero: True Tales of Sea Adventure from 1849 to 1906

Thrill to a baker’s dozen of true adventures of the sea—tales filled with salt spray, blood-and-thunder, and man-overboard-action all guaranteed to satisfy the hardiest armchair adventurer.

Researched from ships’ logs, manuscripts, newspaper accounts and historical records and penned by Richard Dillon a gifted storyteller and one of California’s finest historians.

Here’s a sampling:

“San Francisco’s Own Pirate”
The story of Captain Bully Hayes, who had a habit of running off with other men’s ships—and sometimes their women.

“The Odyssey of Bernard Gilboy.”
How a courageous, publicity dodging navigator, alone in an eighteen-foot open craft, sailed from San Francisco to Australia without touching land en route.

“Shanghai Days in Frisco”
How crimps like Shanghai Kelly perfected the fine art of kidnaping sailors for the dreaded China run and made East Street (as the Embarcadero was called for a time) a thoroughfare to be given a wide berth after dusk.