Crissy Field Parking - Us

girsang · Joined: 16 Jun 2000 Posts: 52 Location: San Francisco

I've always been annoyed by this and never said anything about it, but since someone else brought up parking at Crissy, so will I.

Why do windsurfers and kitesurfers park on the grass we use to rig? I've seen this even when there are plenty of paved spots to park on. It's one of the great features of Crissy to be able to rig on grass and not damage your gear. So why reduce this limited resource when you know how great it is?

If a non-sailor does this, I figure they don't know any better. But if you're about to rig up yourself, why park on the limited rigging area?

If the paved spots fill up, I understand we will park on the grass edges so we can easily dump our gear. But I've seen windsurfers and kitesurfers park right in the middle of the lawn. WTF?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Then there's the flip side. I was pulling into the last parking spot in a park (once that park is full, that's it; there's no shoving your vehicle into an unused or dirt corner) only to find a guy rigging his new sail on the asphalt in the parking slot I paid for. He didn't care that it was the last spot, that it was a PARKING slot and not his personal rigging spot, or that the manicured grass 10 feet away was put there just for rigging. He didn't even willingly give it up when I pointed out that the asphalt was already scratching up his perfect new monofilm. It took tires slowly rolling straight at his sail from a few feet away to persuade him to move.

Some people are simply assholes, and are doomed to cluelessly live a life asking themselves, "What did I do to deserve that?"

\m/

jkayes · Joined: 03 Jul 2000 Posts: 68

Girsang,
It's easier to park there if you have a dog. That way it can run around while you're rigging and de-rigging without having to worry about as many cars or people walking around. Also, when have you not seen Crissy's designated asphalt parking spaces not completely full at 4 or 5 on a windy day? Finally, I like to park on the grass because it allows me to rig right next to my car and walk down that little road next to the john, straight through the opening of the cement wall and onto the beach without having worry about weaving my way in between cars with my fully-rigged gear. All of that shows that somehow I consistently find space to both park on the grass and rig on it. I think there's plenty of room for both.

Isobars,
Your story pains me, but isn't the flip side to this posting a gripe that people park too close together and make it difficult to get their gear out of their cars or get their fully-rigged gear through the cars to get to the beach without scratching peoples' cars?

(Sorry, Isobars, I used your post to further prove my point. Your story does pain me, particularly given that it was a fellow windsurfer.)

There's plenty of room at Crissy to park and rig -- and there certainly are more important things to worry about, too.

reggief · Joined: 15 May 2004 Posts: 16

Maybe I'm blind but I never see anyone park 'right on the lawn' as you say. It seems people park on the edges and if there is really no, not even one little parking space most people park in what some call 'the back 40.' Anyway, even if they park on the lawn, did you think someone was going to respond and say, 'yeah, I'm the blankity blank who parks on the grass?' Not likely.

diannesf · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 74 Location: San Francisco

DouglasMayer · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 7

I think everyone should levitate to chrissy field, don't walk on the grass, don't drive a car. Or maybe take the muni and bart for god's sake and help save the planet............or better yet, rig in larkspur, throw your rig on the ferry, and just as the ferry is zooming across the bay, freak out all of the passengers and the ferry captain by letting out a primal scream, grab your gear off the deck and plunge into the drink. Every one will be impressed how freaking insane you are by your most recent stunt. From here, you can work your way up to chrissy, and say, "nee-ner nee-ner nah-nah" to all the bitchy people fighting over car parking spaces and grass. Everyone will say, "where did that guy come from?". So there you go, the solution to your problem, and if you don't like my other ideas, why don't you ride your bicycle to chrissy, and then you don't need a parking space................CHEERS !!! Laughing

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Epenrose · Joined: 05 Nov 1997 Posts: 402

Douglas.

You may end up in the wrong place. CRISSY.

no "H"....

As in "SF" not "Frisco"..

jse · Joined: 17 Apr 1995 Posts: 1460 Location: Maui

Aw, parking on the grass doesn't bother me. It's those who park on the last corner spot that usually is reserved for egress from the grass to the street so you can get out with your rig when you're ready to sail, and get back in when you're done. Most people don't do that, but occasionally...

There's a ton of room inside the parking areas on the grass for everyone to rig. And Crissy is not the kind of place you want to be at in a wet wetsuit unless you're just coming in from sailing. People tend to move on when they're done. Too cold.

Steve

h2oshots · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:21 pm Post subject:

Do any of you remember how it used to be? There was ZERO grass. a couple dirt spots with some wind protection behind the army barracks.
When they laid out the New Crissy Field with the imput of volunteers from the SFBA, they intentionally left some area unpaved for multi use. Even when Crissy it at it maddest most crowded conditions, there are a ton of nice soft grassy spot left to rig. Sure if you are lazy and get there late you may have to hoof your gear a few extra feet to do that, but all in all it's still the most gear friendly rigging area in the Bay Area.

It's the irresponsible dog owners who don't pick up there pets poop that burns my bacon.